Whenever I use soft plastic jerk baits like a fluke I end up with severe line twists that leads to tangling that leads to me having to re-line my spinning reel. I thought about using a swivel but have yet to try (college athlete = no time). Any suggestions?

A couple of things.

By the sounds of it you're using mono or Flouro for line, which would indicate that your bait is spinning a lot under water. Try to get it hooked straight that should eliminate a lot of the line twist. Another thing is to close the bail of the reel with your hand instead of cranking the handle to close it. If that doesn't do it, then add a very small swivel if you must.

Using braid with a mono or flouro leader will virtually eliminate the twist.

Still close the bail by hand.

BTW I wouldn't be surprised if you get a lot of loops on your spool too don't you?

Good luck & tight lines.

I do get a lot of loops on the spool and I use Fluoro. When I use flukes I usually twitch my rod tip to the right to try and produce the dying baitfish action. I think the action I'm producing is just a spiral which leads to my line twists because I never have the same problem just fishing worms.

Are you fishing your worms or Senko's weightless? I'll bet not and that you're fishing them either Texas or Carolina rigged. The weight will prevent/slow down the line twist in this case.

I'm assuming a lot, since you really haven't said anything about whether you close the bail by hand or crank it closed.

Mono & Flouro are notorious for line twist & loops on spinning outfits.

Tell us how heavy is the Flouro you are using?

But as I've said before, I'd bet that your 2 biggest culprits are not rigging the Flukes straight and Cranking the bail closed.

The direction you twitch left or right won't have any affect on the spin/spiral. (Oh boy! I think I just left open that one up for muddy).

Instead of respooling, try walking out the line off the reel (nothing on the end of the line) and reeling it back on.

Later   8-) from sunny Cent FL

when fishing baits like flukes and other soft plastic swimbaits, I ALWAYS use a keel weighted hook.  It will stop the bait from spinning.  Without them, if you want to avoid tangles a much slower retrieve will work.  It's when you pull it hard that it starts to spin.  Also, make sure it's hooked 100% straight.

No.1,

I don't fish spinning gear much but, my kids do.  I also get frustrated with the amount of line twist they get.  I am curious as to how "closing the bail by hand" could help eliminate line twist.

TIA

Sodak

I use a small Sampo swivel about a foot or so up the line when I use soft jerkbaits or weightless worms.  Using a good swivel is important or you'll still end up with the same line twist issues.  Otherwise I use a flutterhook (keel weighted hook) like D4u2s0t does.  Like others have mentioned, making sure the fluke/jerkbait is hooked straight is important as well as not overworking the bait which will cause it to spin anyway.  

Someone asked about no1's advice about closing the bail.  Closing the bail manually doesn't counteract linetwist quite as much with newer reels, but it still helps counteract loops forming in the spool which lead to knots.  With older/cheaper reels the bail can catch the line somewhere other than the line roller and until the line makes it's way to the line roller, the line can be twisted from the spinning action of the reel.  

Slide a small, 6mm colored bead on the mainline, and tie a swivel on.  The bead will stop you from reeling the swivel through the guides. Then attach a leader, about 18" and tie the fluke hook to that. No more snarls, and its a very cool looking presentation - bait chasing something.

No.1,

I don't fish spinning gear much but, my kids do. I also get frustrated with the amount of line twist they get. I am curious as to how "closing the bail by hand" could help eliminate line twist.

TIA

Sodak

BTW, the screen name is no1 as in no one. I'm not so concieted as to use a title like Number One tho I can see how some would read it that way. No offense taken, the coffee just hasn't civilized me yet this AM.

Oh Boy!!!

I can not explain the physics of the process. I had read a year or so ago about closing the bail by hand to eliminate the line twist, decided to give it a try and by golly it worked. Then I read about braid being even easier to work with, and found that it was. Tho it might just be a bit on the expensive side for the kids. Another thing that I see kids and some adults doing as well, is cranking while the drag is slipping. That's another good reason for line twist.

Maybe some one else can jump in here to explain the reason why it actually creates the twist when cranking the bail over.

Badly intended information is worse than no information at all.

Thanks for the replies guys.  Sorry for the thread hijack.

Turning the handle to shut the bail causes line twist and will result in loops in your line 100% of time no matter the line you are using. ;D

Superline (Braid or fused) doesn't make the line twist you get with spinning reels go away, but really helps make it a non-issue. I sometimes throw a Fluke-style bait half the day when float fishing, and never have problems with twist, but I use the Fireline/Fluoro leader set-up.

Or you can try the swivel thing.