Snell Length

[Guest]

I hear a lot of people using 6 to 10 foot snells as opposed to shorter ones. I use 8 foot length myself. What is the thinking behind this as opposed to using shorter snells

[dented boat guy]

I just got back from fishing Mille Lacs for 5 days. I used 3-4 foot leaders all the time with no problems, 40-60 fish days. Longer leaders will and do work, however shorter ones also work fine and it's easier to use the net. That being said shorter leaders will out fish longer leaders some days and vice versa. Don't be afraid to vary from the conventional wisdom. Hook color did not matter, didn't use any beads, just a plain hook with bait.

[aanderud]

I always have had better success with long leaders on a spinner rig. On a lindy rig, it doesn't seem to matter quite as much, at least up in the gravel, in my experience.

I think there are several reasons for it -- the main two that I can think migh make a diffference are

a) the clear water, longer leader leaves the fish less likely to notice the weight while he's eyeing up the leach on your lindy rig

if you do drop your sinker into the mud on the flats, the longer leader keeps that distrubance just a little further from your bait.

I don't know, to each his own. If it aint broke, don't fix it -- but if you run into a day where you're stuggling to catch fish (but you're marking them), it's one of the things to vary along with speed, bait, color, etc.