Noob Leader Question

[Shaggie]

I've just started getting into bass fishing more and more lately. I've been told in the past that i shouldn't use a snap swivel at the end of my line but I should tie my lures on every time I change them. Since I don't have 20 different poles set up for different occasions I can't see doing this. What I've been doing is tying a snap swivel to the end of the line on my rod and tying about a 12" leader to each of my lures with a barrel swivel. Will this cause any adverse affects? Thanks

[Darren.]

Welcome aboard!

Use what you are comfortable with! Do you catch
fish? Then it's good. Doesn't mean it is the best
of course, but when one is limited in time and how
many setups are available, one does what works.

Are you mostly fishing lures like crankbaits?

You may be better off tying the line-to-leader with a
knot like the Uni-to-Uni, then at the end of your 
leader tying on the snap/snap swivel.

Other folks will chime in with additional suggestions.

[A-Jay]

Hello Shaggie and Welcome Bass Resource ~

I agree with Darren.

A-Jay

[Scott F]

If you don't like retrying when changing lures, try using just a snap instead of a snap swivel.

[Cgolf]

I personally also use a snap for my soft plastic fishing, on a slider head, and Crankbait fishing. To me retying to change lures is a waste of time. I have only had one or two snap failures in 10 years of fishing. I also have found that a leader hasn't been necessary, I generally just use fireline or braid with the snap. 

The only thing I don't use a snap for is skirted bass jigs. 

[BaitMonkey1984]

Back when I started fishing, I was in the same position. I didn't have a lot of combos and didn't want to continuously re-tie. I used a snap swivel to connect hard baits and had a texas rig on my other rod. I was able to fish may different baits quickly with these two set-ups. It got the job done for me for years. I wouldn't think of using it today, but I also wouldn't do anything differently if I got a chance to re-do it. It will work fine. It won't be optimal but the difference is negligible in my opinion. One day, you will be like the rest of us and have more fishing poles than you can fit in your rod locker. Good luck

[alzun664]

As said above you'll want to tie a uni knot or some kind of line to line knot to connect your mainline to your leader instead of a swivel. Be sure to practice it a few times before you get on the water. All that extra hardware is visible to the fish and also weighs down your presentation, you can also get away with a longer leader when you don't have to worry about casting with a swivel attached. Having a longer leader also means you don't have to constantly retie a new one whenever it gets nicked. 

Being a bank angler I use a snap for all of my hardbaits, cranks, and topwaters and have even caught fish using them on jigs. I like the versatility of changing lures quickly without having to retie. The only things I wouldn't use a snap for are spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, texas rigs, swimjigs and hollowbody frogs to keep them as weedless as possible.

[Hurricane]

I agree with Darren also.. Welcome to the boards.. You will learn something new every day here. . Good people and good information. .

[Shaggie]

Thanks guys