# Day one with heaver...



## atcgriffin (May 26, 2012)

Well folks, I popped my cherry with my OM 12ft and dawia saltist ld30h. Went to sandbridge and planned on doing some practice cast with just weight but the second cast snapped my 40lb braid. So I got it all rigged up, this time with a fishfinder rig. Third cast, back lash, bait through off the hook. I picked that backlash out and then forth cast. The backlash was so bad I had to cut and handline the rig in. So now I have a birds nest setting in the garage.

Anybody have any tips other than try to get five cast next time?
Also fishing report, only caught skates using cut mullet.

Thanks


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## moby dick (Jan 5, 2007)

Practice Practice practice Man it took me a hole spring going to a empty field and a empty pier and throwing.Look on here there a page where guy's get together and practice distance cast.I went out there twice and those guy's showed me a lot they helped me out big time.
Good luck and hang in there you'll get it


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## the spot king (Oct 25, 2010)

Yes Practice but I like mono over braid for casting I got mines rig with 20 pound mono and 50 pound shock leader Works well I've been casting for about six months or so and YouTube has some good surf casting videos


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## DANtheJDMan (Aug 29, 2012)

atcgriffin said:


> Well folks, I popped my cherry with my OM 12ft and dawia saltist ld30h. Went to sandbridge and planned on doing some practice cast with just weight but the second cast snapped my 40lb braid. So I got it all rigged up, this time with a fishfinder rig. Third cast, back lash, bait through off the hook. I picked that backlash out and then forth cast. The backlash was so bad I had to cut and handline the rig in. So now I have a birds nest setting in the garage.
> 
> Anybody have any tips other than try to get five cast next time?
> Also fishing report, only caught skates using cut mullet.
> ...


Spool it up with mono until you get the hang of it. I learned to cast a long rod last summer with a 500 Jigmaster. I got good at wearing through the thumb of a glove and only had to cut off a couple of times. 
The guys on here say start slow and end fast. Sounds like your trying to throw to hard. Get good at short first before you try for way out yonder.
Hey buy an old Jigmaster. If you can learn to throw that you can throw anything. Oh and some gloves.
I have an Akios 656 SCM now and it is total bliss.


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## Islander80 (Mar 27, 2010)

Make sure the breaks are in and tighten up on the spool tention knob.


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## Double07 (May 31, 2013)

Get rid of the braid!


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## Suavea (Oct 9, 2002)

There could be an issue with the tension you have set. One clue hold your rod straight out, if you release the switch to cast and the weight just falls to the ground it is not set properly. you must tighten it so that you find that balance where it holds in the air and not drop to the ground with the rod held straight out. But no so tight that it wont cast. hope this helps. Good luck.


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## RoyVa (May 13, 2013)

Islander80 said:


> Make sure the breaks are in and tighten up on the spool tention knob.


You did not mention how much weight you were throwing but sometimes when learning, less is more. 
I learned throwing 4 oz, with cheap mono out on a local lake. went thru a little line myself if memory serves but you will get it. keep working at it. 
Also, a heavy shock leader can help the comfort of the fingers


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## AbuMike (Sep 3, 2007)

Suavea said:


> There could be an issue with the tension you have set. One clue hold your rod straight out, if you release the switch to cast and the weight just falls to the ground it is not set properly. you must tighten it so that you find that balance where it holds in the air and not drop to the ground with the rod held straight out. But no so tight that it wont cast. hope this helps. Good luck.


The tension knob is not for casting control but spool centering. Cast control comes from the different break blocks supplied with the reel... A smooth cast and practice is what will help you with this setup. As mentioned, get rid of the braid and learn with some good mono in #17-#20.


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## sunburntspike (Oct 4, 2010)

as mentioned -get rid of the braid for now-also something that hasn't been mentioned-get rid of the lever drag for now-lever drags can be a bit tricky to learn on,ah hell,alot tricky.find yerself an old jigmaster,diawa slosh,penn 980,etc.something that has a true free spool and brakes.hit it slow and finish fast,once you've got the rod loaded properly with confidence you can go back to yer original set up and you'll have a better refrence as to what a good cast feels like.on a heaver i personally don't recommend casting braid,using it as only the main backer for length with a 100-150yds of mono top shot for the actual cast.


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## Les (May 28, 2000)

There have been days when I thought I was the Backlash King. My problem... snapping my wrist while releasing too late. It causes the spool to over run. Sometimes I could slow the spool down with a hint of thumb pressure and the outgoing line would straiten it out. Other times is was "bird nest city"! Practice, practice, practice. Oh, and get rid of the braid as mentioned.


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## lil red jeep (Aug 17, 2007)

I know that this video shows a guy fishing a bass type bait caster but I have used this many times on everything from a Daiwa Saltish 30H to an Akios. It works almost* every time. *nothing works every time.....just sayin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDI5kwR5zjc


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## Canon (Jun 26, 2012)

def put the brake blocks in. You might not have a smooth enough cast and are in a sence "jerking" the rod and the line isnt coming off correctly. I learned to cast from a tiny little guy who could throw 8nbait a country mile. Its all about technique and how you load the rod. Also get rid of that braid. I have always used 17lb suffix with a 40lb shock leader. Caught many big drum in NC on that setup. Maybe take a video of yourself casting.


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## atcgriffin (May 26, 2012)

Well, spent about 20 minutes cutting and pulling the bird nest out. Definitely going to put mono on top of what's left. Someone asked wait weight I was using, 7oz on the two first cast. Snapped on the second. Then I used 5oz with bait. I'm not that familiar enough with the saltist ld30h to what y'all are talking about break blocks.

