...

New Fly Guy – Solving line twist

Articles on this site are out of date since some go back to 2006. Regulations and property ownership may have changed since publication. It is your responsibility to know and obey all regulations and not trespass on private property.

I was not very far into my pursuit of smallies this summer when I started to get all sorts of line twist when I was throwing heavy poppers or bigger terrestrials.  There were times when it was so bad that I could see the fly spin like a propeller on the end of the line after plopping into the water.  Not good.  I’m sure that did not look very natural!  It also did not take many casts before the tippet became just a tangled mess which took a few minutes to hang and smooth back out.

What to do?  Drawing on my experience as a spin guy, I knew that swivels were handy when using spinners.  The swivel isolates the twist injected by the twirl of the blades.  So, the next time I was at Gander Mountain, I looked carefully through their selection of swivels and was delighted to find these two models.

I was concerned that, even though they are both small, that they would drag my fly underwater.  Turns out they both float pretty well as long as the water is not real choppy.  If it is, you can put on a very small indicator on the rod side of the swivel and solve that problem.  With the normal larger poppers (size 4 – 6) and terrestrials I use, I never had to do that.

Once I had a swivel in line, my line twist miseries totally disappeared.

Style #1 – smallest I could find

Style #2 – a little bigger but still floated OK

Unless stated otherwise, this article was authored by Steve Moore

Disclaimer and Warning:  The contents of this site reflect the opinion of the author and you, the reader, must exercise care in the use and interpretation of this information.  Fishing is a dangerous sport.  You can slip and fall on rocks and sustain severe injury.  You can drown.  You can get hooks caught in your skin, face, eyes or other sensitive places.  All sorts of bad things can happen to you when to go into the woods to visit the places documented here.  Forests, streams and lakes are wild areas and any number of bad things can happen.  You must make your own judgment in terms of acceptable behavior and risk and not rely on anything posted here.  I disclaim all liability and responsibility for any actions you take as a result of reading the articles on this site.  If you do not agree with this, you should not read anything posted on this site.

Disclaimer and Warning:  The contents of this site reflect the opinion of the author and you, the reader, must exercise care in the use and interpretation of this information.  Fishing is a dangerous sport.  You can slip and fall on rocks and sustain severe injury.  You can drown.  You can get hooks caught in your skin, face, eyes or other sensitive places.  All sorts of bad things can happen to you when to go into the woods to visit the places documented here.  Forests, streams and lakes are wild areas and any number of bad things can happen.  You must make your own judgment in terms of acceptable behavior and risk and not rely on anything posted here.  I disclaim all liability and responsibility for any actions you take as a result of reading the articles on this site.  If you do not agree with this, you should not read anything posted on this site.

Scroll to Top