Trouble with fishing flatfish or Kwikfish lures

[The Quadfather]

So I am feeling very frustrated and curious, if anyone out there has a lot of experience with trolling either flatfish lures or Kwikfish lures.
I like this style of lure, it catches fish for me. The frustrating piece is that I wind up with such bad line twist that I have had to completely remove all the line from my reel, and last year was forced to stop fishing a tourney due to twisted line.

The literature will say not to use a swivel with these lures. For one thing, they do not spin in the water, so shouldn't need a swivel. There action is side-to side. However, I have used a swivel and it makes NO DIFFERENCE! Still massive line twist.
I am considering putting my swivel 3' up from the lure via leader??

What is your experience?

[rcthepirate]

You're right on the money with the swivel idea. Use a ball bearing swivel 2-3 feet in front of your flatfish. Get the owner hyper swivels, they are way less expensive than sampos and every bit as good.

On another note, you're also right on the money about the side to side action. If you are getting the correct action on the lure you shouldn't get any line twist. So you are probably either trolling too fast, or your plug isn't running true and spins, and needs to be tuned. Before you drop your flatfish back, pull it forward alongside the boat and watch your plug. If it runs off to one side, lightly apply pressure to the front eye on the plug in the opposite direction which the plug is going. Repeat the process until it runs straight when pulled significantly faster than you will be trolling.

[natetreat]

Those are finicky lures. I spent a better part of a half hour getting one of my well used kwikfish to stop twisting today. you have to keep them tuned up, but when they work, it's worth it. It especially doesn't help when you have to mess up the action with a siwash single hook rather than the trebles. If you troll too fast they spin. Chain swivels with a leader to them are better than your normal swivels.

[YellowBear]

SLOW DOWN!

[The Quadfather]

Thx. for the response guys. I do believe it is probably a speed related issue.
I'm not sure how you can tune these things. There is only a single eyelet, like u see in the pic. It isn't like a crank bait which has a diving bill. Of course I will try with needle nose, slightly bending that eyelet.

I do believe my speed is a bit fast. Lately I have had to troll on the big motor, and this can be speeds of up to 2.5- 2.7 mph.
These lures dance well even at 1.0 mph. My electric is back online now though.

One other question... Nate, a guide that I have fished with will use a fishing thread to piggyback some kind of bait strips to the larger Kwikfish when we are pulling them in the rivers. Is this typically anchovies, sardines???
I want to employ this method on my Mackinaw setup, as the Kwikfish have been my go to lure in that capacity.
So, buy these baits in the tin can like the kippered snacks? Or am I missing something?

[racfish]

Flatfish are for very slow trolling. During Sockeye seasons gone by we used to just catch the wind to troll u-20s. If you go fast the lure rolls. Yellow bear is correct in saying slow down.

[hewesbob]

I use brined sardines that I get at my local bait shop. I cut them into strips and wrap several wraps of fishing thread. I fix up several of these the night before a fishing trip and keep them cold until I use them, this saves me a lot of time by not having to retie baits during an active bite.

[The Quadfather]

Thanks Bob, that's what I thought he was using.

[Bodofish]

Fished them for years, first, make sure they track straight then slow down. 1 mph is more than fast enough. Rowing is normally more than fast enough. If you have to use a swivel and about 3 to 4 feet of leader. A little bit stiffer rod helps too.