Drop Shot Main Line

[Doug Weston]

Back to the original question, as far as the mainline getting twisted.....

Someone please explain how one line can twist more than another. You got mono and floro and superline and etc etc etc but the twist is going to always happen on the terminal end of the line, hopefully just above or beyond a swivel of some sort on a dropshot.

Anyway I have heard forever that some lines twist more than others and I just can't see it. It's all in the reel and presentation. My baitcasters never twist, my spinners always do if I reel against the drag. Enlighten me, I can't see how the line itself has anything to do with twisting.

SKMO, for me its not so much the twisting as it is the memory. Flourocarbon or mono will develop memory and be coiled up when coming off the spool causing problems when casting. Braid has no memory. Like I said before, I have some spooled on for at least a year and the most I have to do is change the leader before a trip. When not using a swivel(usually for shaky head) I use a back To back uni knot to attach the leader. I can tie on a longer leader and I have no problems with the knot sliding through the guides when casting.

[Wayne SW/MO]

The original Fireline is fused, rather than braided. It is also a little larger in diameter.

The stiffer the line the more memory. Spinning reels by there mechanical design will twist mono's and their cousins. One way to reduce twist significantly is to close the bail manually. I know this sounds too good to be true, but it does work and once you practice it a short time it will become natural. As someone said, reeling against the drag is a guaranteed way to twist the line. Learn to backreel, its much more dependable than a drag, and close the bail manually on a good line and you shouldn't need a swivel.

[SKMO]

The original Fireline is fused, rather than braided. It is also a little larger in diameter.

The stiffer the line the more memory. Spinning reels by there mechanical design will twist mono's and their cousins. One way to reduce twist significantly is to close the bail manually. I know this sounds too good to be true, but it does work and once you practice it a short time it will become natural. As someone said, reeling against the drag is a guaranteed way to twist the line. Learn to backreel, its much more dependable than a drag, and close the bail manually on a good line and you shouldn't need a swivel.

All good info, keep it coming. I was the one that said reeling against the drag caused twist. Yep, limp line is good on a spinner. I have one rod rigged w/spectra type line and am getting used to it (10/6 I think). I usually use 8# Trilene XL(extra limp) as mainline with 6# floro below the swivel. I have some light / short rods I use 6# floro as mainline with 6# floro below. Would prefer a leader lighter than the mainline but 4# is too light in my experience. Does anyone know of a more limp mono type than XL?

Another thing I am sold on is large diameter reel spools. Bigger is better due to less kink and roll. They might be high capacity but spool on some 12# or bigger junk first to take up volume and leave room for a couple hundred feet of the good stuff on top.

Another tip that you may like is to pre-tie all your dropshot rigs, here is how I do it, pic hopefully attached, this saves me a lot of time and aggravation on the water, especially as my eyesight is not too keen these days.

1) When the wife and kids are not watching cut off a chunk of their swim noodle about 10" long.

2) Make a longwise stripe on the tube with a Sharpie. This is just a visual reference mark where you will sink the hooks.

3) Make several shallow cuts maybe 1/4" deep on the circumference of the piece of tube. In this pic I have 9 of them. Darken them by dragging the sharpie in the slit you just made, again just so you can see the slits.

4) Tie up your d-shot hooks in the middle of a 4' floro leader. I put swivels on the top of a couple of them but usually when you break off you will still have your swivel on the end of the line so just have a couple with swivels ready to go, one less knot to tie when you do lose the whole deal.

5) I tie a big figure 8 knot on the bottom of the line (18" below hook) and use simple pinch-on split shots for weight, #3, 2 and 1. Split shot is much cheaper than specialized weights and works fine for me. Plus you can add or subtract weight instantly as needed. Another really good thing is when you get a head-shaker drop shot-type mess you can pop the splitshot off the line and get untangled pretty quick, usually.

6) When you have your pre-tied hooks and leaders made up just stick the hook near the index line and wrap and embed the line in the slits around the piece of noodle, they will stay neat and tidy.

I guess it is my age and poor eyesight showing but I have bounced around way too long at times trying to make up d-shot rigs in the middle of the lake for several minutes while missing fish. If I have pre-tied them at home in the comfort of my den I can get back to business a lot quicker.

Also when they get a bit frazzled just cut off and tie a fresh one. Easier to do if it is a 45 second operation, otherwise I just tended to get lazy and let the line fail and lost fish and hooks and weight.

Anyway this is my best dropshot tip, works well for me. Saves a ton of time and aggravation on the water.

[rps]

I use the swim noodles for walleye harnesses and slow death rigs I snell. Does anyone use them for swimming?

I have had Sunline mono on a baitcaster for nearly a month. Really good stuff, very limp with little memory, but 10 pound test is exactly that - in other words it will feel and behave like 8 pound. I don't use spin rigs anymore unless I'm using 4 pound for trout so I don't know how it would perform on a spin reel.

[Wayne SW/MO]

use 8# Trilene XL(extra limp) as mainline

This brings up a another good point. XL gets along very well with spinning reels, XT doesn't. A bait caster does best with a line with some memory. The memory tends to make the line lift off the spool during the cast reducing friction and adding to distance. Spinning reels do better with a limp, less memory, line. Spinning reels don't propel the line off, they remain stationary, it's pulled off in loops. The large guide on a spinning rod should be a hint that the line isn't going to leave without loops.

The best line I've found for both reels is P-Line Original and I'm sure there are a few others. Its simply finding them among the many different formulas. co-polymers seem to be the best candidates.