MidCurrent Tested and Trusted: Rio Micro Swivels

There are times when fly fishing and gear fishing blend together. While this may be looked down upon by a lot of fly fishing purists, the fact is that using a bit of this and that from the gear fishing world and fusing it into fly fishing can often result in catching more fish. This mingling of genres is already evident in fly patterns, with modern streamers resembling lures, the emergence of jig head hooks, and of course that complete abomination, the Squirmy Wormy, coming into existence. The blend extends beyond flies to the fly fishing gear itself, with a ton of useful bait and spin fishing items that work well on fly fishing gear—perhaps chief among these are swivels.

Swivels, those multi-looped metal pieces essential to gear fishing since man first picked up a spinning rod, serve numerous purposes in the fly fishing world. Like tippet rings, they help reduce line twist when casting heavy streamers, facilitate multi-fly rigs, and allow for longer leaders in deep water. Finding the right size and shape for fly fishing was always challenging for me—that is, until I discovered Rio Micro Swivels.

Big or Small

Back in the day, I used to raid the shelves of my local Wal-Mart sporting goods section, hoping to find swivels tiny enough for fly fishing. The few small ones I found were either too heavily weighted for fly rods or the unweighted ones I did find were cheaply made and prone to falling apart. However, Rio Micro Swivels are designed by fly anglers for fly anglers and are the perfect size and shape for anything you need them to do. Their unweighted leaders use light yet durable wire, making them suitable even for dry flies. Rio Micro Swivels come in various sizes and strengths for any fishing situation. The large sizes are perfect for tying long sections of heavy line together in deepwater nymphing, while smaller ones work great for light tippet and micro-nymphing during winter. Large swivels can serve as bobber stops when you’re nymphing with slip bobbers, and the small ones prevent line twist with big, line-twisting dry flies like hoppers without dragging them under.

Reliably Tough

The first time I ever used Rio Micro Swivels was on a trip to Pyramid Lake. The giant cutthroat of Pyramid Lake are infamous for dragging gear down into the sharp and jagged rocks of the lake bottom where it gets completely destroyed. I had fished Pyramid in the past with some cheap, chain store swivels and had to change them out two or three times over the week as they essentially fell apart. However, the Rio Micro Swivels held up. I fished for nearly a week on Pyramid, catching dozens of cutties that dragged me down into the rocks over and over, and I only needed to use one swivel. The difference was amazing.

Since that trip, I’ve used Rio Micro Swivels for a variety of different fly fishing adventures: trout fishing, connecting bite wire for pike and muskie flies, and even nymphing for winter steelhead. They’ve withstood every challenge I’ve put them through, typically needing just one swivel per trip. At around $10 for a pack of 10, these swivels represent one of the best investments on the market today, giving you enough Rio Micro Swivels to last for an infinite amount of fishing seasons.

Head on a Swivel

Sure, there are certain pieces of equipment that don’t feel “fly fishy.” Yet, if we limited ourselves to just using classical fly fishing equipment, we’d still be using bamboo rods and fly lines made of silk and catgut. Swivels are a great tool for fly fishing because they’re adaptable and innovative. Being open to such innovation is how we evolve as anglers and how we grow as outdoors folk in general—even if it’s by using a piece of equipment invented by those dirty gear anglers.