Fishing: Swivel or not to swivel?

[walleyepw]

Have not fished much in the past few years, but when I lived in Michigan and fished 5 to 6 days a week, I used swivels and snap swivels depending on the fishing that I was doing.
Drifting spawn in rivers, I would use a three way or a swivel to keep line twist out of the leader.
Casting spoons and spinners, I would use snap swivels to keep line twist to a minimum.

 

[Nightsniper]

I direct Tye the line the have a swivel 24" above it. I do it because I use light spinning gear and it keeps the twist out of the line. I also manually close the bail to keep loops out.

 

[bwframe]

15# mono with a big 'ol snap swivel tied on with a bunch of overhands. I don't have to tie no more knots that way. Then use a red/white tennis ball sized bobber or a spark plug for the bottom. Gold fish for bait on a treble hook catches the big uns.

 

[mdmayo]

I voted direct tie with a couple of exceptions, as swivels drastically change the center of mass of any artificial bait and thereby defeat any design "features" of the "natural" presentation.

I use a three way swivel drop sinker rig when rolling spawn bags for steelies on the river to prevent twisting up the leader. When I need a wire/nylon leader for toothy pike/muskies to prevent them from biting off the line (I flippin hate to lose a fish). And lastly on dual drop leads when fishing for Menominee (two mosquito hooks, unequal length leads and drop a heavy egg sinker).

My fishin'magician German buddy would throw my poles overboard if he saw me step on board with a swivel tied on for any other reason. On the plus side, you really only need to know about five knots for spin/baitcast/trolling.

 

[mdmayo]

I also manually close the bail to keep loops out.

This is probably the best advice I ever received while learning to spincast.

 

[muzzlemike]

the only time i use them is when i am trolling with spoons.

 

[whitetailbowhunter]

I never use a Snap swivel because it does affect the presentation, especially on hard plastics (rapala's, bombers, etc.) However, i use a swivel quite often with soft plastics becuase it keeps the line from twisting.

 

[TiminMishawaka]

I've never used swivels on anything freshwater up to Pike size. I absolutely use them on big game saltwater fishing, but then you're always using a leader so it makes sense.