Flukes And Line Twist

[new2BC4bass]

Thanks for the tips guys. A few of you mentioned trolling the line out: I cannot do that since I don't have a boat. Instead, I switched out the Senshi for some Power Pro. I took it out last night for maybe 30 minutes in the cold and rain and got zero line twist (at least not the sort that makes a huge clump just off the reel like with the Senshi).

 

Don't make the mistake of thinking braid will stop line twist. It won't.  Not even on a b/c reel.  Made the mistake of throwing a spoon all day in salt water on an STX-L with 40# braid (tied directly to spoon).  Never stopped to think about line twist.  That night fishing for bass I got careless, and hit a rod on my back cast.  Didn't get a backlash, but did have some loose line.  That loose line twisted like a pretzel on steroids.

 

Did manage later to remove the twist so I could reverse the line.  That braid should be good for another 4 years as long as I stay away from using a spoon. 

 

SirSnookalot, thanks for the skinny on closing the bail.  Never did it as a youth (and fished a lot more then than now without excessive line twist using old Mitchell 300's), but took everybody's word that it was key to eliminating a lot of the line twist problem with spinning reels.  Probably have been guilty of passing on that false info without proof to back it up since joining several fishing forums.  Had I taken the time to really think about it I would have realized sooner that I never had excessive line twist even tho I almost never closed the bail by hand in those long ago days.

[Silas]

Mess with your spool tension on your casting reel.  Any reel can be adjusted to cast a weightless fluke.  What type of hook are you using?  Switch over to the Gamakatsu skip gap hook, it will help tons.  This is the only non Trokar hook I use and it's because it helps tons with line twist.  I get zero line twist fishing flukes on casting and spinninI plg gear, maybe I'm the one in a million angler, but you got off to a good start by going with braid.

 

I played around with the Gama Skip Gap hook the other day with flukes.  It will NOT stop a Keitech Swing Impact 3.8 Fat from rolling and twisting.  It WILL do pretty well with a Caffeine Shad, IF carefully reeled in. I love the hook since it holds close to the bait and is very light as to not weigh flukes down.

 

   Gotta do some more research.  Disappointed that it also rolled with one of my favs......RI Little Dipper and Skinny Dipper.....also the Bitters Naked Swimmer.

 

 Only a keel weighted hook solved the problem.....used 1/16 weight and stabilized the fluke.....no line twist.  On spinning or casting outfits.

[SirSnookalot]

@New2BC4bass, like you when I was kid using the old Mitchells and Shakesperes I don't remember having to deal with like twist like we do today, my dad was always a stickler about using BB swivels.  Perhaps the lure types were a bit different then, we had no flukes in the mid 50's that I recall but that does not address the issue of the line being wrapped around a fixed spool. Tells me 3 things, either the reels are made different today, the lines are made different, or my memory is shot due to old age.

I don't own a spinning reel with braided line on it that does not have line twist, I do use a variety of lure types.  To date I have not figured out a way to troll braid out like mono, that said there are a few applications that I choose mono over braid.