So I made a couple of posts earlier in the month about setting my wife up with a good spinning rod/reel (since she STILL can't figure out how to use a baitcast reel) and using braid with a fluoro leader. Thanks to everyone for the recommendations. First trip out over the weekend and everything worked great EXCEPT she got a wind knot in the braid too many times to count. Thankfully she has the patience to pick them out (actually I think she enjoyed the break from casting more) but eventually one got too tight to be picked out. I've never used braid on a spinning reel so I won't blame this on a "wife thing" but how do I/we avoid wind knots when using braid????

What is a wind knot? I fish braid with flouro leader on my spinning rig all the time, don't know what you're referring to.

1st make sure spool is not overfilled, when it is as the top layer of line comes off spool it will drag a an extra loop over spool lip.
Too much slack reeling in, making loose line on spool.
High arking casts alowing wind to blow lure back toward boat creating extra slack.


I use 20 pound spider wire stealth on my wife's set ups and hardly ever have an issue. Usually rig her up with shakey head, weightless senko, or drop shot.

Every so often I will get her rod and make a really long cast and straighten everything out and she is good to go.

They will go away with practice,..my wife swapped in her Zebco 33's about 7 years ago and never looked back...

It’ll be a cold day in hell when the wife will throw a bait casting reel again. And she’s not fond of spinning reels either. So, I quit bass fishing. Why fight it. Now we catch crappie and bream with long crappie poles. Keep it simple. She’s happy now, and is enjoying fishing so much that she has a new gripe - the boat gets blown around. She wanted to know what I can do about that. Well now...a spot-lock type trolling motor will hold us in one spot and a livescope will help us find the elusive fish. She said to buy those things. Sure enough, I will. It’s all for you sweetheart. I can do without bass fishing.

Windknots are also more likely when you're throwing to light a lure for the diameter braid your're
using,

Capt. Bryan speaks wisdom!

While we're on good casting habits.....another VERY important one is: After a cast, close the bail by hand! Do not turn the reel handle to do this. Doing it that way will add to line twist buildup. I learned this from a Shimano rep 30 years ago, and he was correct; I disliked spinning reels a little less after trying his suggestion.

+1. Make sure she pulls the slack out of the line after she cast and closes the bell.

Just take the braid off. I use it all the time and the wind will still get me now and then. Ever try a tatula reel? They are pretty easy to set up and you can throw them without thumbing the spool and still not get a backlash. If she wants to use a baitcaster I'd get her one of them.

Good advice above.
Also, make sure she is closing the bail by hand at the end of the cast (not just reeling to close the bail)

Also, line twist occurs when drag is set too light, and you reel while line is stripping out.

That will do it every time and it doesn't matter which line is on it.

I see it on fishing shows all the time and just shake my head.

All the above are great suggestions. I've had a few instances where a brand of braid and a certain reel just didn't go together for some reason. Wind knots like they are are going out of style. I switched up the braid and the problem went away.

Thanks for all the ideas. I WISH she was reeling in line while it was being stripped out by a fish. She's had exactly one fish on, a catfish, that hit her lure at the side of the boat and quickly came off. Drag is set properly. First thing I showed her was to flip the bail before reeling so that's not a problem. And I spooled it just enough so that extra line isn't falling off during a cast. All that said, I watched her cast and 90% of the time she was making high looping casts (letting go of the line too early in the cast-think aiming at a tree in front of the boat and lure landing 45 degrees off the side of the boat) and then reeling in all the slack line while waiting for the lure to sink. Somewhere in that process the braid was creating a knot. Work in progress!!

One more thought. Are you sure the knot tying the leader on isn't snagging in the rod tip eye? Try using leader length that she can cast well with it all past the tip eye. Try having her make some casts out in the yard without a leader and a weight that is heavier than her typical bait.
That may through process of elimination narrow it down.

Also, just read your last description ^^ see if you can get her used to watching her bait and as soon as it has quit pulling line, put her palm on the side of the reel and start finding the bail. With a little practice it will become habit. This technique stops excess line from continuing to float off there spool, and less line slack to deal. When she gets used to that, and watching her bait she can control the distance better, ie, stop the bait before it gets to the tree.

congrats on having a wife that wants to learn.