1. New to baitcasters, after bait land in the water sometimes there is a little slack when I first start reeling, I think this reeling of no tension slack line is causes loops in my spool, does that sound right and do you have to apply tension always, so never reel a baitcasters w slack line?

 

2. Also when I do see loose loops in spool, I pull out line to get them out but I swear this forms new loops, I put my finger on spool to slow the pulling out of line although it takes some pressure fighting the drag so I dont know if I need to do that with the thumb but anyway, does pulling out more line cause more loops or why is this happening to me? 

 

Thanks! 

 

1) Are you stopping the spool completely before the lure hits the water? If not you should as those loops you see are a minor overrun. 
 

2) Pulling out the loops is the right thing to do. However do not do this before you get out of free spool mode (ie, crank the handle). If you don’t, even with your thumb on the spool, the loops won’t go away. Pull line out against the drag and the loops will be gone soon. 

1.  you don't want loops, so yes pull them out.  when I fish with a jig, I want the bait to fall with semi-slack line.  once it hits the bottom, I can lift my rod tip to make the line taught and remove any slack in the reel.

 

2.  there does need to be some tension on the spool, you can either use loose drag or apply pressure with your thumb (be careful not to press hard).  sooner or later, you'll get all the loops out. 

 

When reeling in slack, try pinching the line close to the first rod guide to keep an even tension.

 

Adjust your brakes accordingly: if you notice the loops appear during the cast, adjust your magnetic/centrifugal brakes on the side plate.  if you notice the loops appear when the bait lands, increase your spool tension OR MORE IMPORTANTLY feather the spool with your thumb during the cast. 

#1 you can fix this by lift the rod tip up while thumb the spool lightly after lure hit the water.

#2 it will create more loops at beginning. If I see a lot of loose loop, I either cast it out the next cast or just simple pull out line in free spool mode with thumb lightly pressure on the spool. Pull out loop against the drag might create kink and damage light mono/FC line.

  

9 hours ago, islandbass said:

Are you stopping the spool completely before the lure hits the water? If not you should

 

9 hours ago, Kenny Yi said:

OR MORE IMPORTANTLY feather the spool with your thumb during the cast. 

 

   These are the answer. Although newer brake systems are made to appeal to the beginner with ever-increasing sophistication, the old ways are still the best ways. Brakes are good, but the thumb is best. Yes, it's a PITA to learn thumb-priority over brake-priority, but once you learn to use the thumb, you can adapt to sudden, unpredictable changes in your casting conditions.

 

   One other thing; if you've just got fluff and not an actual bird's nest, always pull line off with the drag engaged. This gives you firm, consistent tension to eliminate further looping. It helps to line up the line coming off the spool with the levelwind eye, too.

   That advice doesn't apply to a full-blown backlash.

 

   Good luck!               jj

it's not forming new backlash loops, but exposing those you wrapped over with tight line.  

 

Get them out now or they'll come out later to haunt you and lock your spool mid-cast.  

10 hours ago, Kenny Yi said:

When reeling in slack, try pinching the line close to the first rod guide to keep an even tension.

I apply slight pressure with my thumb when reeling in slack. I birdnest, pull it out, pull the line until loops are out, then I put my thumb on the spool while feeling in all the slack line so it goes on “tight.”

Since you are new to baitcasters, tighten your spool tension knob down to the point where when you hold your bait up by the rod and press the thumb bar the bait falls very very slowly to the ground.  Reel it up and give the tension knob a slight click so that the bait doesn’t fall.  Cast with it like that until you get the feel for using your thumb to control your spool in addition to the tension knob.  Keep in mind there are a lot of factors that go into setting your reel tension and you will be adjusting for wind, line type, lure choice, rod length and type of cast (skipping, pitching, sidearm, etc.) on a regular basis.

3 hours ago, huZZah said:

I apply slight pressure with my thumb when reeling in slack. I birdnest, pull it out, pull the line until loops are out, then I put my thumb on the spool while feeling in all the slack line so it goes on “tight.”

I had not thought of applying my thumb when reeling in slack because I figured the line is still slack and the no tension line will still form loops right, how does this help?

   I began to run line through my fingers many years ago, to keep the Mississippi mud off my line and out of my spool. It's now an ingrained habit; I do it constantly. It seems to help line lay, both with braided and nylon lines. It's nice to get ahead of a problem before the problem gets bad!

 

 

  Seems to work for cottonwood seeds, too.               jj

Braid should be the least likely line to loop like this. There must be some other issue related to the reel and rod or the line itself. Aside from no stretch and high break strength, the number one reason to fish braid is that it never loops up like mono and fluoro. The only way I know this to happen is overruns where the spool continues to spin after the bait has stopped.