Is there anything that can be done to prevent or minimize rod tip tangles on jig poles? It’s especially troublesome when using heavy weights over jigs to get down deep. Can’t image what the fix may be but I can hope…
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Is there anything that can be done to prevent or minimize rod tip tangles on jig poles? It’s especially troublesome when using heavy weights over jigs to get down deep. Can’t image what the fix may be but I can hope…
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Not sure what line you are using - but I fish Wind Tamer by Fins. It's designed to cut down on wind knots, and it's been really good for me! The 4# is awesome for casting light jigs too.
If you are talking about on the hookset, instead of jerking your rod straight up, keep your rod tip level to the water and sweep the rod left or right until you feel the weight of the fish then reel it in.Quote:
Originally Posted by DeadlyDan
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Unspool it.
Throw it away.
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Line twist is the root of the cause, obviously keeping the twist to a minimum will help, but nothing is perfect, i too struggle with this, i have tried some stiffer braids and it has helped, the silicone coated braids from diawa (samura) and P- line are both good. but again keeping the twist to a minimum works the best.
Markie Boy
I’ve looked At Fins recently. In your opinion is it much different than other braids?
Are there any negatives with that braid?
Flip your spool of line over every once in while when spooling or drop it in a bucket of water. Or spray rod eyes and reel with reelez. Or something similar.
Nothing will stop line twist, especially with a spinning reel. From time to time I’ll cut the jig off my line and unspool it out across the yard, then reel it back up. I don’t remove it, just pull it out until the filler line starts to come off the spool. It seems reeling the line through the grass helps remove the twist. Also if the line is getting faded and worn I’ll pull it off and respool it backwards from how it was, this gives me fresh line. I only put about 75 yards of braid on my reels.
With the light braids the wind alone wraps the tips if I wiggle them around too much using 14ft poles, not necessarily setting the hook but just getting a little slack up on the tip top. New line seems to do it less. I too strip a little off periodically to get to fresh line.
I appreciate the replies, but line twist doesn’t seem to be the problem. I think the small diameter coupled with the limpness of the line is causing it to tangle at the rod tip.
The Fins braid seems like that he most feasible possibility so far. But what is it about the Fins that makes it tangle less?
More weight has worked for me but above the jig.
with braided line it gets ridiculous bad with a light jig for sure
heavy stuff makes it way more usable most of the time
but in the end it has a tendency to be difficult to deal with in many scenarios
a windy day can sure make a braid rod a nightmare
never seen braid twist ....just saying
Actually your comment about “more weight above the jig” made me think. The tip tangle problem got much worse when I recently started to add much heavier weight above the jig since I was fishing in deeper water. Maybe the lighter jig bounces around a lot more because of the heavy top weight.
with braid the second you have a split second of slack line ,even in a light wind , you are done ,,,,,Quote:
Originally Posted by DeadlyDan
this is a for sure fact .....no slack is your cure bro
To get rid of line twist, cut everything off line while in boat, let the line out while trolling any speed. I use 1.5 mph..let out 100-150’ of line for a few minutes. Wind it in tightly…tie your baits or swivels back on…no line twist. I do this every 3-4 times I’m out fishing.. :cheers2 If fishing a stream or current let the bare line out for a few minutes and current will untwist line.
I do this even with monofilament.
.
It is slack line, not line twist causing the problem. To reduce it, pay attention after lure lands in the water. Usually a 6 inch pull of the rod tip to take out the slack is all that is needed.
Slack line, wind, soft braid and too much movement of the rod tip would cause tip wrap, doesn’t matter size of braid up to 15lb. Windtamer is good steadiness line but #4 is still soft enough to create tip wrap.
