To new avet owners! Casting 101

[oetheous]

If you were like me, you held your first avet and thought, damn, this is one sweet reel. And then you paid full retail for it, and took it home. On the first trip, you spool your reel with mono, and then get ready to chug a 3oz for the first time...... sigh....... BIRDNEST!!! BirdNest! Oh so many birdnests. I must've gone through a thousand yards of 25lb mono in my first week. Horrified at your shiznip casting skills, you relent to use your new reel occassionally leaving it behind on trips. Bummer.

I bought my avet before the MCs came out, so this is for non-mc avet owners, which there are plenty of. The reel comes with a built in cast control called "bait" on the lever. Turn the present knob until you can feel slight pressure on the spool when the lever is in bait position. Tighten/loosen the present knob according to how much pressure you like on the spool. As noted in the owner's manual, only move the present knob when in free spool. Apply more pressure when you're new, less and less, once you get better. Cast while the lever is in the bait postion, but you still need to thumb the spool. This greatly reduces backlashes and birdnests.

Distance-wise, Casting in free spool (with my now educated thumb) gets me about as far as casting in the bait position. Thumb pressure is quite different. If you were to cast in free spool, you can apply a little thumb pressure on the outset of the cast, however, you really have to put a lot of pressure towards the end of the cast. Think of it like this, when you cast, the weight is flying up, thumb pressure is little. But once the weight starts descending, apply a lot of thumb pressure, to the point of almost stopping the spool. Hopefully the line is wet, otherwise you're gonna get a burnt thumb. If you cast while in bait position, you can apply slight thumb pressure throughout the entire cast, only stopping the spool when it hits the water. Easy fishin.

Lessen the pressure on the spool in bait position until you can cast in full free spool. Or you can just always cast while in bait position. Don't be afraid to use it, its always going to be there. It doesn't make you any less of a man, getting a birdnest does. I really wish someone had told me all this, and about casting in general when I was a newb. All this info would have been very helpful.

You can always get an mc, or just mag your reel, I'm just saying, if you don't want to go those two routes.

[jpfilippi]

tip: watch the line between the reel and the first guide, if you see it start to arc, put some pressure, just touch the spool, don''t worry where it's going at this point it's going to hit the water. that arc is the start of a nest, get rid of that arc, it will show 2 times or 3.

[Double Z]

Um, Richard,,,, that little "pre-set" knob you are adjusting is actually adjusting the drag. Some people actually call it the "drag pre-set knob."

Just learn to cast. That's not meant in a dickish way. A good tip is to end your cast with the reel up-side-down in front of you. You can see the line coming off the reel and adjust thumb pressure accordingly. Also, it allows the loose line to fall free instead of into the frame of the reel.

[umoa]

Originally Posted by Double Z

Just learn to cast. A good tip is to end your cast with the reel up-side-down in front of you. You can see the line coming off the reel and adjust thumb pressure accordingly. Also, it allows the loose line to fall free instead of into the frame of the reel.

interesting, have to try that sometime.

[finadict]

Another tip: When learning to cast these things using the "bait" setting, wind the jig you are casting up about 3" from the tip. Next hold your rod tip up at about the 2 oclock position. In the "bait" position and your thumb at the ready on the spool..release your thumb and let the jig fall to the deck. Adjust the preset knob until you can let the jig fall, and the spool immediately stops when the jig hits the ground without touching the spool with your thumb. This is a good place to start practice casting. Every few casts, back the preset knob off a click....until you eventually get to total freespool and your thumb is educated to the reel. Took me a good solid afternoon spookin seals and seagulls in the harbor to really learn to fire off my first Avet in total freespool.
But, as Harry pointed out...using the bait feature is good for learning and getting a feel for the reel, but you will loose your drag preset by adjusting the knob to fine tune the cast. Best to get good at casting total freespool so youre not caught off guard with a fish on and try to adjust the drag preset while fighting a fish.
Magging the reel yourself is another option and works good for taking the edge off the freespool. Theres tons of how to's all over the net on magging Avets. You wont have any mag intensity adjustment, so best to go with a small neodymium mag, and not overdo it. Its easier to add thumb to a light mag than it is to back a non adjustable mag off .

[Double Z]

If you do the above method, make sure you know what your drag ends up pulling and that it's not 9lbs of drag at strike when you are fishing 20lb. Also, you might end up with a lot of handle pressure. That seems to vary from reel to reel.

Or,,,,,, practice in a park and deal with the over runs as they come. It's usually a pretty good way to get bit while fishing. Who hasn't been picked up while pulling out a nice nest?

[BigHammerKing]

Originally Posted by Double Z

Who hasn't been picked up while pulling out a nice nest?

who hasnt missed bites while pulling out a nice nest?


by the way, the method described above is only good for practice, do not use that method while fishing because your drag will most likely be all messed up.

[finadict]

Originally Posted by BigHammerKing

who hasnt missed bites while pulling out a nice nest?


by the way, the method described above is only good for practice, do not use that method while fishing because your drag will most likely be all messed up.

Yes, exactly...actual fishing...or at least fishing where you may actually hook something that will pull line, lol, isnt a good idea using the bait setting as cast control. Tie on a big ass jig and practice in the harbor...chances are nothing big enough to eat an iron and be able to actually swim with it will be there :P

[oetheous]

[by the way, the method described above is only good for practice, do not use that method while fishing because your drag will most likely be all messed up.[/QUOTE]


Messed up as in how? The drag wahsers were designed to be rubbed against each other. Heck, avet is so confident, they even glue their drag washer to the spool. Fighting a fish at strike drag doesn't seem to "mess up" the drag, I don't see how casting in the bait position will either.

[BOILER]

Originally Posted by oetheous

[by the way, the method described above is only good for practice, do not use that method while fishing because your drag will most likely be all messed up.

Messed up as in how? The drag wahsers were designed to be rubbed against each other. Heck, avet is so confident, they even glue their drag washer to the spool. Fighting a fish at strike drag doesn't seem to "mess up" the drag, I don't see how casting in the bait position will either.[/QUOTE]

Messed up as in the amount of drag you have when you go to strike and then to full....

I also don't let my rod flip all the way over when casting like doublez but where the guides are facing horizontal to the water. This allows the line to come off more freely without hitting the guides as much with the rod poointed up or down. You also get a full view of your spool (which I never look at anyways it's all about feel) if you like to look at it while your casting. I tend to look at my bait or my jig instead of my spool and it's really more important with your bait so that you can let it hit the water as softly as possible.

[finadict]

Originally Posted by BOILER

Messed up as in how? The drag wahsers were designed to be rubbed against each other. Heck, avet is so confident, they even glue their drag washer to the spool. Fighting a fish at strike drag doesn't seem to "mess up" the drag, I don't see how casting in the bait position will either.

Messed up as in the amount of drag you have when you go to strike and then to full....

I also don't let my rod flip all the way over when casting like doublez but where the guides are facing horizontal to the water. This allows the line to come off more freely without hitting the guides as much with the rod poointed up or down. You also get a full view of your spool (which I never look at anyways it's all about feel) if you like to look at it while your casting. I tend to look at my bait or my jig instead of my spool and it's really more important with your bait so that you can let it hit the water as softly as possible.[/QUOTE]

Another advantage of having the guides sideways and parallel to the water while line is flying out is gravity's effect on the line. with the spool horizontal, gravity wants to pull the line down and in, in the direction that the spool is spinning. along with the wet lines tendency to want to stick to the spool as well, the potential for the line to overrun under the spool and birds-nest is much higher than when the spinning spool is vertical to the water.

[woody82270]

YES!!!! LEARN TO CAST!!!!!!!