Downrigger braid stuck under brake

[Sangstercraft]

Hey guys, when the braid comes off the spool and slips under the brake, how do you get it out? I've cut both ends and retied, but the small piece of braid is still stuck under there and is screwing up the brake function. It's an older Scotty electric downrigger. Thanks for any advice.

 

[CatchAll]

Pull the spool off. Cleanup. Then reset the brake tension when you put it back together.

 

[BarryA]

… and do it while you’re fishing. Just pull spool out, unravel from the driveshaft, put back and get back to fishing.

 

[CatchAll]

… and do it while you’re fishing. Just pull spool out, unravel from the driveshaft, put back and get back to fishing.

I did that a while ago. Wrapped the downrigger braid around a cleat and pulled the spool off the downrigger. When I got done fixing the mess and putting the downrigger back together and grabbed my rod there was a fish on it. I haven't had the problem since I adjusted the fairlead to make sure the braid lands in the middle of the spool. I also don't drop on bottom as hard and wait a half a second before pushing the up button. Bouncing bottom hard can cause a bit of slack to run back at the spool and a poorly timed retrieve can result in it getting wrapped up.

 

[BarryA]

I don't even wrap around a cleat. Just pull it off, fix issue, put back on, and tighten nut so that it won't free spool. Then put on belt and loosen nut to desired tension and button up. The cleat can be hard to do since you have to grab the braid with your hands so I just skip that altogether.

 

[Aces]

Wrapping that braid a few times around the wood handle of a gaff hook saves a lot of damage to the boat

 

[2xeagle16]

I made a wooden clamp for this problem. I simply put a clamp on the braid to stop the spool from running out. This can be a very precarious situation. I would be very careful and watch what you are doing – an easy way to lose a finger or two if you have a 15 pound cannon ball hanging off the downrigger. I would love to hear what a Scotty technician would say about the comments on this thread.

 

[67greengt]

Wrapping that braid a few times around the wood handle of a gaff hook saves a lot of damage to the boat

I learned that good trick from Jason Tonelli when I was out last week, what a difference!!