Snell test

[macminn]

Real basic question, for live bait rigs, spinners, etc., what pound test do you use for the snell? Also, how do you figure out what length to use? Thanks in advance.

[Deitz Dittrich]

for me it depends on the cover/structure I am fishing. The more chance my line has of getting dinged up, the heavier lb test I will use. Heavier lb test on spinner rigs for sure because of the spinner rubbing the line constantly. On regular rigs, I start with 6lb, and go heavier when needed. Spinners I start with 8lb and go to 10 often.

Length depends again on cover, but more so on clarity. The clearer the water the longer the snell.

[GlassEyeangler]

i use snells quite a bit. i agree with the comments above...it does really depend on what kind of water your pulling the spinner through. i use the Northland product, which comes preassembled. it's 6' in length, 14lb test line, and they come in my favorite colors...green, chartruse, orange, pink, etc. i change weight placement a lot when using snells. i'm after a lot of erratic movement at the hook/spinner, so i usually put the weight at the other end where the loop is. as long as there aren't too many weeds...then i move it closer towards the hook/spinner.

[upnorth]

Lindy style rigs 4# for me and I will stretch them out up to 10 feet if the fish are really finicky. Spinner rigs at least 8# and about 3 to 4 feet.

[Cliff Wagenbach]

I fish Vermilion most of the time. Vermilion has slightly stained to heavily stained water depending upon where you are.

On Lindy type rigs I use 6# to 10# test Cajune Red leaders.

The pound test and length vary depending upon:

Fish mood.

Type of bait I am using.

Where I am fishing.

I will use a heavier and longer leader when I want my bait to rise up off of the bottom a few inches and a shorter snell when I want my bait to stay on the bottom with very little room for the bait to run from active fish.

I use 10# to 14# snells on spinner rigs. 3 foot average length.

Cliff

[fishinJohn]

Ok, real basic question... is a snell the same thing as a leader and is the only reason to use them because you use heavier line so the fish does not bite through? How would leader length determine where the lure travels through the water?

[upnorth]

Some may do it for that reason. I do it for the opposite. I run a slightly heavier main line and a lighter snell/leader. Mostly for pulling out snags and more abrasion resistance on the main line.

[paceman]

I use primarily 6# on both my mainline and snell. Again the snell length will depend on the water clarity. 5-6 feet is a common length. I rarely use anything less than 4 feet.

[Cliff Wagenbach]

Quote:

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Ok, real basic question... is a snell the same thing as a leader and is the only reason to use them because you use heavier line so the fish does not bite through? How would leader length determine where the lure travels through the water?

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For these applications, a snell and a leader are the same thing.

As stated by UpNorth, I also use a heavier main line, almost always Power Pro or Fireline braids in 8# or 10# test.

Cliff

[jigginjim]

I also use the superbraids (fireline) for my mainline. When rigging in deep water(30-50 ft) the braids offer less stretch, and better feel.

[Surface Tension]

I've been tying my own spinners for for 30 years. In that time I've experimented a lot. # test never made a difference as far as what the walleyes liked. I do fish mostly stained lakes though. All my spinners are made from 14# test now. For much the same reasons as stated above, the wear from clevis, rocks but mostly because of wear from catching fish not to mention what a pike will do. All the spinners are snelled with two #4 Fang hooks whether I'm using minnows, leeches, or crawlers, two hooks is what I use. Length is 3-4' and every spinner gets a barrel swivel tied with a Palomar knot. Main line is normally 10# and that gets a locking snap barrel swivel. I go barrels because they're cheap, and with two barrels line twist is never a problem.

More times then not these are trolled just fast enough to get rotation on a deep cut Colorado blade tight to bottom, usually thats because I'm targeting eyes that are belly on the bottom. There are times when I have to come off bottom and I adjust for that with weight and line out and never change spinner length or spinners with floats.

I won't live bait rig unless I need to slow things down. As stated above I pull spinners super slow so rigging for me is when I want to stop a presentation but still cover some ground. Thats never done by dragging bottom, in the lakes I fish I'd be snagged right away if I did drag. I lift the slip sinker off the bottom and pull it then let it drop. Keeping the rod tip in contact the whole time and as the boat moves forward I give tip then repeat the lift and pull.

As I said this a a very slow presentation and very effective on neutral fish. These fish are tight to the bottom and thats where I keep everything. For that reason leader test is light 4-6# with lengths short at around 4' and no floats.

So there you have it, probably more then you wanted to know but for my style it needed an explanation as to why.