swivels

favorites? any to stay away from? i like sampo coastloks.

There are a number of excellent bb swivels mentioned in this thread. However their prices are a bit high if there is a good alternate. For a number of years I have purchased Cabela’s size 2 BB swivel with welded rings. I add a duo-lock snap size 2. Purchasing separately reduced the cost. No line twist and no failures except when I’m not careful to close the snap correctly.

Grey Beard

It was Rob and he is crazy talented.  I saw NO one else catch a fish and we were catching nice fish.  It wasn't all about catching fish.  We talked about equipment, rigging and he answered my barrage of questions.  He was patient and gifted.  

Kayak guiding has to be difficult when each of you are in your own boat.  The other special part of this is that we ran a Hobie 17T (Tandem).  I was right there with him when he was rigging and setting lines and I could see what was happening so much better than if I would have been in my own boat.

He works out of the shop in Winthrop Harbor:  Lake Michigan Angler. 

I see people spend lots of money on gear, the learning curve on a new skill set can be greatly reduced with a coach.  For me it was a great investment.  I'll be booking another outing with him.

Probably Rob Wendel. I'm not sure if Keith Gelhar still guides.

But yeah, that's a good rule of thumb regarding snaps and ball bearing swivels. 

Kayak Guide?

I was out a couple of weeks ago with a Kayak guide and one of the things that I was surprised about was his comments on ball bearing swivels:

"If it rotates 360, I use a ball bearing swivel; if it wobbles, I use a snap not a ball bearing swivel."   He did run some Spro barrel swivels at the junction between  a bead and a leader and then at the end of the leader a snap.  

I took note of this comment.

I am starting to lose it with the weather keeping me off the water........

Given that the average weight of the 3yr old female chinook was 20.6 lbs at the weirs in 2018, the probability of getting some trashed trebles on flies is getting higher.  I had some mangled trebles on jplugs last September.  Starting last year I bumped all my leaders up to 25 lbs from 20 lbs.  With the continued slow recovery of the prey base, I expect the same or larger average sizes this year.  I am expecting a similar numbers caught and maybe bigger compared to 2018.  My fly trebles tend fare well, but maybe this year not so much.

You could have done worse using the brass ones. Fishing on the big pond you want to try and tip the scales your way as much as possible when a big fish is thrashing behind your boat. I always bought Sampo because they're the best. Being the most expensive, my fishing buddy used them until they failed, losing a fish because of metal fatigue. Nothing lasts forever, ( see pic). I try to separate the snap from the ball bearing swivel when practical, using a welded ring swivel, tied to the mainline ,and a flouro leader with a duo-loc snap for the business end. The pic also shows a split ring that opened up part way fighting a big fish. Lucked out on that one and landed the fish. Oval split rings are stronger.

I've used Krokodile, small and good quality gear.

Torpedo are the best I’ve found.  They have them at R&R.  Not inexpensive by any means; but they are worth it when running dodgers, flashers, and anything that will cause line to twist in a second.