[Tom.B]

I thought I read something about this here but could not find it again with Search.

I was casting into a quartering wind today and after a few dozen casts noticed that my backing (Miracle Braid) was accumulating twists. The fly was tracking fine. My casts were not consistent due to wind and fatigue (planted veggie garden before fishing). The loop was in chaos at the end of more than half my casts. I slowed down, shortened up and it got a little better but not great.

I was using an older 11'4" Sage Switch rod with a 375gr OPST head and 10ft bucket tip. Is there some part of the cast (C spey) that can contribute to twisting?

It was not the best day and line twisting was not my biggest problem. I drove a hook into my jaw muscle. I served as a physician to myself and learned how to remove a circle hook from a human jaw without even the assistance of a mirror. No barb so it didn't hurt much. Catch and release will not seem so benign again.

 

[Skol Bandit]

I think double spey is known for twisting more than snap t. You can get a spey swivel to put between the head and running line. Rio makes them, but they are quite expensive for what they are. 10$ for a swivel.

 

[Tayside]

When doing lots of stripping some of us tend to roll the running line between thumb and forefinger putting a twist in the running line. It is also possible that when retrieving the running line we have a tendency to rotate the hand while retrieving, we tend to start the retrieve palm up and end up with the palm down giving us a half twist every retrieve, it does not take long to get twist in the running line. When it happens take off the fly cast as far as you can let out some line and let the water pressure untwist the line.

Left hand retrieve clockwise twist right hand retrieve anti clockwise twist.

Ian

 

[BudCrist]

This works pretty well

 

[Tom.B]

Hey, thanks for Ed Ward's technique. I had one of those expensive packs of spey swivels and added one between my running line and Commando head which fixed the problem. That seems to indicate the twisting is happening out at the end rather than with the running line. I think the problem was wind and C spey.

 

[Botsari]

There are definitely casts (and casting ‘styles’) that tend to torque the head, and as already mentioned, certain styles of stripping that can torque the running line. They usually work themselves out on the swing, but you may find if you are practicing, especially on still water, the twisting on your running line may tend to accumulate - not enough time to unwind. The trick is mainly to make sure it is untwisting as fast as it is twisting. The swivel allows BOTH the decoupling of the applied torques to either the head or running line, and for those to more easily work themselves out on their own. It should improve both/either if you are having issues, but it will really help in moving water to work out the twists on their own. But if there is enough swing you will probably not need one at all.

You can make the the swivel connectors for a lot cheaper with a box of swivels, and some braided nylon with blind splices. Or ask Ard (a.k.a hardyreels) to sell you some on here if he is still game. But I guess the expensive ones are a good one-off to figure out if you want to bother with them at all.

 

[OkieDokie]

Only time I've had twisting issues, it was due to a quill winged fly. Only affected the leader though.