casting overheads

[blaze]

I have a simular thread in freshwater but this ones a little different. the other thread I asked about distance for awoonga.
Info I am seeking now is
are you better to practice with mono or braid if braid will be the line of choice in the end.
I have currently put 30lb cungi red line on which is quite a stiff line and would never be a choice to fish with. getting 20m casts now with a fair degree of accurcy with the odd birds nest (only been practicing for a few days off and on).
Should I bite the bullet and put some 30lb braid on (recommendations please) as I think I should get more distance with simular effort.
The reel is a shimano catala 200, rod is shimano tiapon 5 to 8 kg
cheers
blaze

[agnes_jack]

Blaze
I rekon you are better off sticking with the mono till you are more confident, but a finer diameter mono would be a lot easier to practise with. Braid is expensive stuff to birdnest!!

Regards, Tony

[roz]

Hi Blaze,

For what it's worth I find a baitcaster a lot easier to use with braid.

I will agree with Tony's advice, although I've never had a really bad birds nest using braid......yet.

I also think if you can learn to use a baitcaster with mono before going to braid, at the end of the day you will be more skillful with your casting.

Hope that makes sense ::)

Good luck with it Blaze
cheers roz.

[flickflack]

Mate, practice with the mono till you have it well and truly sussed out then youcan change to braid. ;)

[snakecatcher]

Hi Blaze,

I have been looking for braid recommendations for Awoonga on a different post and have had quite a few positive recommendations for FINS - 50lb is the way to go, don't bother with 30lb as all the research I have done says you don't stand much chance of extracting a big one from the timber with anything less than 50lb.

Good luck with the bait casting practise.

Cheers

Mike

[jim_farrell]

Blaze. Just a couple of thoughts. If you aren't going to use braid at home you are mad to buy it just for practise for this trip. However, IMHO 30lb stiff mono on a catala is a tough combo for distance.
I presume john will be using 30lb or maybe 50lb braid. Therefor you would be better off practising with 15lb mono at the most.
Probably the best thing to do would be to get your hands on 30 meters of 30lb braid. Hopefully you have a mate who uses it and has some lying around, or if you are on good terms with your local tackle shop, they might have some from respooling someones reel. Just top up your reel with that.

Awoonga is a long way to go, and at this time of year, if you are there for one day, you need to give yourself the best chance you can. I would be practising with gear as close to what john will put in your hand when you get there.

Good luck
Jim

[woolybugger]

Blaze,

When I first learnt using an overhead, I actually found it easier using braid first. Maybe it was the luck of the Irish (if I were Irish!) but I kept getting birds nests on Mono, but as soon as I went braid, it minimised by 80%.

All I did was to practice using tension on the spools and then slowly loosen them off and Bingo!

I too have just purchased a Calcuta 200 loaded up with 50lb braid and a new 6-10kg rod for Awoonga and am like a kid waiting for xmas to use it.

When are you up that way mate?

Good luck and remember the 6 P's:
Prior Preperation Prevents Piss Poor performance!!!!

[blaze]

going up on the 9th oct, the week of the M&G.
Just had my first major birds nest (cut the line) seemed the easiest at the time. Might put a bit lighter mono on for a few days.
Dropping it into a 18 inch puddle at 20m ATM 3 times outa ten, 3 times withing 6 foot and the other 4 within 10 foot.
I reckon I will be happy when I can get that puddle 9 times outa 10 (keeps raining like it is, the puddle will grow and I will get them all in)
cheers
blaze

[SeaHunt]

Agree with Roz and Woolybugger, braid is better all around.
First (and only) bait caster I got , I put 30 lb braid on it after having it less than a week.
I would still have all but the end 5 metres of braid on it after 4 years of reasonably regular use.
Braid tangles less, is easier to untangle and casts a lot further.
I reckon I can get close to 40 metres, (no bets).
There is a trick to pulling out the tangles though.

[blaze]

come on seahunt, no secrets here
how do ya get ya birdsnest out
cheers
blaze

[roz]

Hey Blaze,

SeaHunt and Woolybugger are right ('cause they agree with me ;D).

No seriously, it's heaps easier to get over runs out when you use braid.

Don't worry too much, keep practicing with what you have now, & when you get up to Agnes I'll lend you my baitcaster.....don't argue.

It's an old ABU, but it has a magnetic casting control which will keep you out of trouble.

Trust me :o

roz

[sushi_fish01]

Easier to untangle ??? :-/
ya just havent done it properly yet ;) ;D

[SeaHunt]

come on seahunt, no secrets here
how do ya get ya birdsnest out
cheers
blaze


Its so long since I had one I have forgotten how 8-) 8-) ::)

[BrandonH]

Lol good on ya's!!! I used a baitcaster with 15lb mono for a long time b4 going to braid. I now prefer braid as it casts nicer and longer. With the birds nests you normaly get a loop over the top of the line thats heading out from the reel. if you can grab that loop and pull it as hard as you can (sometimes this can be a few metres) you should be able to get a more line out of the birdsnest. Hope this helps not real easy to explain :-/

Enjoy your barra fishing Blaze!! its a lot of fun ;D i haven't fished awonga yet but have fished faust. also i wouldn't use anything other than 50lb braid flicking in the sticks (yes Fins is a great braid!!), if your trolling in the open 30lb would be ok.

