James RickardTaking care of line twist
June 7th 2009 01:52
We've all been there—you see a big one, start to fire out a cast, and the lure goes about ten feet and snaps back, almost hitting you. Incredulously, you look at the rod to see a twisted ball of line encircling the reel. If you're lucky you can pick at the tangle enough to go on about your business but sometimes the only answer is cutting away the offending section of line. Worse still, you may not be in a position to cut the line and that ends your fishing for the day!
Still worse, after you spend all that time picking out one tangle, your very next cast leads to another tangle! Line-twist is often the culprit in these circumstances and no amount of picking tangles is going to remedy the problem.
Line twist is pretty easy to identify. All you have to do is pull some line off the reel and let it hang freely. If the hanging line twists and curls, that's line twist.
Low quality lines often twist like this and contribute to your woes but it's too easy for anglers to blame their line. However, decent line doesn't twist by itself.
If you think about it, it's no wonder line gets twisted. Spinners--spinning reels. Plus, if you're not careful when you respool your spinning reel the line is going to jump off and cause a mess. On top of this, your lure can rotate around its own axis which causes line twist to work its way up the line. And the more line goes out from your reel, the further line twist can work its way back up the same path.
Remedies
One would think simply using a swivel would take care of line twist problems. After all, isn't that what they're designed to do? A quick answer is "Yes," but swivels are only going to work under the right circumstances. Unfortunately, too many anglers have little regard for their tackle and end up using a swivel that is too big.
Swivels come in different sizes to be matched up with the proper line strength. I forget where I read this but, it seems to work—a general guide is to match the diameter of your line to the diameter of the wire in the swivel. If you adhere to this rule, remember that smaller sizes of swivels are going to suffice for most freshwater applications.
If you're in a boat and encounter line twist, it's usually pretty easy to fix. Simply let the line drop into the water, let your lure hit bottom, and fire up the motor until you're a good distance from your stating point. Then, reel in pinching the line between you thumb and forefinger to keep any twist from going onto the reel.
Shore-bound anglers can do something similar Cast out, leave your line free, and allow the current to take your lure if this is possible. If not, walk several paces down shore and stop when you think sufficient line has peeled off the reel. Afterward, reel in the same as if you were in a boat. If you're not fishing but know you have a problem, you can tie your line around a tree or fence post and walk off the required distance.
No matter what method you use, you may have to repeat it a few times to take care of stubborn problems! BUT the nice thing is that you may hook something as you reel in all that line.
Until next time--watch your line and watch yourself!
Still worse, after you spend all that time picking out one tangle, your very next cast leads to another tangle! Line-twist is often the culprit in these circumstances and no amount of picking tangles is going to remedy the problem.
Line twist is pretty easy to identify. All you have to do is pull some line off the reel and let it hang freely. If the hanging line twists and curls, that's line twist.
Low quality lines often twist like this and contribute to your woes but it's too easy for anglers to blame their line. However, decent line doesn't twist by itself.
If you think about it, it's no wonder line gets twisted. Spinners--spinning reels. Plus, if you're not careful when you respool your spinning reel the line is going to jump off and cause a mess. On top of this, your lure can rotate around its own axis which causes line twist to work its way up the line. And the more line goes out from your reel, the further line twist can work its way back up the same path.
Remedies
Ying and Yang!
Swivels come in different sizes to be matched up with the proper line strength. I forget where I read this but, it seems to work—a general guide is to match the diameter of your line to the diameter of the wire in the swivel. If you adhere to this rule, remember that smaller sizes of swivels are going to suffice for most freshwater applications.
If you're in a boat and encounter line twist, it's usually pretty easy to fix. Simply let the line drop into the water, let your lure hit bottom, and fire up the motor until you're a good distance from your stating point. Then, reel in pinching the line between you thumb and forefinger to keep any twist from going onto the reel.
Shore-bound anglers can do something similar Cast out, leave your line free, and allow the current to take your lure if this is possible. If not, walk several paces down shore and stop when you think sufficient line has peeled off the reel. Afterward, reel in the same as if you were in a boat. If you're not fishing but know you have a problem, you can tie your line around a tree or fence post and walk off the required distance.
No matter what method you use, you may have to repeat it a few times to take care of stubborn problems! BUT the nice thing is that you may hook something as you reel in all that line.
Until next time--watch your line and watch yourself!
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Comment by Lara M
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Comment by James Rickard
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Comment by Natalina
My Life My Muse
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Anyway, I recall last summer, I was sitting by the water, pole in it's holder...and there was this group of guys out in a boat who were having the hardest time. I sat there on the shore watching them struggle with a couple of their lines which were all tangled up.
When they came ashore, I walked over to them, as they still were having problems, and I asked if I could take a look. They sort of looked at me funny and then decided to humor me.
I looked at it and right away knew the prob. I told them that their swivels were too big. After their blank stares, I just walked back to my spot, reeled in my line, grabbed my stringer which had two nice sized Pike, and walked past them again to my car.
I wonder if they followed my advice?
Love your blog!
Comment by James Rickard
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Comment by Natalina
My Life My Muse
Beta Girl Blog
There's a place near where I grew up on the Missouri River called Fox Island. That's my favorite spot. You can look out accross the river and see the forts from Fort Lincoln, and you can see Custer's house. If you are able to block out all of the noise, you can feel as though you've been transported back in time.
There are some amazing trout ponds in the Black Hills of SD where I have sat down and watched people fly fish for hours. Some day I'd like to learn!
Comment by Teeg
Great post, Jim.
Comment by James Rickard
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