Wind-On Horror story

[CaptKen]

Thurs night Davie is sewing heads on and Im setting out the rods, We dont even have um all out yet and the middle jug bends over and starts to melt away @ 15lbs on an 80w, right away Paul pushes it to 25 lbs and he is going faster as I am screamin to get this thing fired up and movin now ! then burried at 35lbs and 1/2 gone then 3/4 under a min. then we are down to less than a 100 yards left and we are at 15 kknts going out to sea in 6' waves crashing all over us and draging all the rest of the gear behind us, not gaining he is still taking but slower, after 5 min at 15 knts we start to slowly gain an inch at a time. we get 1/4 spool back then 1/2 and we start to slow down. 30-35lbs for 5 1/2 hours and we have him to the wind-on, it goes on and off the reel 3 or 4 times,then all of a sudden its in the guides not quite on the reel and it goes off like a rifle bullet ! POW !
The mono slipped out of the dacron, and yes I made it so theres nobody to blame but me, I learned from 3 differnt guys which I consider the best, We caught a few 150 lbrs and smaller ones on the same type and worked well, I am just not convinced that they can hold up to that type of pressure for that amount of time.

Any way I AM DONE WITH WIND-ONS THEY ARE OUTLAWED ON MY BOAT ! So if you go with me on my boat and you have a wind-on cut it off or leave your rod at home.
Ken

[hannaman]

Dam Ken that sucks, another big one lost. Was the wind on served and glued and all that sh...? Did the loop on your main line pull loose or the loop on the wind on? Are you using mono or braid mainline?

[CaptKen]

100 lb suffix- bimini- loop in dacron- 220 mamoi x-hard glued pulled out of the finger cuff, serve still on the end I have left, double wall

[Flatsfish B]

Did you see the fish? definitly a sword?

That really sucks, I use wind-ons and will continue until i have one fail.

[Shark Tagger]

Sorry to hear capt. you'll get her next time.. good job on getting out in those seas!!

we never really got into windons. They are much safer, but we have been using long leaders with success for a long time.

[dpdash]

I had two store bought windon's pull out of the dacron, both with fish right at the boat, like you. I still think the positive's outnumber the negatives, sorry to hear about that nice fish though.

[Warrior]

That story ruined my day...sorry.

[catching]

Ken, that just sucks, on a positive note at least she is not dragging a mile of line and might live to fight another day.

I am keeping the windons on, last fish wrapped in engines, trim tabs and if it was not for the windon's fish would have been gone.

[Beerman]

Dam it!!!! Just when i started to lean back towards wind ons, this happens........if this happens to me after having a swivel open on me.....dam!!!

[Sword Hunter]

Ive never had that problem before. Ive heard about that problem happening to a few people but for some reason I havent had it happen yet. Seems like the 220 has to much stretch step it up to at least 250 or 300. When the line stretches it thins in diameter, that plus ur guids hitting the double in the wind on prob caused the prob do you have the big big wind on guids or the smaller rollers? The larger guids are much better less friction.

[BirdDog0219]

I don't use wind on's my self. Time after time I hear this type of horor story. I ask why don't you guys take wraps on the wind on and hand line the fish to the boat cranking the wind on, on the reel as you go, or just use longer leaders and skip the wind on.

[Daytripper]

Faulty windons. cuff style with the mono passed all the way to the braided loop is the only way to go. Most people stop with the mono meeting the braid in the center of the cuff, But worked properly the mono will pass on through the braid in the center and work up all the way to braided loop. I have tested store bought and selfmade with rod in holder and tied to a truck that drove away with penn 70s with 40lbs and at half spool the 100lb power pro broke and not the windon.

[JahMussa]

Well you knew I would have to post here....

