Sunday Experiment- could this get you more hookups?

[Tuna Taxi]

Do you guys run the line through the eye of the hook when you do it or just uni it to the shank? It seems like that would mechanically do the same thing as tying the snell was a bit of a pain for me to figure out.

Yes, just like in your photos.

[lawaia]

We always use a snell knot with circle hooks. IMHO the snell does give a better hookup ratio like shoefish's experiment shows. We aren't into trolling with circles yet so the better hookup ratio I mention is for bottom fishing or shorecasting.

The snell we use is a variation of the standard or traditional version shown in the animated knot link in shoefish's initial post. It's easier and quicker to tie; we easily do a half dozen or more during a three minute TV commercial break (when we don't have to go to the bathroom ). For the size hook we commonly use we can tie up to 80# mono, the only size limitation being you have to be able to put the mono through the hook's eye twice. We've been using this knot forever and have never had one come undone.

The only drawback is you have to precut your hook leader to the length you want. For us that's not a problem because our dropper loops on our main leaders are spaced equally apart, hence our hook leaders are all slightly less than half the dropper loop distance (no hooks hanging up on each other that way).

Here's how we tie our snell knots (I'm using a piece of string in the photos because it showed better than clear mono):

First put the tag end of the leader through the hook eye as shown


Hold that tag end against the back of the hook


Then wrap the long end of the leader around the tag end and shank of the hook as shown


Make as many wraps as you want to (the heavier the line the fewer wraps needed)


When you've got enough wraps, stick the long end through the hook eye from the back as shown (this is why you have to precut the hook leader to the desired length)


Snug it up by pulling the long end tight and you're done!


You can trim the tag end if you've got too long a piece sticking out, but after doing a couple you'll quickly figure out how much to start out with and won't have to trim any more. The long end can now be tied directly to your snap swivel for attachment to your dropper loop or if your dropper loop is actually a three-way swivel, you can tie directly to the swivel. Here're a couple different views of the finished knot:



Try it. You'll be amazed at how much easier and faster it is to tie than the traditional snell. And like I said before, we've never had one come undone. Just be sure to snug everything up tight when you pull the long end tight after sticking it through the hook eye.

Tight lines,
lawaia

[shoefish]

Now this is starting to get good. Nothing like answering a picture post with pictures of your own....this is why I love this site.

lawaia- thank you for taking the time to share this with us. When you use the heavier line (80#) how many wraps do you find is the best?

[Jared D]

I was all excited, cuz I took some pictures of a rigged blue runner I sent down to be grouper candy... and thought it showed the hook w snell... unfortunately, it has my big fingers covering the snell.

That being said, I ONLY bottom fish with a snell. It puts the hook in the best hook up position. I cant do the snell the way the automated screen did it... it caused the part your twisting to become too twisted with heavy mono (50-120 pound) and doesnt snug down right, thus I have my own modified version, that seems to work well enough for me.

The hook up ratios with a snell are much higher than they were with improved clinch knots. I always run my line through the eye, so that it comes out the same side the hook point is on, or as shown by lawaia.

lawaia, thats a neat variation of the snell. Havent done it that way, but may try it, though it would be a pain for when I have to replace a hook or retie to clean up a fray in the leader.

[floridadeckie]

back in the woods, snelling is the only way to tie a hook on a trot line. just like shoe's experiment, the hook does the work for you. Another solution if you are using heavier mono and having trouble getting the snell to behave is to tie a uni-knot OVER the shank of the hook. simply thread the leader through the hook eye, then pretend the shank is the leading leg of the leader. cinch it down and voila... uni-snell

[Hennessy]

on the snell rig, with a 2004 eagle claw 8/0 all of them are snelled, and run through the eye to make the hook swing in towards the point.

it works no doubt,

although i have to say for the big marlin on circle hooks i crimp the hook normally and it dangles more freely -- 12/0 super mutu owner hook

[lawaia]

shoefish - When tying 80# leader we make four wraps; sometimes it ends up actually being 3-1/2. When I first started using this version of a snell I used to worry that it would come undone 'cause seems there's nothing actually cinching things down so I'd take several more wraps as insurance, but the guy who taught it to me (he learned it from his father who fished for a living) saw that and told me three or four wraps were all that's needed. He said he and his brothers all used that knot with the fewer wraps and in the decades his family had been using it not one ever came undone. I've now used it for years and found that to be true.

Jared D - This version of the snell is so quick and easy to tie that we take a bunch of pre-tied ones with us. Every time we bring a fish up we check the leader and if it's frayed or excessively kinked up, we just cut it off at the dropper loop and put an entirely new hook and leader on. Ditto if a hook gets bitten off. That way we don't have to worry about our hook leaders getting too short or losing a fish because we re-used a weakened leader. A 15-20 cent piece of leader is not worth losing a fish that might cost us $15-20 a pound were we to buy it in a market. When we get home we salvage the hooks from the beat up leaders for re-use.