# Snap swivel or to tie????????



## kronky13 (May 6, 2013)

Hello all,

Just wonder the preferred method for fishing with lures and soft plastics? I tie straight to leader, however a couple of mates and also the wife (mainly because it is easier for her) use little snap swivels.

Are the major disadvantages to using snap swivels?

Am I better off doing the more time consuming tie or try the snap swivel?

Cheers

Brendan


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## Stealthfisha (Jul 21, 2009)

i use small and big ones on all my outfits...no reduction in strikes ive noticed...if you are worried about fish being spooked by them....then take your trebles off too :lol:

But seriously...sweep and bream and god knows what else down here are still jumping on the trebbles etc....the best part is swapping between fish species is a snap! hahahah get it! hahahah god im so not funny.....the biggest ones i use end up on the 50lbs rigs and are usually 140lbs or something like that......

id say if your leaning towards snaps then run both non snap and snap off the back with same lures etc....trolling about.....if the non snap lure gets stikes and none on the snaps then you have proven a point...i get strikes on both if i run out....

Go both ways its more fun


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## bildad (Jun 20, 2011)

Mate if you lose 1 fish to a snap it's one too many, I've lost 2 crackers now due to fish biting the snaps on strike and having them open up, never again will this happen.
I was tying the perfection loop but found it too cumbersome, now I use the canoeman loop knot, too easy.
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=64399&p=685822&hilit=canoeman#p685822


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## ajbigfish (Sep 16, 2013)

The snap swivel restricts the lure from moving naturally.


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## Yakkamat (Nov 13, 2012)

I have also lost a few fish and lures from them opening up and I use quality swivels, but I'm often changing lures heaps when bass fishing so still use the snaps for convenience. I have a hell of a catch rate using them with bass, so they can't be too bad.


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## kronky13 (May 6, 2013)

Thanks for the comments guys. I change my lures and plastics a fair bit and the process of tying does seem to take a bit of time.

I guess you are always going to find people that are for and people against them. Everybody is different and have their own preferences.

Like I said thank you for the comments guys.

Cheers 
Brendan


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## labrat (Jul 25, 2008)

To keep the swivel away from the lure by about 100mm I tie loops of line to them before going out then only need to clip the swivel onto the loop. Nothing fancy, just a length of suitable line threaded through the lure or jig head and then formed into a loop with a surgeon's knot.

This may make it difficult to store lures and jig heads for some people but it works for the way I store my tackle.


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## hijacker (Oct 26, 2013)

I always tie placcees,using "Harro's loop knot(Rod Harrison version real simple tie) in heavy stuff
or in light stuff(bream ect) i use a uni knot and snug it down then pinch the knot body and slide it away from lure and it will form a loop.this is mostly adequate for light jigheads and when you hook up/get snagged/get hit it will snug down again and you just open it up again.

If it floats your boat, go with it


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## vladimir (Jan 2, 2013)

the way to prevent snaps from opening up is simple . u tie a swivel to the line and then a foot of mono then a snap .this will allow the snap to spin under pressure and the mono will stretch a bit aswell . this can work well with bigger lures ,but as for bream fishing i think we are all looking for ways to improve lure changing without to much to think about .i ussaully choose one style of bream fishing and i stick with it all day .be it softies or hardz or surface lure fishing .this allows me to practice each style of bream fishing each day ,i pick my weather aswell for each style .


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## john316 (Jan 15, 2009)

different strokes... bildad wont use a swivel cause one opened... I've had good fish that were lost when loops wore through or were bitten through. either way we both lost fish and have come to different conclusions. I still use loops but mostly swivels and have always caught a lot more fish than I can take home...

cheers

John


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## jhbc123 (Oct 4, 2012)

ajbigfish said:


> The snap swivel restricts the lure from moving naturally.


....a swivel of any kind impedes the natural movement of a lure....sure you may still catch fish....but if you're targeting finicky bream, you're likely to entice more hits with free moving lure....