Sorry to hear this Ken! I know you are safe on the boat but without the use of a windon leader... you might loose something even more valuable than a fish. I respect your decision due to this windon failure but please realize that the windon leader isn't the problem. Please keep the bridal and bring it by the next time. I would like to see it and see if there was anything you could have done differently (besides pony up the $15

220 is a super hard line and doesn't strectch that much as compared to other lines. My guess is that the mono wasn't in far enough, the serve wasn't tight enough, the glue was not properly saturated in the dacron to bond to the mono. Not to mention you were probably creating a bad transition point for the windon while using the battle wagon. If you point the rod tip down to easily accept the windon it will certainly be best.

I have also seen windon's that are served to tight with spectra and where the serve travels down on to the mono... it will cut the mono when under extreme pressure. We no longer build them this way!

The failure points found in testing were mainly where the larger leaders were not tapered down to a point, or served incorrectly, or the mono wasn't inserted in the bridal far enough. We feel that our windon leaders have accounted for all these points of failure and therefore will hold up to incredible battles. We had a 9+ ft Leatherback Turtle estimated well over 600lbs pull a 36ft boat sideways. The Tiagra was at full drag for over 1 hour. And when I say full drag.. I mean there was no free spool left so you know it was well over 50lbs in the harness. It probaly took 5+lbs at freespool just to pull line off the reel.

Building windon's looks easy and simple. But until you see all the little critial things that go into making a windon (that you want to put your name on)... it's best to spend the $15/$20. The safety factor alone is worth $15/$20 bucks.

The windon is a critical part of the terminal gear. If you spend big bucks to buy an 80W, buy a rod to match, buy a quailty hook, buy a premium mono such as Momoi or spectra like Jerry Brown, why in the world would someone look to save money on the windon? Might as well start making your own hooks too I know you like to build your own stuff and take great pride in catching fish on gear that you built. It's a great accomplishment to build the rod, build the windon, rig the bait just right, set your spread and finally have all the stars align just right to allow the illusive Unicorn to grace the fish box.

There's a definate moment of pride when it all comes together. But to give up on a system that might truely be the safest piece of gear on your boat due to your senario.... just realize that making windons might not be your strong suit. I want to run a marathon but just because I can squeeze into the spandex shorts and put my club foot into a running shoe... doesn't mean it's meant to be.

Again I'm sorry this happen. Hopefully this is for real and it's not some ploy to make me feel sorry for you and give you free windons for life just to keep you safe . If you would like, I have some free windons for you to use.

What ever you do on your boat is up to you... just please be safe!!!!!! BTW.. and for the record... I won't go on a boat that doesn't use windon's. So I hope you accept my offer. That way I'll get to fish on your boat one day.

-Tek

[Flatsfish B]

Ah crap, my wind on just broke Thanks for the offer Tek I was about to use 30 ft leaders and have the newest person on the boat wire the fish!

Kidding of coarse!

[Nightfighter]

Well put, Tek =D>

[JahMussa]

I saw your hands... I know you won't be leadering anything anytime soon

[Flatsfish B]

Originally Posted by JahMussa

I saw your hands... I know you won't be leadering anything anytime soon

#-o

[BirdDog0219]

Tek most of thes guys are still using 15' of leader from the swivle to the bait and still have to take wraps to gaff/harpoon a fish. I don't see where a wind on makes it any safer. I guess if your leader from swivle to bait was 4 or 5 feet it would be safer. I think safty is in learning how to wire a fish properly. I know on my boat I am the one to leader a fish for this reason.

[Flatsfish B]

Originally Posted by BirdDog0219

Tek most of thes guys are still using 15' of leader from the swivle to the bait and still have to take wraps to gaff/harpoon a fish. I don't see where a wind on makes it any safer. I think safty is in learning how to wire a fish properly. I know on my boat I am the one to leader a fish for this reason.

IMO you should use 6-8 ft leaders, or not waste using a windon if using 15ft

[chaos]

birddog are u saying 15' of leader attached to a swivel from the windon? why would anyone fish more than 5 feet of leader from a windon