Line twist while trolling

This past weekend while trolling flicker shads had a problem with line twist. Any fix or reason why would be appreciated, Thanks

Do you run a quality swivel between your main lines and leaders?

Yeah, use a good swivel and you shouldnt have problems. I have had great luck with the SPRO ones. Not cheap, but they work really well.

Char’s guide wrote:

This past weekend while trolling flicker shads had a problem with line twist. Any fix or reason why would be appreciated, Thanks

Have you tuned your crankbaits? Sound like to me your bait is rolling in the water occasionally or maybe your hooking something causing the bait to roll.

Good suggestions so far.
There’s a lot to know to determine the cause though.
Are you using bait casting reels or spinning? Casting the bait out or dropping it in pulling line out? Braid? Mono? Braid to flouro?

If your Flicker Shads are tuned properly they won’t twist your line. A tuned lure will catch more fish.

Any crank bait should not be causing line twist. Something else is going on. Or it’s already twisted on the spool

There has been a lot of cotton wood on the lakes. That has a tendency to jam up a good swivel.

Shannon

Red Eye wrote:

Any crank bait should not be causing line twist. Something else is going on. Or it’s already twisted on the spool

100% agree….even a horribly tuned crank bait would just blow out to the side but not spiral. If your crank got fouled up or line wrapped around one of the trebles that could cause it to spin.

I disagree, certain cranks will spiral if pulled to fast or severely out of tune.

One cast out even where the hooks hook 3scj other and cause a twist when fixed never gets the time to untwist will continue to cause issue.

If the OP is using a spinning rod/reel for trolling, a lot of the line twist problems can be eliminated by using a casting rod/reel.

-J.

I’d let out a pile of line with nothing on and pull it behind the boat for a bit of tension as you slowly reel it in.

Next I’d put on a quality swivel to connect my main line to a leader.

When you put on a bait, I would NOT cast it out. This is just an opportunity for hooks to tangle mid flight and not watch it run alongside the boat to be sure it’s tuned correctly. Once you are sure it’s tuned correctly, you should be problem free.

Thanks fellows for the comments. I fished one day and didn’t notice a problem, but the second ay it was pretty bad. I was using 10 pound mono with clip to the bait, dropping it back 30 feet and adding a 3 oz.snap and then dropping it to 130 or 140 feet back. I would this a swivel would cause more of a twist .

As far as tuning the bait, when I pulled it beside the boat it ran true and didn’t seem to roll. Talking with another guy he said he had a problem with the flickers but when he changed to raps he didn’t. If the bait is running straight and true beside the boat, what more do I look for as far as tuning?
Thanks for the help.
Joe

Does your snap have a ball bearing on it? If not I would look into switching to one that does. Regarding the tuning, if its running fine alongside the boat it should be fine with more line out Id think.

^How deep are you trying to fish? Flicker shads should easily get 12’ down without anything else. With a snap weight and that much line you’d probably be better off with a different setup all together.

Braided line if your not running it already.

I never use a swivel when pulling cranks.

We were running 25-30 ft, at 2,2-2,5 mph. Depending where were at the time we let line out you could feel the weight hit the bottom at 85-90 feet back. Due to the severity of twist I was surprised we were still catching fish.
To me, using a ball bearing swivel with the snap should cause more lure roll if its not tuned properly.

The tuning makes more sense to me but i;m at a loss to correct it if its running properly beside the boat.

Joe

Char’s guide wrote:

To me, using a ball bearing swivel with the snap should cause more lure roll if its not tuned properly.

The tuning makes more sense to me but i;m at a loss to correct it if its running properly beside the boat.

Joe

An inline swivel would allow the line to move freely 360 degrees. If your lure is rolling and your line is allowed to rotate along with it, it won’t get “twisted” up. Whereas if the lure is rolling and your line is attached to a stationary point, it may twist itself into coils.

That said…

lindyrig79 wrote:

I never use a swivel when pulling cranks.

Same. And I troll a LOT. I find it affects lure action. Your best bet to avoid line twist: Braided line, uni/uni knot to ~ 6 foot flouro leader, basic snap or tie directly a well-tuned crank bait. With a baitcaster I get zero line twist, period. With a spinning reel, it can happen from time to time, but with the lack of memory in braided line it’s not hard to correct by letting your line out with no tackle and dragging to behind the boat for a bit, then reeling back in with modest tension.

If you’re using a spinning reel — are you sure the line was spooled on correctly? If you had the spool of new line facing the wrong side up when you put it on the reel, you’re already prone to line twist.

Thanks Dirty Water. I’m using a bait cast. I’ll try you set up and recheck the baits for proper tuning.
Thanks again for all the help/

Joe

If your lure is really digging bottom hard and often it can and will spin out and twist the s@#t out of your line,swivel or no swivel.After spring jig fishing on the rivers pretty much all of my fishing from May until Oct/Nov is trolling crankbaits.Unless I am pulling leadcore I run spinning reels with a snap to the lure,cast them out and have never used a swivel.Other than a fouled bait or excessively digging bottom I have never had an issue with line twist.

Char’s guide wrote:

fished one day and didn’t notice a problem, but the second ay it was pretty bad. I was using 10 pound mono with clip to the bait, dropping it back 30 feet and adding a 3 oz.snap and then dropping it to 130 or 140 feet back

Mono is cheap and meant to be replaced often. You put it into a heavy stress situation like this and it wears out very quickly. 20-30# mono would handle that job fine and hold up over time. 10# you wore the cheap crap out. Not a good way to troll anyway. Use braid like others have said. 12-20# wrap that snap weight around the release if you don’t have a snap meant for braid. Swivel completely unnecessary. Uni uni knot to a leader if you so fancy. And use high vis line so you can avoid multiple rod tangles.

Running 10# mono in that situation you had no feeling of the lure action. With a snap and a lure that can’t blow out. May even caught a small fish and it twisted a long time before you realized a fish was even attached. Or a leaf… Long story short, heavy snapweight like that, You’d be wise to run braid. If not for the twisting, for ability to feel lure

Thanks for the reply,all ood information.
Joe