I've been on YouTube all morning and cait wait to get out and try again.


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## DANtheJDMan (Aug 29, 2012)

atcgriffin said:


> Well, spent about 20 minutes cutting and pulling the bird nest out. Definitely going to put mono on top of what's left. Someone asked wait weight I was using, 7oz on the two first cast. Snapped on the second. Then I used 5oz with bait. I'm not that familiar enough with the saltist ld30h to what y'all are talking about break blocks.
> 
> I've been on YouTube all morning and cait wait to get out and try again.


There is probably one other Utube video you should watch, that is the one where a guy is throwing a big weight and gets a birds nest and it breaks off in a bad spot and pulls a big knot through all the guides and cleans them all off his new rod. It looked really expensive. way more than seeing a weight break the sound barrier and go into orbit. There is a huge amount of energy in the loaded rod, you are transfering the energy into the weight to make it fly over 100 yards. Let alone the guys who can throw twice that far.


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## atcgriffin (May 26, 2012)

danthejdman said:


> there is probably one other utube video you should watch, that is the one where a guy is throwing a big weight and gets a birds nest and it breaks off in a bad spot and pulls a big knot through all the guides and cleans them all off his new rod. It looked really expensive. Way more than seeing a weight break the sound barrier and go into orbit. There is a huge amount of energy in the loaded rod, you are transfering the energy into the weight to make it fly over 100 yards. Let alone the guys who can throw twice that far.


damn!


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## dcfishman (Dec 20, 2002)

sounds to me like 
you need to learn how to preset your reel ,for fishing i start at 15 seconds, I tape the line down to my spool as to not let line unravel-take my thumb and push the spool forward as fast as possible and set adjustment to stop spool at 15 seconds that should givea good stating point but if to slow make ajustments, once u got it switch to 50lb Powerpro with 5oz peramid with slider for a fish finder rig,beed behind slider, u will not need a shock leader with heavy duty slide, hope this helps u out/dcfishman


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## atcgriffin (May 26, 2012)

Pardon the dumb question but can you "preset" a saltist ld30h?


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## JAM (Jul 22, 2002)

40 pound braid is the diameter of 10 pound test.. The reel was designed to throw from 15 to 20 pound Mono.. With the less dia braid line more line is coming off your reel per revolution then it can handle.. Braid is a Great thing on spinning reels but it sux @ss on a conventional.. Hope this helps.. 
JAM


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## atcgriffin (May 26, 2012)

Jam, thanks for the advice. I'm switching to mono as soon as possable.


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## ORF Pete (Sep 26, 2009)

Did you buy that LD30H with beach fishing or distance casting in mind? Long story short, you're kinda screwed trying to get distance out of the reel or prevent backlashes imo. You COULD learn to cast with that reel but there's going to be a learning curve, with lots of thumbing and distance loss and replaced line. The LD30H doesn't have brake blocks btw so the suggestions to add those in are unfortunately moot, and most lever drags don't have a disengaging free spool. Imo use that LD30H on the boat and pier for chunking and get a reel more suited to to casting for distance.


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## RoyVa (May 13, 2013)

atcgriffin said:


> Well folks, I popped my cherry with my OM 12ft and dawia saltist ld30h. Went to sandbridge and planned on doing some practice cast with just weight but the second cast snapped my 40lb braid. So I got it all rigged up, this time with a fishfinder rig. Third cast, back lash, bait through off the hook. I picked that backlash out and then forth cast. The backlash was so bad I had to cut and handline the rig in. So now I have a birds nest setting in the garage.
> 
> Anybody have any tips other than try to get five cast next time?
> Also fishing report, only caught skates using cut mullet.
> ...


The Diawa SL30SH is a great starter casting reel if you can find one.


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## atcgriffin (May 26, 2012)

The idea of the purchase was to put the saltist on a heaver. If it doesn't work out, I could put it on a boat rod for trolling or jigging.


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## huntingwood (Jun 13, 2009)

No brakes in the lever drag saltist. I would get a reel with brakes or mag for learning. Or just spool with mono and take it really easy until you can control it with your thumb. Dont try and throw hard just focus on a smooth cast.


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## RuddeDogg (Mar 20, 2004)

Well I have to disgree with the braid thing. From my experience with the 525 running 50lb braid over 17lb mono , I had no issues with backlashing or bird nests. Yes practice, practice, practice. Took me a while to get it right, but I got it. Nothing wrong with using braid.


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## atcgriffin (May 26, 2012)

Thanks guys for all the responses.


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## CoolDude (Sep 28, 2010)

Don't try for distance. Take your time, perfect the casting motion and timing. After a while...or you start to feel comfortable, you can try to put some heat on it. Goin all buck wild on the first trip?...you may be lucky you didn't snap your pole in half :0


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## Alexy (Nov 1, 2010)

Get mono on it. go smooth cast 75 feet , reel it and try and hit the same spot again and again and again. When you get your technique down start going for a bit farther distance. Another trick is to put a tennis ball over the weight to make it not dig in and reel in easier.


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## atcgriffin (May 26, 2012)

Thanks for the tips. Put the mono on today, maybe I'll get to a ball field tomorrow.


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## Canon (Jun 26, 2012)

A big key with throwing a conventional is like mentioned above, Dont try to throw it a country mile. Take your time go easy with it and let the bending rod do the work.


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