dock shooting question(s)

[jimp]

how much line do you guys put on your reels, half, 2/3rd's, full, somewhere in between? Been practicing on the driveway trying to get the "shootin" part down a little bit, not too bad but still got a good ways to go to be consistent on hitting the spot I aim for. Been having trouble with too much line coming off the spool and causing a mess around the bail. I read some of the older threads on dock shootin. I just put 4# Mr. Crappie hi viz on the both reels I plan on using for this, and filled 'em up like normal, but ended up taking 20-30 yds back off, it seemed to do better but didn't getmuch more practice in cause supper was ready.

[TreednNC]

Full. Use a tall shallow spool as well. Not so full that line just falls off, but as full as can be without it just dumping off. You need to maintain momentum to get into the backs of the docks.

[kbaker]

I fill mine say 2/3rd's full anymore than that give's me problems.My 2 cent.

[EARL KITCHENS]

I use Pflueger Scion Reels and I back fill them half way with old line and then wrap it with electrical tape. Then I fill the rest of the way up with PLINE Florocarbon 4 lb test. I also use 5'6" BPS Microlite rods. This combination works great for me. I have used Mr. Crappie Line with no issues also. Good luck.

[CrappiePappy]

I never fill my spools up "full" ... I always leave about a 1/8" gap between the top most line wraps & the lip/edge of the spool. To me, that's full !!

Depending on the reel & line, you can sometimes find the sweet spot when refilling line on your reel. Crank it on with tension, until it's full ... then open the bail. If line uncoils & falls off the spool ... pull it off until it stops coming off on its own. If line jumps off the spool, in coils & tangles, you've put the line on twisted and it's just trying to uncoil itself. Always check the line for twists, after the first half dozen turns of the handle ... by dropping your rod down towards the line spool & seeing if the line has more turns than before you started cranking the handle. If it does, flip the line spool over & continue filling the reel.

If you've done everything right in filling the reel with line, and your loops & birdsnests are coming during your shooting practice or actual dock shooting ... your reel spool may be too small for that brand or pound test of line (esp. if the problem presents itself at the beginning of your shooting). If it happens after a period of time of shooting the jig ... your jig may be spinning (twisting the line) or you may not have enough tension on the line when retrieving. Loose line wraps on your reel spool tend to come off in clumps, and even the limpest line will still have "some" twist to it (nature of the reel spool being sideways to the exiting line) ... and even those few coils will drag the other loose coils off the reel, when the line exits the spool.

If it happens after a period of time of use .... I usually make a long cast & apply tension to the line (w/my fingers) as I reel it back (to remove loose wraps), then resume my shooting. Another method is to remove everything from the line & drag the empty line behind the boat at idle speed, for a few minutes (to remove twist). I let out approx. the top 1/3 of the reels line capacity, then reel it back in under tension. When practicing, I'll open the bail & drag the empty line around the yard until I've let out that 1/3 line capacity ... then reel it back thru the grass, while applying tension with my finger/thumb. The grass undoes the twists, and my finger tension prevents the loose line wraps.

Unless your dock shooting is going to be such that you need to hit a 12" square opening, or less (as in shooting under the back end of a pontoon boat) .... don't practice shooting to hit the object you're aiming at, directly, but try & have your jig hit a foot in front of it & skid into it. In practical use, you will get your jig farther back under a dock if you skip the jig across the water's surface, than if you try & shoot it all the way back "in the air". This is especially true when you have limited distance between the bottom edge of the dock & the water. * And remember * ... the closer the dock is to the water, the darker the shade is underneath it !! The darker the shade, the more likelyhood there's fish hiding under there.

... cp

[jimp]

I never fill my spools up "full" ... I always leave about a 1/8" gap between the top most line wraps & the lip/edge of the spool. To me, that's full !!

After I took 20-30 yds off, that's what I would guess I've got is a 1/8" gap from the spooled line to the edge of the spool.

Depending on the reel & line, you can sometimes find the sweet spot when refilling line on your reel. Crank it on with tension, until it's full ... then open the bail. If linsie uncoils & falls off the spool ... pull it off until it stops coming off on its own. If line jumps off the spool, in coils & tangles, you've put the line on twisted and it's just trying to uncoil itself. Always check the line for twists, after the first half dozen turns of the handle ... by dropping your rod down towards the line spool & seeing if the line has more turns than before you started cranking the handle. If it does, flip the line spool over & continue filling the reel.

removing the 30yds of line helped but I didn't have time to practice much more after making that change. When I put the new line on, I unrolled the new line out thru the yard/grass, interleaved the line thru my finges and reeled the new line in. hard to say how much tension I put on the line using this method. I then put the smallest/weighted float I had and made several casts out to help settle the line in so to speak, and then started practicing the "shootin" part. I don't think the line is twisted since I laid the new line out in the yard and reeled it in.

