Multipliers at night

[Spahill]

Hi
would any of you experienced multiplier anglers care to provide any tips for preventing birdnests at night.
Is it just practice, practice & practice?
When using a f/s reel I used to count to 4,5 or 6 till the lead hit the water to get some idea of range.
but waiting with a multi just doesn't work.
I'm just using a smooth (as I can get it) overhead lob and burning my thumb (ouch) when the old brake goes on too early.
I'm improving slowly - no nests last time, but would appreciate any help, as when giving it more ooomph the distance is more likely to vary.
Cheers

[geejayy]

when are the birdies happening ? if its dureing the cast its no different to daylight ie- smooth casting style/ reel tuneing & good line lay needed.

if its an overrun after the weight hits the water its just a matter of useing experience to judge when to gently thumb the spool to slow it as the weight hits the water.

[MRG2000]

Its practice ,practice ,practice !!.......you can judge the speed of the lead ,by the sound of the reel,with experiance ,but you do need to give the cast a bit of welly to use this method....

[Spahill]

Thanks both.
Birdies happen at end of cast. I'm improving & if get a slight overun, I'm stripping it back and bedding it down under pressure. The line lay seems to be getting better each time, it's almost putting itself back on.
Tuning. its a 7ht mag - the knob on the spindle is not overly tight or loose, the numbered brake varies between max(10) & 7 as i feel. Is there much else too it?
Noise wise it really sang once, I was so chuffed/amazed I forgot to brake in time . Rod & reel back in bag and scissors came out when back home.
Cheers
Paul.

[geejayy]

oooohhh, 7ht mag i want me one o they.

as far as i know-

knob on spindle, - spool should move side ways just a little so that there's no tension on the ends of the spindle, they are used mainly to center the spool in the cage these days but can be used to slow thing down a bit in extremis though with mags fitted this shouldn't be nessacery exept prehaps with large baits into a massive headwind. pre mags, this was used to fine tune most reels on the beach. too much tension here may warp the spindle.

just a little side to side play is what you're looking for.

as said b4 practice is the thing, consistant smooth casts & getting a feel for the timeing when it comes to thumbing the spool to stop the overrun.
at the start of a session start with the mags high on say 9-10,
as you get more confident back off the mags further a little at a time,
when you get the hang of judgeing when to thumb the spool to prevent the overrun you'll find you need to watch the lead less , at this point i'd be watching the line as it pays off the spool , on a reel running slow the line makes a straight line towards the first eye of the rod, this is good to avoid birdies but restricts max distance.
if distance is what your after either cast more powerfully or/and let the reel run faster.
as you back off the mags and the reel starts to run faster( in daylight anyway) you'll see the line start to 'lift' up away from the blank, this is the point just b4 a birds nest where any less on the mags is likely to puff the reel .

if you can get the mag setting right the way down to 0 without getting line lift or birdies/crackoffs it might be time to think about lighter oil in the bareings/ smaller brake blocks etc.

the ammount of line that you have on the spool also makes a difference.

[Twiddler]

Originally Posted by Spahill

Thanks both.
Birdies happen at end of cast. I'm improving & if get a slight overun, I'm stripping it back and bedding it down under pressure. The line lay seems to be getting better each time, it's almost putting itself back on.
Tuning. its a 7ht mag - the knob on the spindle is not overly tight or loose, the numbered brake varies between max(10) & 7 as i feel. Is there much else too it?
Noise wise it really sang once, I was so chuffed/amazed I forgot to brake in time . Rod & reel back in bag and scissors came out when back home.
Cheers
Paul.

I feel for you.....almost the same happen to me last weekend....only recently bought a 7TH mag myself and I love it....I thought the 525 super mag I have is good but nothing compared the the 7TH.

I got the biggest birdnest last weekend when the line got caught in the starlight clip at the rod tip..........need to re-spool it now.

I found that you can put a little more thumb preassure on the 7TH when casting then on the 525 for example as the reel runs very very smooth