help stop birdnest please

Member Joined: Oct 26, 2008 Posts: 13 Location: aberdeen

hi folks i need some help i just got a fladen 880 it says it has a dual braking system to prevent over-run but alas it still happens how do i adjust the reel to stop it overrunning? any advice would be grateful as fladen dont seem to enclose adjustment instructions only a parts list
thanks

Regular Joined: Oct 16, 2007 Posts: 333 Location: Bridport

Buy a good reel lol

only joking

Posted: Thu Dec 25, 2008 8:33 am

Hello matey, overuns can either happen during the cast or at the end of the cast.
If they happen during the cast then you can tighten the cap on the end of the reel, but only very slightly, or put in bigger brake blocks.
If they happen at the end of the cast, its because your not stopping the spool with your thumb, this is something that should be done just before the lead hits the water

Posted: Thu Dec 25, 2008 3:19 pm

Why not get a fixed spool reel? Modern versions go practically as far as a multi, especially if the spool is nice and wide. They reel in a lot faster and don't cause all this trouble. Beats me why folk want to bother with multi's unless you want to do tournament casting, you won't catch any more fish which is what it's all about.

Member Joined: Jul 15, 2008 Posts: 60

i just learnt to use my thumb over time i dont get distance , but its all in practise. When fishing take a fixed spool to fish with and multi to practise

Posted: Thu Dec 25, 2008 9:14 pm

There is an old reel on the market that can be purchased for about £10 to £26 called the Intrepide Seastreak. Its nickname being The Screamer.

I personally loaned one to Keiren and he did his best to birdie it, and he couldn't

The only drawback is that it has no levelwind.
Cheers keith big grin

Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2008 9:55 am

[quote="rabbi2"]There is an old reel on the market that can be purchased for about £10 to £26 called the Intrepide Seastreak. Its nickname being The Screamer.

I personally loaned one to Keiren and he did his best to birdie it, and he couldn't

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All i can say is Keirens `best to birdie' was not as good as my effort, cos i managed a rooks nest first cast !
The owner said it was birdie proof but the reel was definitely not as it was unusable for the rest of the match.
You can tell how good seastreaks are by the fact you can buy one for a tenner.
I see that the fladen reel you have is for rough ground or light boat so not a distance reel , go for a slower medium range cast with the spool only half filled and it should be ok

Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2008 10:25 am

Shame you dont live local as you could put it to the test as have a few others.

It never ceases to suprise me that folk knock a piece of gear without knowing the first thing about it.

Here is a pic of the reel. The vanes on the spool act as brakes due to wind resistance that can be varied by the user.

The other good point is that there are no brake blocks to wear out.

Oh by the way the above reel is 50yrs old hence the cost of purchasing one.

Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2008 2:12 pm

I think you`ll find the reel is 40 yrs old not 50 and good casting reels keep their value, it cost £9 2s 0d back then so a tenner now is one big drop in value.
Ok for a bit of nostalgia but best left in the cupboard (which is where mine stay). The only good thing about `em is they scare the seagulls away big grin

Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2008 3:07 pm

try setting the reel up first buy clipping 4 or 5 ozs on the line tighten the cap on the end of reel to lock spool then click in to free spool, then lose cap slowly till weight starts to drop keep doing this till it runs but stops when weight hits the floor with no over run, practice casting smoothly by not trying to hard as the harder you cast the the more likely you are to nest up after a while it will come to you and you will start to get distance

p.s. if you practice on playing fields please put a red or bright ribbon on the lead so if it cracks of you can find it

Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2008 4:03 pm

As Findus says ease off on the power to start with and stick with about 5oz.
If you try to cast with too small a lead by the time the reel has got up to speed the lead has lost so much power that the reel is throwing out line faster than the lead can drag it away = birdsnest.
Best of luck sniggle

Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2008 8:13 pm

What a palava

Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2008 8:35 pm

dear eccles i have less palaver with my multi then my mate with his fixed spools and with my 525 can retrieve just as fast

Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2008 9:27 pm

I just happened to have a pile of reels next to me which have been putting new shockleaders on, so i got the ruler out,
multipliers
ambassadeur 6000 20" per revolution of handle
shimano speedmaster 23" p/r

and in the fixed spool league
daiwa regal 34"
old mitchell 486 36"
daiwa pm4000h 40"
Note that multi`s line was to casting level (not rim of spool) and f/s were full to rim.
Retrieve would be much less after a long cast with any reel but still pretty impressed with my best fixed spool.

Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2008 10:47 pm

I know this argument will go on for ever: My Shimano multi does 20 inch, Okuma FS - 30 inch, Diawa FS - 27 inch (will have to have a word with Diawa sometime LOL) However, messing around with a multi at night when I do a lot of my fishing is not for me unless I am on a boat. Some of the FS reels can give trouble because the spool skirts are not deep enough so line can get trapped underneath. I consider this a design fault (my mate's Penn's are like this and he quite often has trouble) but the reels I use don't have this problem. Let's just say that I have seen so many folks fiddling about with multi's on beaches over the years that I don't want to know mainly because I want to catch fish rather than be some sort of fishing reel expert.