The line would just create a small tangle or uncoil itself around the body of the reel after "shootin". I was using the small weighted float to simiulate having a jig on the end so the hook would not create issues.

If you've done everything right in filling the reel with line, and your loops & birdsnests are coming during your shooting practice or actual dock shooting ... your reel spool may be too small for that brand or pound test of line (esp. if the problem presents itself at the beginning of your shooting). If it happens after a period of time of shooting the jig ... your jig may be spinning (twisting the line) or you may not have enough tension on the line when retrieving. Loose line wraps on your reel spool tend to come off in clumps, and even the limpest line will still have "some" twist to it (nature of the reel spool being sideways to the exiting line) ... and even those few coils will drag the other loose coils off the reel, when the line exits the spool.
One of the reels is a bps crappie max UL reel, and am using Mr. Crappie 4# hi viz, brand new from the store. The other reel is a Quantum Torsion (I think is the model) slightly larger than the crappie max reel in overall size. I can see where the line would get twisted after fishing due to the lack of a swivel and such.

If it happens after a period of time of use .... I usually make a long cast & apply tension to the line (w/my fingers) as I reel it back (to remove loose wraps), then resume my shooting. Another method is to remove everything from the line & drag the empty line behind the boat at idle speed, for a few minutes (to remove twist). I let out approx. the top 1/3 of the reels line capacity, then reel it back in under tension. When practicing, I'll open the bail & drag the empty line around the yard until I've let out that 1/3 line capacity ... then reel it back thru the grass, while applying tension with my finger/thumb. The grass undoes the twists, and my finger tension prevents the loose line wraps.
this is how I put the new line on.

Unless your dock shooting is going to be such that you need to hit a 12" square opening, or less (as in shooting under the back end of a pontoon boat) .... don't practice shooting to hit the object you're aiming at, directly, but try & have your jig hit a foot in front of it & skid into it. In practical use, you will get your jig farther back under a dock if you skip the jig across the water's surface, than if you try & shoot it all the way back "in the air". This is especially true when you have limited distance between the bottom edge of the dock & the water. * And remember * ... the closer the dock is to the water, the darker the shade is underneath it !! The darker the shade, the more likelyhood there's fish hiding under there.

I'm trying to hit certain objects to practice being accurate, but realize I need to be able to skip the bait on the water under the dock since things are a bit different from the driveway to being on the water.. I'm just trying to get proficient with the concepts involved with this style . thanks for the help, keep it coming.

... cp

thanks for the info, keep the tips coming.

[TreednNC]

I never fill my spools up "full" ... I always leave about a 1/8" gap between the top most line wraps & the lip/edge of the spool. To me, that's full !!

Depending on the reel & line, you can sometimes find the sweet spot when refilling line on your reel. Crank it on with tension, until it's full ... then open the bail. If line uncoils & falls off the spool ... pull it off until it stops coming off on its own. If line jumps off the spool, in coils & tangles, you've put the line on twisted and it's just trying to uncoil itself. Always check the line for twists, after the first half dozen turns of the handle ... by dropping your rod down towards the line spool & seeing if the line has more turns than before you started cranking the handle. If it does, flip the line spool over & continue filling the reel.

... cp

FULL to me is about the same as what CP describes.

I dont skimp on a reel for this though, as I might on my long rods that wont see a lot of "reeling" action. A good reel with good rollers on the bail, and well designed spool will feed line off more cleanly that a cheaper reel that you'd have to air more caution in spooling tension/twists/and level filled to.

[jusanothajoe]

hard to explain but I take my pointer finger and touch the top of the spool when my jig hits the water. this keeps any extra line from coming off. also get in the habit of closing your bail with your HAND not by cranking the handle. this will stop alot of loops. stiff line will loop off worse. plastics will skip well. tied or hair jigs do not skip well and need to be shot all the way in the air

[2KanZam]

I've always adhered to the basic rule of filling my reel up until it is about a nickel's width away from the top of the spool.....I typically have no issues.
as mentioned, flipping the bail by hand can help too

[wvspec]

FULL!!!!!!! When u launch, drag it behind boat without jig and let it unwind.