spoons and line twist

[Tony Livingston]

Alright folks, I'm at wit's end here. after reading all the great posts extolling the virtues of micro spoons, I had to give them a try. Man, I will admit that they will catch fish! Lotsa fun. Unfortunately, I am constantly fighting line twist, and the resulting snarls and birds' nest. I tried adding tiny split rings and the smallest swivels I could find, no luck. I have re-spooled with fresh monofilament, (Trilene), making sure there was no twist imparted to the line as it spooled on. Still no luck. Today, I took the trilene off and replaced it with Fireline, 4lb. test. Same results, same aggravation. I've tried closing the bail manually, no good either. Admittedly, I am not jigging the spoons, rather casting them out and retrieving, and I can see the twisting as the lure comes to shore. The reel is an older Shimano ultralight, (10 yrs old), should I replace it with a more modern version? Does someone make a size 12 or 14 Ball_Bearing swivel? Am I doomed to using live bait forever after having my appetite whetted by the shiny gold Kastmaster? Help!!

[steve b]

Yes, there are size 14 swivels. At the far end of my front yard I have a big birch tree. I leave wired around it, two BIG snap swivel, huge brass salt water types. I clip/tie to these and back 50 yds or so across the yard and then apply pressure to line. Hold for a couple minutes. This to take twist out, before or after fishing. steve b

[John McKean]

If you use a true "microspoon" (www.microspoons.com) they only rock,never roll, if you tip with a waxworm,crappie nibble, or any small piece of bait,even a corn kernel or piece of plastic worm. On other small spoons, tie a 10" leader to the hook of a 1/32 oz jighead -which acts as a keel- and then a small, standard snap swivel thru the jighead eye, and tied to the main line.