I’m a firm believer that anglers who pay special attention to the details are going to catch more fish over a season. It may not matter everyday, but an extra fish here or there can really add up over a month or two. Today, we’re going to talk about one of the most overlooked pieces of equipment: the barrel swivel.
On the surface, the barrel swivel looks like just a connection between your main line and leader. Barrel swivels do much more than that though.
Every presentation I use, whether I am open water fishing or ice fishing, can be enhanced by a barrel swivel. I view the benefits slightly different to each presentation.
Leading to Success
I used to always tie directly to my braid when I was casting crankbaits. This changed when I began losing several crankbaits due to bouncing off trees, rip rap and of course the occasional pike! Once I added a barrel swivel and a stouter, 12-17lb fluorocarbon leader (depending on how many pike I expected to run into), I began losing significantly fewer crankbaits.
When jigging, I see the barrel swivel as a way to add invisibility to my presentation. With crankbaits, I don’t worry about a fish being spooked by my line as it is often moving too quick and I generate a reaction strike. However, when I’m jigging, the fish often have more time to analyze my presentation. I reduce my leader to 8lb fluorocarbon and make it slightly longer than when I am cranking. This gives me comfort that especially when fishing clear water, my line won’t be what makes the fish turn away.
Mason Propst sees the benefits to barrel swivels as well. Many anglers struggle with line twist when bottom bouncing, especially when using baits designed to put a lot of movement in your presentation. Slow Death hooks, Tru-Turn hooks and even Smile Blades or Colorado Blades can all put twist in your snell. Mason easily avoids these problems, by simply adding a barrel swivel to the bouncer side end of the line. This prevents line twist and keeps your bait behaving as it should.
Nice for Ice
While I use barrel swivels year-round, ice fishing is when I heavily rely on them in my presentation. One of the biggest challenges ice anglers have to face is line twist. When your line gets twisted, your jig or spoon will begin spinning violently and turn off fish.
To combat this, I always use braid as my main line. Braid’s no stretch properties and lack of memory make it the perfect enemy of line twist. Unfortunately, braid is also highly visible.
Fish have plenty of time to analyze your presentation, so much like when I am jigging I favor a light fluorocarbon leader. Generally, this is a 4lb fluorocarbon leader that is as long as I can make it based on my rod length.
The braid and barrel swivel combat line twist, while the fluorocarbon leader keeps my presentation as invisible as possible from the fish. Over the course of an ice season, this can really add up!
Rigging Up
Regardless what season, I always use the same knots when connecting my swivel to my main line. I begin by tying a Palomar knot with the braid to the swivel. I then use a Uni knot to tie the fluorocarbon leader to the swivel.
It may be one of, if not the cheapest component to your presentation, but I am a firm believer that whatever your presentation and whatever the season, a barrel swivel will help you catch more fish! Good fishing!
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Use them all the time but never heard of using one with a bottom bouncer! I am going to have to start trying that! Where are you tying the barrel swivel at for this application?!
Right at the snap swivel that connects to the bouncer. Instead of a double surgeon loop and sliding it into the snap I snap the barrel swivel on then tie the leader straight to the swivel with a uni knot. So it’s actually the barrel swivel that is ultimately connected to the bottom bouncer.
Ahhh yes duh I do that with slow death hooks haha