New to using a drop shot. I keep getting my line twisted after only a few minutes of fishing. I am using a spinning rod and reel with 8lb. mono. I tie a palomar knot to a drop shot hook, and feed the line back thru the eye of the hook. Leave about 2ft and attach a 1/4oz weight. Have been using robo worm or 4in. berkley minnow as bait. I am vertical fishing down under the boat.

Will a swivel really help with line twist?
What about using fluorocarbon?

Any idea's greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

spool up 20# braid and splice on a 6-10' section of 8-10# fluoro leader.

There are several hooks out with swivels built on the hook VMC power shot, Mustad KVD zero twist, Gamakatsu,I have been using the VMC power shot still get some line twist but not as bad as with regular hook using 10 lb. flouro. I have recently gone to brad with flouro leader and have almost no problems Power Pro 20 lb. 10 lb.flouro leader and much better feel

fluorocarbon will only make things worse on spinning gear. You could have very easily spooled the mono on the reel backwards and yes, it does make a difference. Braid is an option and it doesn't matter how you spool it on just make sure to use some mono or electrical tape for backing because without it the braid will spin on the spool.i use 30lb braid with a 10lb flouro leader or straight mono. Matching line diameter matters when joining two lines if you want good knot strength.

Braid to flouro leader
Use your hand to flip the bail; don't spin the handle to flip it.
Once the bail is flipped, pull on the line just enough to engage the drag before you start your retrieve.

Power Pro Super Slick

I put this on all of my spinning reels. I like it because the exterior is rounded and won't dig into your spool, allowing you to cast further. Braid also doesn't kink up like flouro or mono. Leave just a little bit of the mono that you have on your spinning reel, peel the rest off, spool up with 10-20 pound Super Slick, and then tie about a 3ft, 8-10 pound flourocarbon leader. This is what I use all the time, and I fish a drop shot a lot.

Gamaktsu Swivel Shot

If you don't want braid on your reel, then i recommend that you give this hook a try. I've used it numerous times and it has stood up to plenty of abuse. It's very well made.


One thing that helps the mono or flouro seat better on the reel is to make sure that when you spool the line on there, that you let the line come off of the spool naturally. What I mean by this is, typically if you turn the spool of line, label side down, the line spools off of there more naturally. If you spool it label side up you'll get a bunch of kink in your line. Don't forget to spray some KVD line/lure stuff on your line. That stuff really helps!

Hope this helps!

+1 Bigbass94. I usually tie on a longer leader, like 7 or 8 feet. You can cut and tie several times before you will need a new leader. The PowerPro Super Slick is the way to go. I have tried lot of different kinds of braided line and it is the best.

This

Braid to flouro is best for me.

You can also take the worm off the hook and make a few casts without it and that will get some of the twist out of it.

Just don't let it get hung up.

Reminds me - I need to restring my spinning reel with braid! I use 6# Fluoro leader material.

Ive cut the hook off and trolled the line behind the boat before to get the twists out.I hate spinning gear.braid helps tho

I suppose matching line diameters depends on what junction knot you are using. I tie all three of the common knots: an FG, a Uni junction knot and the Alberto/Albright. If you are using the latter, the braid is wrapped around a fluoro or mono leader and the braid can, likely should, be smaller. It'll actually cut into or embed itself a bit in these more pliable leader materials.

If you are fishing a finesse drop shot rig, 1/0 or smaller hook, I'd use, do use, a 10 lbs. braid (Sufix 832) to an either 6 or 8 lbs. fluorocarbon leader (Invizx).

Don't pass up the opportunity, though, to scale way up on larger lines, heavier tackle and have Rivera Tackle make you some really big drop shot hooks with the pinch grip down to the sinker. I am going to give some 5/0, 6/0 or 7/0s drop shot hooks a go soon using a really big worm or plastic just to see if it attracts some bigger bass.

Brad

Braid to micro-swivel to fluro. Very little line twist.

A CRITICAL guideline to follow is to NEVER close the bail by turning the reel handle. The rotation required to close the bail adds twists that accumulate. I learned from a guide decades ago to close the bail manually. While the use of a swivel will help for twists that would be added at the other end, it will do nothing for those you create at the spool if you are rotating it until the bail flips.