Cheers
Brandon...

[JewseeTHAT]

The last thing you want to do with a birdnest is pull any part of it tight. I rotate the spool with my thumb, separating the loops with my fingernails to allow the line which is usually underneath all that mess to come free. If it tightens up it only makes it worse, and often puts a major kink in the line. Best advice is to approach a nest slowly and not to get frustrated with it. 99% of all nests will come out without having to chop the line up. Good luck and enjoy Awoonga, ya lucky sod. ;)

[Lobster48]

Mate,

Go straight to braid. For the outfit you have I would look at 20lb Bionic Braid, the bright pink stuff. I have used several braids in the past and have found this stuff to cast the best. Really subtle line with great knot strength and really flies off the reel.

As far as your casting is concerned practice heaps. Buy some casting plugs and throw a heap of targets around your back yard. Tighten up the spool control for your first cast and slowly unwind it as you get more confident. Make sure you practice into, across and with the wind and try overhead, side cast and up and under flicks. Within no time you will be casting like a demon.

And one last tip...like all personal pleasures....it is all in the wrist.

Happy casting

[imported_admin]

I found it a a lot easier to learn with braid compared to Mono. If you are only going to use the barid and reel once you might think it is hardly worth it practicing with braid. But if you want to spend most of your time fishing and not knitting then it is worth it. As stated earlier braid is easier to get birsds nests out of compared to mono. Just take it easy and don't pull anything hard and 99% of them will come out.

PM me your address and I will get some Bionic Braid to you to practice with. I also have a Abu 6500C here with 50lb Bionic on it. If you like I can send you that to practice with and take on your trip.

[roz]

I found it a a lot easier to learn with braid compared to Mono. If you are only going to use the barid and reel once you might think it is hardly worth it practicing with braid. But if you want to spend most of your time fishing and not knitting then it is worth it. As stated earlier braid is easier to get birsds nests out of compared to mono. Just take it easy and don't pull anything hard and 99% of them will come out.

PM me your address and I will get some Bionic Braid to you to practice with. I also have a Abu 6500C here with 50lb Bionic on it. If you like I can send you that to practice with and take on your trip.



Hey Blaze,

Who's a lucky Boy now!!!!! ::)

[blaze]

thanks for every ones advise.
special thanks to Roz and Steve for the offer of loans of outfits etc
My wife picked up a 200m of cheap braid for me last night while I was away, pealed some line off tonight and put 100m on (left the other 100 for failures) and bingo, dont know what the worry was.
Just amazing the difference in how the line comes off the reel.
Still gotta practice, but hey, when the winds blowing and its raining, what else can you do
cheers
blaze

[Gorilla_in_Manila]

Blaze,
Have you tried casting light hardbodied lures into the wind yet?
I find it gets a bit tricky landing them on target without an over run when the wind is slowing the lure down at just the wrong time.

When are we going to see the Blaze Casting Instruction video?

Cheers
Jeff

[jim_farrell]

On the money there gorilla. Is there anything worse. Great rod, great reel, great line, great snag and 25 knots in your face.
Not a rare occurence at awoonga.

[jasfish]

Hi all ive got a calcutta 200 spooled with 25 lb braid works great like it much better than mono now and i find the best wat to get out a birds next is complain to my fishing buddy alot about how hard it is he feels srry for me so i pass it on to him while he gets it out i pinch his chronarch
lol works every time

cheers jas

[dasher]

Hey Blaze,

SeaHunt and Woolybugger are right ('cause they agree with me ;D).

No seriously, it's heaps easier to get over runs out when you use braid.

Don't worry too much, keep practicing with what you have now, & when you get up to Agnes I'll lend you my baitcaster.....don't argue.

It's an old ABU, but it has a magnetic casting control which will keep you out of trouble.

Trust me :o

roz

Blaze, beware the woman that says trust me. ::)

Hi roz ;) :-* ;D ;D ;D

[dasher]

Going to Awoonga 4th sept for a week, will let you guys/girls know how we go. [smiley=2thumbsup.gif]


Grumble, grumble, curse ,curse, I always type awoonga with 2 w's instead of 2 o's. One day I will suceed in getting my fingers and brain to work in unison. ::) :o

[blaze]

that would take all the fun outa life dasher, it would be as bad as having the mouth and brain funtion together. ;D
cheers
blaze

[dasher]

that would take all the fun outa life dasher, it would be as bad as having the mouth and brain funtion together. ;D
cheers
blaze

Yup spot on blaze, how else would us none gymnist types get our foot in our mouth. ;D ;D ;D