I am a newb to baitcasters to start, about 3 weeks ago I picked up a Lew's Mach Pro from bass pro.   Took me a couple of fishing outings to get to where I wasn't bird nesting anymore with that.  I really like the feel of the bait caster and understand now why people like them so much.  So I bought a second rod and reel, the lew's mach crush combo.   

 

I set the Crush up exactly like I am suppose to (made sure line went on spool correctly, turn off braking, adjust tension, set brake to about 1/2 to 3/4, test lure drop, etc).   Casting it just like I do the Lew's Mach Pro, except every single cast it bird nest, and it's happening either at the beginning of the cast or mid air usually, rarely at end of cast when lure hits water.

 

Same 15lb flouro on both reels.   Also another thing I noticed is I opened the rod brake panel and adjusted the centrifugal brake, and put the brake back on.   Weird thing I noticed is the brake doesn't make the distinctive clicking noise anymore when adjusting.   Did I screw something up?   I think the brake is still adjusting, because I took it back off and turned the dial and I can see it moving up and down.   

 

Any advice, help would be appreciated.   Thanks!   

Practice feathering the spool with your thumb during the cast.

 

Does it still backlash with break turned all the way up ?

 

Is your rod properly loading during the cast ?

 

You could also unspool most of the Flouro " hook on bumper or something " and stretch it out some and rewind, it helps. 

Lastly, you could go to 30# braid. 

3 minutes ago, Bird said:

Practice feathering the spool with your thumb during the cast.

 

Does it still backlash with break turned all the way up ?

 

Is your rod properly loading during the cast ?

 

You could also unspool most of the Flouro " hook on bumper or something " and stretch it out some and rewind, it helps. 

Lastly, you could go to 30# braid. 

Yes I tried with brakes on max and centrifugal brakes all on.   Still backlashes...  Is there a way to really verify if the brakes are working or not?   I will give the stretching a shot as well.

Almost sounds like line coil to me as cheaper Fluorocarbon has quite a bit of memory. 

 

If it is indeed an issue with the reel, Lews has outstanding customer service. 

Could just be a lemon of a reel. I've had one or two that, no matter what settings I used, they wouldn't cast without backlashing. Unless I set the spool tension so tight that I just couldn't get any distance. Take it back and exchange it for another if you don't feel comfortable with trying to address the issue yourself.

Take it back and get another one. Sometimes combos that sit on shelves get abused by people handling them.

 

if your magnetic brake control is not clicking there is definitely a problem with the reel.

Tighten that spool tension and don’t focus on casting far just focus on casting, your not gonna get max distance until your used to your reel, takes some time you’ll get it. I believe you will ??

the mach crush has a 4 pin centrifugal brake and a magnetic brake. the dial for the magnetic brake should click. backlash at the start of a cast requires more centrifugal brake. backlash during a cast requires more magnetic brake. a trained thumb helps.

Sounds like the reel.

Appears to be a bad reel, I have contacted the company I bought it from and hoping they will just allow me to swap out the reel and not have to ship the entire combo back.   

 

Thanks for all the replies and help.   Much appreciated.