Braided Line and Tip Tangles

[Alphahawk]

I use braid that is as small a diameter that is made. It has a diameter of 0.07mm. I don’t have any tip wrap issues. But I only use it on rods with braid friendly tip top guides. I throw the small stuff, meaning from 0.5 gram to 1.5 gram jig heads. I also throw bigger, meaning 1/8. When casting the 1/8 I’m using a different braid. It is infused with polyester. No tip wrap with it either. I use all Varivas products. I will tell you right now all braid is not the same. Varivas manufactures premium lines.


Regards


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[CRAPPIE60]

One thing I noticed is the tip guides like Alphahawk mentioned. They are made without all the ridges that regular guides have to snag on. I don’t see them on most of the cheap poles I buy but you can get them from the Chinese websites. I have still tip wrapped them but not as often.


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[Danny Lang]

What I done to help me with the tangles or rod wraps is, I put a swivel on the end of my braid, tied on mono( 10 pound test ) then use a piece of split shot and my jig, from leader to jig is only about 12-15 inches, this really helped me out a lot.

[DeadlyDan]

Fished yesterday and remembered that I do have one idea that has worked for me over the years.
when the rod tip tangles you can often swing the jig straight off the non-fishing side of the boat. Once the jig and line are in a straight line away from the rod you can jiggle the rod tip in the water while slowing pulling it towards you. It tends to untangle the warped line. Doesn’t always work but it is worth a try.

Hope that helps.

[DeadlyDan]

Fished yesterday and remembered that I do have one idea that has worked for me over the years.
When the rod tip tangles you can often swing the jig straight off the non-fishing side of the boat. Once the jig and line are in a straight line away from the rod you can jiggle the rod tip in the water while slowing pulling it towards you. It tends to untangle the warped line. Doesn’t always work but it is worth a try.

Hope that helps.

I should have put the fact that I am vertical jigging with 12’ poles and not casting. Line twist has never been a problem for me, regardless of jigging or casting, with braid.

Another thing that helps is lowering the jig and top weight into the water before stripping line off the reel especially when little line is out of the rod tip. It prevents dangling and bouncing which is a major cause of my tip tangling issue.

Thought - I wonder if replacing the rod tip with something like a fly rod tip might help for a vertical jig pole. Those tips are smooth with less to catch on.

[skeetbum]

Good thought about the fly rod tip. Let us know if that works for you

[DeadlyDan]

Good thought about the fly rod tip. Let us know if that works for you

skeetbum
I had a number of fly rod tip tops but none were large enough to fit the diameter of the rod tip. I taped one of the tips to the rod for comparison. I think it will be a vast improvement towards eliminating twist at the tip top. I may also order some light single foot stainless wire guides for the top 3 ceramic guides. Every little bit helps and I’m all about customization. LOL
I will probably tweak the wire guides by bending them down a bit (already did in images). And also bending down the wire running guide and narrowing the round hole to make it oblong in order to reduce hang ups of braid.

Any thoughts that might help…

[Just_Bass]

If you plan to replace guides especially top guide, why don’t give Fuji K series (braid friendly) a try.

[DeadlyDan]

Just_Bass
ThNks for the reply. The purpose for considering wire guides is to help eliminate some of the line tangle that occurs when vertical jigging with braid. I think the wire guides may not hold the line that sometimes wrap around typical ceramic guides. The wire guides should be smoother. In a previous post in this thread I mentioned swinging the line on a tangled tip out into the water. Then lowering the tip of the rod into the water and giggling while pulling the rod towards you. I’ve had a fair amount of success untangling the rod tip using this method. Hopefully the smooth wire guides will help to make the method more efficient.

[justinp61]

So, exactly how does the steel guide reduce line twist?