Baitcasting tangles

[techo]

When I went to the Fishing the Ozarks seminar, Mike Webb demonstrated a fast way to untangle squirrel nests. He loosened the drag, put his thumb over the nest and cranked the reel four or five times. I don't remember the rest. I went to show the Mrs. how to untangle the mess she had and I ended up making it worse. Does anyone know the steps to fast and easy de-nesting?

[Steve Smith]

I carry a dental pick in my box and lift the loose loops until I finally find the key to the tangle. A crochet needle works good too, but I find the dental pick works best. I carry one in my fly vest too for those testy wind knots.

[Wayne SW/MO]

I haven't tried that, but I was thinking it was for braid, maybe not.

I look for a loop that passes under the line and pull it free, I then start pulling more line off until I hit some resistance and repeat. You'll hit a point where it will hesitate and then release.

With any baitcaster I believe it important to readjust every time conditions change, whether its the weight of the lure or the wind. In my opinion if its adjusted for maximum efficiency you'll get some minor backlashes from time to time, but ones you can pull out, not have to pick out.

[rls1936]

Try this - it works for me. Before you hit the lake with your baitcasting rig, peel off as much line as your longest cast might be then about 5 yards more. Put a piece of scotch tape on the spool, then wind in the line. This will prevent the tangle from getting deep in the spool without effecting your casting. You can still birdnest but it won't nearly as bad.

Another trick, as soon as you foul up, crank down your drag, put your thumb over the spool and apply pressure, turn the crank abouit 5 times. Tangle usually comes right out.

[techo]

Thanks for the replies.

[Seth]

Most of the time the method describe int he first post works for me. I like to push my finger nail down onto my line and give it a few cranks and somehow it fixes the bird nests. If it is a really bad one though, it won't work. That's when you just have to keep pulling line till it gets stuck, pick at the loops, and continue this process till it is fixed.