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## anselmo (Aug 26, 2008)

Mustad fly clips


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## Guest (Dec 29, 2013)

snap swivels just because I get instant seasickness if I try to tie a knot on a swaying yak


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## qwikdraw (Sep 23, 2012)

snood clips , makes changing lures easy on the water


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## Squidley (May 8, 2010)

I've had snaps open on me before while holding the leader (the hourglass/peanut shaped type of snap) but never these ones:










They have a nice round shape that rarely causes the lure to jam into a non-working position and they're small for their rated breaking strain. The hooked end of the clip is a bit big to get through smaller jighead eyes though. I don't like shortening the leader whenever I feel like changing lures.


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## Yakkamat (Nov 13, 2012)

Squidley, I owned a Yamashita once. Worst bike I ever rode, but damn good fun. :lol:


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## Daveyak (Oct 6, 2005)

.


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## paulsod (Dec 28, 2008)

Hawaiin Snaps are my favourites, not cheap especially at Bunnings.
Caught Longtail Tuna with them, 2 so far.

Just ordered off Itackle for the first time some Hawaiin Snaps qty 10 size 2 and 3.
I see how the quality compares to the BCF ones I have previously bought.
Here is a link to BCF's and Itackle.

http://www.bcf.com.au/online-store/prod ... 0906#Cross
http://www.itackle.com.au/?stg=1034&view=1034

Cheers
Paul


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## Guest (Dec 31, 2013)

paulsod said:


> Hawaiin Snaps are my favourites
> Paul


About 12 months ago large flathead unclipped my favourite (and last) dual tail SP. I don't mind losing a fish that spits the hook; is too big for line class; finds a snag; I make a mistake, etc but the failure of a snap is hard to take so I started experimenting.

First I tried throwing more money at the problem and tried Black Magic Decoy clips. Apart from being incredibly thin and light, they performed as 'reliably' as the cheap snap swivels bought from my local tackle supplier. Hawaiin snaps came next. The batch I tried made it easy to swap lures but the sides gradually came apart. No fish were lost but I had to keep an eye on the snap gap and swap when the gap widened to be happy that no fish would be lost.

I am now testing Breakaway Spinlink Clips. These are also relatively small. Its still early days but switching between lures is incredibly fast and easy (so easy you think the lure might drop off but that's never happened). No fish or snag has caused an issue. I bought mine via eBay. Postage seemed expensive compared to the cost of the item but stayed the same when I bought multiple packets.

If Breakaway Spinlink fails, the next on my test list is Norman Speed Clips.


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## gbc (Feb 16, 2012)

If you're mad enough to think attaching swivels to lures doesn't affect their look or action, game snaps won't be unclipped by flathead and can be had fairly cheaply - they aren't much bigger than a normal coastal/Hawaiian snap. You won't see a swivel on any comp fisherman's (braid) outfit for good reason. We even stopped running game snaps on our mack baits and c-lures (each are 150mm long lures rated to work at around 12 knots - huge force on them) as it makes a difference to their action.
For my light lure outfits it is a bimini in the braid to whatever fluorocarbon leader matches the outfit, and as per Kraley - a perfection loop for bibs and a uni for sp's - simple, and keeps the fish focussed on what I want them to see. I can't see an upside to running a swivel 150mm up from a lure? From an offshore perspective it is unheard of because of 'hoo liking shiny things. If I started that on a light outfit I'd be going through tip runners like mad.


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## Squidley (May 8, 2010)

Soft plastics and hard bodies won't twist the line if they're working correctly so a swivel would be solving a problem that shouldn't be there.


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## jhbc123 (Oct 4, 2012)

No swivels....no snap swivels.....basically, just a light, good quality braid 6lb max., double uni-knot to the fluoro leader, and tie a blood-knot to the plastic, lure or whatever choice of artificial "bait" takes your fancy...uncomplicated and deadly on flatties & bream....when I'm not doin' donuts, which seems to be more often than not :lol:


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## anselmo (Aug 26, 2008)

For those of you who like loop knots, here's some advice from Lefty Kreh: LINK


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## gbc (Feb 16, 2012)

^^^ It's interesting that Lefty calls a Lefty's Loop a Non Slip loop in that? Maybe someone got their nose out of joint. Good knot though, I use it heaps.


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## Penno (Dec 2, 2005)

G


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## Guest (Jan 2, 2014)

anselmo said:


> For those of you who like loop knots, here's some advice from Lefty Kreh: LINK


It may be a good knot but the site asks for log on so some of us may never see it;-)

Edit: oops, forgot the link


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