Easiest Way to Remove a Backlash From Your Baitcaster

There isn't a fisherman or woman who hasn't thrown a bird's nest or as some like to say, a professional over-run onto their bait cast reel at one time or another. It doesn't matter whether or not you had the settings adjusted correctly for the way you cast or your skill level, sometimes "Birds-nests" just happen.  Perhaps it happened when you were throwing a lure into the wind. Maybe you forgot to change the tension setting on the spool control knob when you changed lures and tied on something heavier.......for whatever the reason, "BAM", there it is. After you stop cussing, you set about to try and get them out.  You start picking and plucking and pulling.....sometimes you win....sometimes you lose and you reach for the scissors to cut the line knots out of your reel.

I've learned a really easy way to get the backlash out quickly and effortlessly and this will work 90% of the time. Before I tell you the secret, let me tell you another one that will help in the process.  When you first put new Fluorocarbon or Monofilament line on your reel, before you ever use it, spray the line down with Kevin Van Dam's Lure and Line Conditioner.  It's the only product I use on my equipment or sell in the store to customers.  When you soak your new line overnight for 24 hours with this stuff, it removes all the memory from the line and softens it, making it more manageable and less prone to backlash in the first place.  After you soak your line and wait 24 hours before casting it to allow it to do it's magic, right before you make your first cast, spray your line again and your life on the water will become more pleasurable.  This product is incredible and it lasts a long time.  Doesn't make your line weaker at all, just make your line softer and more manageable.  This stuff works on all lines including braid too.  Won't hurt your reel at all and I'm really sold on it. Now, once you've done that and you get a backlash, this will help you get it out much easier now that the line is more manageable.

Getting the "Backlash" out.  This is so slick, I wish I'd thought of it first....who ever did figure this out is a genius and I take off my hat to him or her.

Here's what you do.  First, tighten the drag down on your real fairly tight. You want to have the drag  tightened down enough so that when you do the next step, the line will be forced to move around the reel under heavy downward thumb pressure.  Next, if you have a right handed reel, place your left thumb with firm pressure down on the backlashed line.  With your right hand, turn the reel handle so the the line and the birdsnest is forced to start moving under your thumb pressure two or three revolutions of the reel.  Now, depress the thumb bar release so that it's in free spool mode and place your thumb back down on the line.  Now, while you are applying a little pressure to the line, start pull the line out through the front of the reel guide.  The birdsnest will start coming out as you pull the line out through the reel guide.  Once you reach the next knot, "STOP", don't pull anymore.  Place your thumb back onto the spool and knots and press firmly as you again turn the reel handle 2 to 3 revolutions.  Now depress the spool release bar again, place you thumb back over the line gently and start pulling the line out again through the reel guide.  Continue doing this until the reel is free of knots.

If the birdsnest is not too bad.  Sometimes you just have to do it once or twice.  If it's a stubborn one, it make take several attempts before you finally free the line and remove all the knots.  Since I've learned this trick, birdsnest frustration has become a thing of the past.  Try this the next time you get a professional over-run.  You'll never have to cut your line again or spend your day picking out knots from your spool.  This really works.

Once you've freed the knots from your reel, make sure to spray your reel again with Kevin Van Dam's Lure and Line conditioner and get on with your fishing.