Ezbassin,

Thanks for the help.


I won't give up...I'm just glad I have a nice spinning rig to go too when I mess this one up

I'll get the hang of it...hell, I've had it less then a week and only took her out a couple of times.

I think that your biggest problem so far (other than the birdnests) was the mismatch of equipment. Balance out your equipment and I think you will do better.

I have had plenty of birdnests in my time so I will tell you what works for me when I get one. First of all do not grab the line that is coming out of the reel and pull hard on it. That will only make the knot tighter and you will be worse off. Try to keep the tangles as loose as possible. I start by engaging the reel and grabbing the various pieces of line that are loose on the spool and pull them toward you while rotating the spool backward. After you get a few strands pulled back and loose grab the main line coming out of the reel and slowly pull out the slak. Alot of times you will see the loop that is kinked. Grab that piece and pull it up either to the left or to the right and then pull on the main line again. Most of the time this will work and you will not have to cut out the bird nest. This birdnest removal technique takes practice and patience also. Good luck.

Just a quick aside:

I have a $60 BPS round baitcaster (along with a bunch of others) - and it might be the easiest reel I have to cast (at least with a spinnerbait or something). It has not adjustments other than spooltension adjustment. I can only cast about 75 feet with it but I don't even have to put my thumb on it because the spool is just not very free. Honestly, I haven't backlashed with that thing in the last 300 casts.

I have a Chronarch and a Torno 3006 - both awesome. The longest caster I have is an Abu Garcia Morrum Mag 3600 but it can be a little finicky, especially with braided line. I have one of the cheap Pinnacle Pro PS whatevers from Academy - very smooth, long casting - the only concern is durability and repair but I haven't had any problems yet.

Don't forget to get a small crochet needle. Those are the best at getting bad bird nests out.

Well,

I took my 7' rod back to the store and asked to exchange it for a 6'6" rod and they had no problem with that at all.
I took it out this morning and not one birds nest.

Thank you all for the help with the rod and the VBS info.

That sounds great! How do you like the balance of your equipment now? Now its time to learn to pitch!!

Practice is all you can do. I just recently started throwing lighter baits with a bait caster and had the same problem for maybe a week. I`ve gotten a lot better at casting the lighter stuff. Now tryin to go back to the spinner just feels weird.

I have thrown a baitcast for a while now and still get a birdnest every now and then. But I only use spinning for crappie and sandies.