reel issue!

[Barry steel]

Hi chaps- first post on this awesome forum. I have an okuma salina II 16000H-some of you may already know where this is going!!, and after a couple sessions on the water started getting knotted up on casting.Originally i had put it down to not spooling the line on tight enough as i did it myself( 65lb tufline xp). It got to the point where on one cast there was a 'thwack'after the braid snapped and my popper went sailing off into the distance. I did carry on regardless and managed to get a couple good fish which eased the frustration..Now after reading on this forum i see that these reels are notorious for wind knots-Is there anyway to minimise the issue or even eliminate it. Is it down to the way the line is 'layed' on the spool, ie- bad design? thanks for any help guys.

[Mark Harris]

Barry,  I fear there is no real solution to this problem.

By way of a large coincidence, I was fishing just today with someone who was using a Salina II loaded with PE8.  It was the usual  tiresome tale of masses of wind-knots.  There is just something about the way the line is spooled on the Salinas that causes this.

All that being said, you should be able to reduce the incidence of wind knots a bit by loading as little line onto the spool as you can get away with.

I think you would be far better off using the Salina as a jigging or bottom reel and getting a new casting reel.  Sorry not be more positive.

[Jay Burgess]

Barry,  I fear there is no real solution to this problem.

There is... buy a Stella 

[John Ryan]

May i make the comment that the lip design on shimano spinning reels is awesome. i have my Twinpower SW 12k loaded to the point that i thought it was a little over full.... but yet to get a casting tangle! That's using PE6.

[Graham Scott]

Barry,
As well as reducing the amount of line on your spool, check your leader knot. Try to keep the knot out of the guides (short leader), or at worst just the top few. If your knot is in the guides, try using a friction knot like the FG to keep the bulk down....but number one is reducing the amount of line.
I got sick of wind knots on a cheap daiwa and cut the line behind the latest wind knot...and didn't have any more problems.

[Alex Jordan]

May also be worth checking the bail arm roller - if it's not working as designed (sticking or stiff to roll!) and introducing excessive twist into your mainline it could be the reason for the wind knots?

[Barry steel]

Thanks for the suggestions so far. As for keeping the leader knot outside the guides, I did do that
Because I was using an improved Albright( just because it has yet to fail me) so the leader was only like 1.8 m long. But I do have the fg pretty much down pat now. I will however take a bit more line off the spool and see how it goes. The bail arm roller is also rolling good, so I guess that's out- will keep onto it though.
As for buying the Stella- well that would be sweet! Haha will keep an eye out for that ever elusive bargain that comes round sometimes..I do have two rods now so the next reel will have to be a proven performer. I do have a strong cast but must ask this question though- if the poppers I was using were below the weight recommended by the rod( 150-250g) would that light load and a more 'lazy' pull out of line from the spool promote the knots??
As always thanks for the advise..