Jump to content
  • GUESTS

    If You  want access  to member only forums on FM, You will need to Sign-in or  Sign-Up now .

    This box will disappear once you are signed in as a member.

Favorite Snell Set-up


irishjigs

Recommended Posts

Just a thought...

When drifting or backtrolling, what is the one kind of snell you will try first for the walleye? Mine for instance is usually about 6 feet long with one red bead and a red hook.

Just a question I thought I would throw out there hoping to get some different responses. Thanks!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

These days there are so many choices to choose from w/ colored hooks and beads that I mix it up alot. I like redhooks (hence the name)and glow beads. I also like the metallic blue or green gamakatsus w/ chartruse beads. Orange hooks w/ chart beads worked well last week w/ crawlers. For fishing around grand rapids area I've been using bullet sinkers but those no-snags are great for Boundary waters fishing where there are so many rocks that like to grab on to rigs. I usually use 3-8' leaders depending on location and bottom content. All this rig talk is getting me going so I plan on pulling some inflated crawlers around out on pokegema this afternoon! Good luck and tightlines!
redhooks

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If I am going to slow troll or drift I will use a bottom bouncer and about a 5' snell to start out with. The snell is made w/fireline and has a #4 chart hook with a soft glow bead over the knot. That would be my standard set-up. I also use lots of red hooks. Then I will mix and match and put different colored beads and floats on different hooks.

Now I like to use a bottom bouncer b/c it will keep the bait up off the bottom when your moving slower. It also will help prevent snags if you are fishing a rocky area. Another benefit of using a bottom bouncer is when fishing a weedy area, it will keep the bait out of the weeds and there is much less fouling.
And fireline is just what I like to use. Its a little more powerful than mono and can put up with more of a beating. But if I am fishing during the day in a clear lake I will use mono, just gives me more confidence. grin.gif

------------------
And keep those hooks sharp!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My favorite snell hookups are.....all in the bottom of the river, or in the gut of some Northern.

For some reason this year, I have been snagged alot in the river, and bitten off by many Northerns this year.

Does anyone have secrets to try and salvage beads and spinners on serious snags or Northerns? Was thinking about that tonite on the river, if it would help to tie a not in front of the hook, or something, cuz I lost another one to a bite off today. Fireline is on my reel, but I took advice from this site last year, and make snells with abrasion resistant mono. But seem to be losing more this year. Might have to switch back to some Fireline snells...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My choice depends a lot on what the structure is and the time of year. The plain lindy with one bead is certainly close to my first choice for most any structure.

Spinners (particularily hammered gold) are another favorite. I tend to prefer these in hard bottom more often.

Whatever the choice, I tend to start with the longer snells (8-12ft) and work my way shorter as necessary.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I definetly like the "no snag" sinkers, I borrowed one of these from a buddy on opener at Kabetogama, needless to say it's still in my tackle box. I'll go with a 5-6 foot snell with a float 6 inches from the green or red bead and red hook. If that doesnt work it means there are no fish in the lake smile.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My favorite rig and snell is to use the "Foam Walker" (standing slip sinker) a Bead, Snapswivel, 3'to 5' of Mono to a plain red hook with a piece (approx. 3/8" to 1/4") of my Ice Buster Bobber Foam attached directly to the shank of the Red Hook and a leech, minnow or crawler. I just made mt own floater hooks!
The Foam Walker never tips over (keeps my line off the bottom) - The piece of foam on my red hook keeps my bait in the strike zone and off the bottom. I've watched a leech fight against the foam and make a prize target for Walleyes! Bruce Mosher

------------------
Bruce Mosher,www.icebusterbobbers.com

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ya I forgot about the foam walkers I have in my box. I use them too every once in awhile. I like them, they never "tip over" like a bottom bouncer. So on a light bitting eye you can drop back and give them some time.
I don't use them that much at this time of the year. I normally pull them out in spring and fall times.

A foam walker would be my next alternative to a bottom bouncer.