I agree with most of the folks talking about line management and not twisted line. I use the ridiculously small Japanese braids on most of my UL rods and I use em more than most of my other rods. It’s a mindset that you have to develop to close the bail by hand and give a tug on the line from the spool to be sure that hasn’t looped. About tip wraps it’s another addition to what you need to pay attention to while you’re fishing. Slack line at the tip and no wind will still wrap the tip if you don’t control he rod tip. This isn’t such an issue with mono but this isn’t mono. Stopping the cast with an index finger stops some of this problematic excess line. Pointing the rod at the target also helps some. What I've come to learn is that small braid isn’t for everyone. There’s more to it than one would think. Tip wraps still happen to me when unhooking fish and also in windy conditions. I use jigs less than 1/32 and eventually you will learn to behave differently and manage these problem causing moves, I have and I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed. The pros by using braid are significant enough for me that I deal with it and try to do better next time. I wish there was a magic bullet I could offer but after five plus years of using it I can safely say that I haven’t found one yet.
Sorry for the slow reply. I'd say in many ways yes. It stays very round, which I think helps keep twist down. I can say 8# seems to have less twist than the 4#, and it's still really thin.Quote:
Originally Posted by DeadlyDan
I actually have been almost all mono on my rods until this season, but the Finns Wind Tamer fished so nice it's on most of my rods now.
I'd say it's well worth a try. They also offer a Crappie braid - it's pretty much identical to Wind Tamer per the factory I talked to, but branded for Crappie in the lighter tests.
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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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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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.
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by DeadlyDan
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.
Good thought about the fly rod tip. Let us know if that works for you
skeetbumQuote:
Originally Posted by 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.
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Any thoughts that might help…
If you plan to replace guides especially top guide, why don’t give Fuji K series (braid friendly) a try.
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.
So, exactly how does the steel guide reduce line twist?
The only concern of this post is line tangle, not line twist.
In my experience, line twist is the cause of tip tangles.Quote:
Originally Posted by DeadlyDan
One tip to help prevent line twist is close the bail by hand instead of reeling, also extends the life of the bail
I use 20 or 30 lb braid with a leader and the stiffer braid gives me less twists.
I put a wire fly rod tip top in a vertical jig rod. Unfortunately the results didn’t seem any better.
one thing I’ve learned is that heavy weights above the jig is most problematic. The heavy weight bounces causing tip tangles and knots at the weight. When uses small weights above the jig the problem is MUCH less likely.
Oh Well, another idea that didn’t work. :bash
Inquiring minds are always thinking…
When I was a kid we didn’t have a lot of money so changing line was at the bottom of the priority list. Only if the line got rotten and would break under slight pressure.
We also only used the old Zebco 33 reels, about all we could afford. Those reels definitely made line memory.
We also know the old fishing lines were not what they are today.
With that said and something that works awesome if you take the time to do it.
Simply take the line string it out put a hook on it and hook it to a post or something. Get you a ground rod holder or drive a piece of pvc pipe in the ground as if you were surf fishing.
Pull the line till it has a slight tightness to it. Leave in out all day. That afternoon reel it back up and you’re good to go. No more tangles. I only fish with Floro or Mono.
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I’ve posted before and most of y’all probably think I’m crazy but really big braid works on a long 12ft and up jig pole. It looks almost like fly line. But no more tangles,no twists, no line kinks. I can pitch it under hand with more accuracy than casting with a shorter pole.
I use a mono leader.
I thought about doing a video on the set up and how I fish , but then everybody would be doing it. lol. I don’t need any more competition…
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GreenLine
What brand and weight class of braid are you using?
Strike King tour grade hi vis yellow in 65 lb worked the best. (Tried power pro and Berkley X9 )Quote:
Originally Posted by DeadlyDan
You read that right 65 lb. I tie it to a 10 lb mono leader 5ft long, using the Alberto knot.
Note- I typically fish in fairly stained water ( visibly average about 3ft ) but had no problems catching fish in Toledo Bend the past couple of springs in some clear water with this set up.
I get the benefits of braid without the hassles.
If a fish gets near my jig I can feel it breathing.. almost..
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Not to argue but I disagree. With the very light braid I use a bouncing rod tip when unhooking a landed fish with slack near the tip is all it takes. The Fuji tips help some but I’ve gone thru the trouble of dragging weightless line to remove twist only to have to put the rod down and unwind the line from the tip on the next fish. As I said, I’ve learned what not to do and even remember it sometimes. I’m not perfect either.Quote:
Originally Posted by justinp61