Birdsnests when Jerkbaiting: advice sought.

Hello all,

A few months back I got myself a jerkbait setup (diawa whisker rod, Abu 6501c and 80lb powerpro braid) following much useful advice from you guys (many thanks). I have been having a it of a practice with it in preparation for the upcoming season. I am achieving a reasonable distance, however I am getting rather frequent over runs. I don't know if it is due to my casting style as I am still not really used to this style of rod or if the reel is not set up properly. I have this reel set up as I would for beachcasting, a tiny bit of sideplay on the spool and two brake blocks in. I only rarely have birdnests when beach fishing with it. Is there anything I can do to reduce this problem either in terms of casting style or reel set up?
Best Wishes
J

hi bud, your reels not set up right. can i ask what kind of lures your useing.

best thing to do is each time you put a new lure on wind up the trace swivel to the tip ring with the drum brake fully tightened. then release the thumb bail (the lure shouldnt drop yet at this stage). then with the rod horizontal to the ground, slowly loosen off the drum brake until the lure starts to fall at a slow controlled rate. you now know the reel will be spinning out line when u cast at the correct rate, thus avoiding the dreaded birds nest.
its important that each time you change lures you do this.

Thanks for the replies guys. My very small collection of jerkbaits currently consists of Fox replicants,I think they are about 60 grams, a savage gear lure which I can't remember the name of but is about 100g and another fox that is about 110g. By the sounds of it my reel is running way too fast. I will try the adjustment for the different lures as you suggest.
Cheers
J

dont over do the end caps on the drum brakes the bearings are in there. it will damage them.

dont take that the wrong way tootall, your spot on with the rest .

best way and im sorry to say its not the quickest is the educated thumb method

tootall does give all the info for newcomers

a few other things that can make a difference is the brakeblocks either engage them all or ensure they are engaged in opposing pairs. or an odd one to advise a newcomer but it works is disengage all the brakes and learn to cast using the cast control (cap nuts on the spindle)

others are changing the oil weight to slow the spool
take some braid off so the spool isnt as full

if i think of any others ill pop em on