------------------
And keep those hooks sharp!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Don't forget about the sliding/slip type bottom bouncers. This will also let you feed line to light biters like a foam walker. One advantage of the wire slip type bottom bouncers is that one can just buy the smaller one (although they are easily interchangable with the snap on design) and make them heavier by slipping on a bullet sinker and securing it with varying methods. I like to run these on a 3- 10' leader of mono with a red Gamakatzu hook and a single glow rattle bead (filled with rock salt I think). I actually have several "leaders" of different lengths, some with spinners, some just with diff color hooks or beads (some rattle, some w/o). Lots of diff possibilities...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.


  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • leech~~
      Nope not me.  May want to go nextdoor and ask around?  
    • smurfy
      Looks to me like Leech brought his chair home!!😅😆
    • Brianf.
      I'm not there, so I can't tell exactly what's going on but it looks like a large area of open water developed in the last day with all of the heavy snow on the east side of wake em up Narrows. These two photos are from my Ring Camera facing north towards Niles Point.  You can see what happened with all of snow that fell in the last three days, though the open water could have been wind driven. Hard to say. .  
    • SkunkedAgain
      Black Bay had great ice before but a few spots near rockpiles where there were spots of open water. It looks like the weight of the snow has created a little lake in the middle of the bay.  
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the south end...   Thanks to some cold spring weather, ice fishing continues strong for those still ice fishing.  The bite remains very good.  Most resorts have pulled their fish houses off for the year, however, some still have fish houses out and others are allowing ATV and side by sides.  Check social media or call ahead to your favorite resort for specifics. Reports this week for walleyes and saugers remain excellent.   A nice mix of jumbo perch, pike, eelpout, and an occasional crappie, tullibee or sturgeon being reported by anglers. Jigging one line and using a live minnow on the second line is the way to go.  Green, glow red, pink and gold were good colors this week.     Monster pike are on a tear!  Good number of pike, some reaching over 45 inches long, being caught using tip ups with live suckers or dead bait such as smelt and herring in 8 - 14' of water.   As always, work through a resort or outfitter for ice road conditions.  Safety first always. Fish houses are allowed on the ice through March 31st, the walleye / sauger season goes through April 14th and the pike season never ends. On the Rainy River...  The river is opened up along the Nelson Park boat ramp in Birchdale, the Frontier boat ramp and Vidas boat ramp.  This past week, much of the open water skimmed over with the single digit overnight temps.   Areas of the river have popped open again and with temps getting warmer, things are shaping up for the last stretch through the rest of the spring season, which continues through April 14th.   Very good numbers of walleyes are in the river.  Reports this week, even with fewer anglers, have been good.  When temps warm up and the sun shines, things will fire up again.   Jigs with brightly colored plastics or jigs with a frozen emerald shiner have been the desired bait on the river.  Don't overlook slow trolling crankbaits upstream as well.   Good reports of sturgeon being caught on the river as well.  Sturgeon put the feed bag on in the spring.  The bite has been very good.  Most are using a sturgeon rig with a circle hook loaded with crawlers or crawlers / frozen emerald shiners. Up at the NW Angle...  Ice fishing is winding down up at the Angle.  Walleyes, saugers, and a number of various species in the mix again this week.  The bite is still very good with good numbers of fish.  The one two punch of jigging one line and deadsticking the second line is working well.   Check with Angle resorts on transport options from Young's Bay.  Call ahead for ice road guidelines.  
    • CigarGuy
      With the drifting, kind of hard to tell for sure, but I'm guessing about a foot and still lightly snowing. Cook end!
    • PSU
      How much snow did you get on Vermilion? 
    • Mike89
      lake here refroze too...  started opening again yesterday with the wet snow and wind...  very little ice left today...
    • Hookmaster
      A friend who has a cabin between Alex and Fergus said the lake he's on refroze. He texted me a pic from March 12th when it was open and one from 23rd when it wasn't. 🤯
    • SkunkedAgain
      I don't think that there has been any ice melt in the past few weeks on Vermilion. Things looked like a record and then Mother Nature swept in again.   I'll give my revised guess of April 21st
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.