# Snap swivels- good or evil



## Baldie (May 12, 2008)

How many of you us snap swivles? What about on SP or hard bodies? Has anyone lost a big one to a failed snap  ?

Baldie


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## fishnfreak (Jun 22, 2007)

when bait fishing i will use a swivel. For lighter line bait fishing i will use a snap swivel to allow quick rig changes. I dont use them for lure fishing though


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## paffoh (Aug 24, 2006)

I use snaps, some cheap and nasty ( Have not lost a fish yet ).

I used to use a snap swivel but found now I only use it for tasmanian Devils / Large Spoons.


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## L3GACY (Sep 2, 2007)

I use snaps for light bait fishing (whiting, tommies etc), throwing lures at salmon and when trolling for snook. Rest of the time, nup no way.


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## wopfish (Dec 4, 2006)

Generally I dont use them... but for metal slices you have to use a swivel of sorts.. and its pretty hard to go past a snap... but I have had kings destroy so called heavy duty ones in seconds... so for the sake of convenience they are good - but buy the very best... and i think they are SAMPO from memory ( not cheap )... other wise I wouldnt bother.. especaily if fishing light.... learn the knots and only bother with a swivel if the lure / bait spins around....


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## yankatthebay (Dec 14, 2007)

I put a snap swivel on my line so I can change what I have on the line more easily. I rig up about 2m of leader on each of the lures I want to use and put a loop at the top end which I hook onto the snap. Has never failed me and put some good stress on it, but then again I use 50-120lb swivels, so they should not fail at that strength in the first place. I just have it because it makes life easier.


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## avayak (May 23, 2007)

Not all snap swivels are created equal and sometimes it has more to do with the design than price. I've used Sampo swivels with the Hawian clip gamefishing and they are good but they really need to attach to a solid ring, there is a risk of them working out attached to split rings. For lines up to 20lb the cheap black crane swivels with the coastlock clips have never let me down. I've also found the Decoy egg snaps reliable but you have to pick the right size to get through jigheads. Look for a clip that has a 180 degree bend in the end like the coastlock and the egg snaps The ones that rely on the end pocking through a hole are not very positive and tend to let go.
It is convenient to have a snap to quickly change rigs and it is handy when you want to cut down on the number of rods you take out.


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## Ado (Mar 31, 2008)

I'm not as experienced as some, but I pretty much always use a swivel - on everything. As soon as I try to use anything; bait, HBs, SPs, spoons, anything without a swivel, then I find something causes line twist. I tried it again on the weekend. I tied a squidgy fish directly in. I left it behinf me while working the other rod. When I looked back I had twists near the rod tip. The squidgy's tail had been hooked, causing it to spin ... forever. The result was a thousand twists. The next fish broke the 15lb line immediately, probably due to a kink.

As for snaps, I'm lazy. If I don't use a snap then I won't change lures. I've never lost a fish due to a snap failure. Even if I did occasionally, I reckon the number that I catch due to changing lures more frequently would more than mke up for it.


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## sbd (Aug 18, 2006)

Lost a good fish at Longy last time, straightening a small Sampo snap swivel. First one I've had fail, but it's only on your best fish that they will. I was using a girl's swivel (30lb) to do a man's job, but the snap failed before my 30lb Nitlon leader.

I'll still use the Sampos for light work, but from now for me with kings they're out.


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## Baldy (Oct 1, 2007)

Baldie!!...champion bloke im sure :lol: :lol:

Yeah I use them sometimes, mostly on the heavier gear. I'll put one above a paternoster rig so I can change it out quickly, have pre-made rigs I can just clip on, you know like weighted livebait rig with a circle hook, or unweighted...floating...or even just spare paternoster rigs.

For the lighter stuff for bream fishing and trout I dont like them, I dont do much trolling for those fish so its all cast and retrieve. Put a clip thats too big on a suspending lure and the bugger will sink! If ya really want to try clips for the finesse stuff, get the flyfishing ones, they are normally pretty good quality.

Like one of the other blokes said, even some of the cheapish ones are ok, oversize them a bit and and keep an eye on line twist and they work ok. Thats the thing that kills them, twisting, the swivels can seize up after a while but they are cheap enough to replace fairly often.

Knots arnt so bad, I get by on one knot, the Uni. Double uni's for leader to line joins, uni's for terminal joins....uni's for building fly leaders  :lol: The way I see it there might be slightly better knots for each job but if I cant tie them for crap then I figure a good uni knot will do the same job. Dont get me wrong, Ive tried a bunch of different ones, ive got that Geoff Wilsons knot bible and had a go at alot of them at home. BUT when im on the water and ive just busted off a snag and the fish are on....I just wanna get a new one tied on asap....so end up using the uni. Of course the tweed hat brigade and the big game hunters will scoff at the thought of only using 1 knot, I couldnt care less, only time I have trouble with knots breaking is when I rush them.

The one thing clips are great for are kids, even when they are too young to bait a hook or rig a SP on a jighead, they can still clip on the new bottom or lure with a bit of help. Be carefull though, they might just end up wanting to clip on every different lure in your tacklebox than actually fish :lol:

Cheers
Baldy


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## Baldie (May 12, 2008)

Thanks all for you advice  . I thing I'm going to have to concentrate :? on get a few knots & practice. Like you said Baldy (great name :lol: ) in the heat of battle you need to do your preferred knot blindfolded hanging upside down in a 30 knot howler. Bit extreme but I've lost a few good fish while land base fishing with a few to many under the belt :twisted: having tied a crappy blood knot  .

Regards
Baldie


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## Milt (Sep 2, 2005)

For bait fishing they are fantastic as they allow you to change your rig in seconds providing you have retied a few and have them handy. Whist trolling lure they also work well I normally have a 1.5m leader though in case it spooks the fish. I tie a leader on each lure and bag it and swap with eaze. When fishing plastics or cast and retrieve lures no snap swivel for me, unless the fish are in an agressive mood and attack anything thrown at them. Be sure to buy good quality ones rated higher than the breaking strain of your line with a nice easy clip to use.

Milt,


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## Prawndog (Jan 9, 2008)

I agree with Baldy,

In my humble opinion, uni knots and their variants do the job if tied correctly. Before pulling the knot tight I lubricate it with some saliva to avoid damaging line with friction burns.

On a recent game fishing jaunt, where I tried catching oversize dophin fish (Mahi Mahi) on my own light gear in deep water and GT's around reef drop offs also on light gear(stupid move by the way, there are 3 GT's swimming around with nice rapala lip decorations in Tonga), I didn't have a single knot failure including at the braid to leader double uni connection.

I did have bust off's, but they were due to leaping dolphin fish tying themselves in knots between me and my mate, being reefed by GT's and being lazy and not removing some damaged braid and retying the leader.

I don't use snap swivels fishing for Bream, trout etc either, I reckon that one day it may mean the difference between landing the smart fish of a lifetime or spooking it due to the presence of an oversized snap swivel. If I am worried about line twist I put a plain swivel (small black) about 4 feet up the line from the lure.

This may all be bullshit, but I can tie a uni fast enough that I'm not concerned about the time it takes to do it compared to the convenience of using a snap swivel.

PD.


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