Wind and Braid don’t mix

Storm came through early this morning leaving some gusty winds .
I took a couple of combos, both loaded with Daiwa J braid to the local docks that was pretty busy being Sunday .
A lot of families.
A 5’ Rosewood ULF and the 5’6” Littma UL whippy rod :) I just received this past week .
Reels were an old Sienna 500 and Shimano Nasci 500 .

First fish , I had an issue with the Nasci 500 . Even with a six inch gill , the Nasci was almost impossible to reel . I knew it had issues , but didn’t remember it being this bad . Without a load , it’s as smooth as can be , put a load on it , it binds up .
Two casts later I threw a birds nest through the guides . I removed my micro spinner and swivel and just wound the whole mess up on the spool .
Back to the parts box with this Nasci .
I swapped reels for a few casts because I wanted to see if the braid would bring out any sensitivity the Littma rod might have .
No such luck . The only way to detect a bite was to watch the rod tip .

The Sienna wasn’t without issues with the braid .
A few casts went short and thought it was the wind stopping it in midair , but it turns out, the braid was digging in on the spool .
Several times I had the braid wrap around the rod tip .
I finished up my 75 minute trip with the Rosewood/Sienna combo .
I caught 17 bluegills from 3-6”:. I’ll take that under the conditions.
But I missed my Floroclear.

Sounds like a headache trip. At least you caught some fishes.

Sounds like you were frustrated. Sorry to hear it gave you fits. The fish were pretty enough. Hope the winds lay down for you soon. I never wet a line this weekend.

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Originally Posted by skeetbum

Sounds like you were frustrated. Sorry to hear it gave you fits. The fish were pretty enough. Hope the winds lay down for you soon. I never wet a line this weekend.

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Frustrated is a good word for what I was experiencing.
I’ve had some issues with braid , but not all of them in one trip like I did today .
But it was a learning experience.
I try to learn everytime I go .
I knew it was going to be difficult with the wind but you can’t catch anything sitting on the sofa , so I try to find a way to catch something, and deal with the conditions.
Tim , I hope you get back out there soon .
With the longer days and DLST , I’m able to get in some time in the evenings.

I feel it too lately when it comes to windy days. Braid and nylon lines are horrible, mono only for me. At least you got out and stuck some fish. Every day this week they are talking wind so just need go.

Glad you got a few. I have a couple of the Nasci that are binding. What are you thinking is the cause of yours?

just can't do braid here , the fight is not worth it to me , there is rarely a time I have enjoyed using it .....
might get my mono broke off , but it's still way more fun than a rod fight minus a fish

Nice catch! Thanks for the walk along!
Bob

I made a quick trip back to the docks this evening .
The wind actually seemed worse today probably because of the direction it was blowing, yesterday it was SW today NW .
I took a couple different combos today, a 4’10” Major Craft Finesse Glass UL and a 5’6” old series St Croix Trout ULF , both had Carbon X 1000s reels loaded with 3# Floroclear.

Even with 14-26mph winds , I didn’t experience the frustration I did yesterday with the braid .
Casting distance was about the same with the swivel , micro spinner combination .
And the gills were still there .
I caught a dozen with three of them in the fun size . Although all of them are fun for me .
I had one nice one that pulled some drag a couple times before coming unhooked from the size 14 hook .
I’ve got a couple 500 size Carbon X reels loaded up with some SOS 2# that’ll probably get the next try out .

Glad you didn’t have to fight with braid today. Good job