Snaps on Hard Baits?

[FishDieBroke]

I understand this topic has been discussed prior and there is lots of info available. Do you use snaps on hardbaits? Mostly interested in experience regarding jerkbaits, deep cranks, & poppers. Be as specific as you’d like regarding each bait type, specific baits, and situation if necessary. Thanks so much for your advice.
 

1. No snap?

2. Snap without split ring?

3. Snap with split ring?

[Glenn]

This should help:

 

[OkobojiEagle]

doesn't seem to be smallmouth specific...

[PressuredFishing]

5 hours ago, FishDieBroke said:

I understand this topic has been discussed prior and there is lots of info available. Do you use snaps on hardbaits? Mostly interested in experience regarding jerkbaits, deep cranks, & poppers. Be as specific as you’d like regarding each bait type, specific baits, and situation if necessary. Thanks so much for your advice.
 

1. No snap?

2. Snap without split ring?

3. Snap with split ring?

This is my personal preference, you may like better things though

Topwaters-

.Zara spooks because they walk wider with a snap

.For poppers I normally dont but if you want to try go for it.

 

Crankbaits-

.using snaps on cranks is nice to have because you can switch depth depending on your location by snapping on and off crankbaits, for instancing im fishing 5ft riprap, so I have a squarebill, but then it drops off onto a rock wall where I have 15 foot, I can tie on a deep diver. It can also be useful for color changes.

 

Jerkbaits- It depends on the jerkbait, for instance my rapala floaters you can If you want to but a megabass vision 110 balences perfectly and the extra weight of the snap will make it sink.

 

Finally your question about snaps with or without splitrings is explained very well by Mr. Glen in his video.

 

Hope this helps, and If you have trouble for some reason tying knots because of a medical reason such as poor eyesight or hand eye coordination you can throw all of this information out the window and just fish with a snap or snap and swivel because its impossible to catch fish if your line is not in the water. also if this applies to you, you could even perhaps use a snap to attach hooks to your line if you have trouble tying knots, something I  just thought about.

[MickD]

I think Glenn's treatment of this subject is pretty well on target, but I have to admit that I sometimes use snaps on small swimbaits and tubes, thinking that it allows better action.  Right or wrong?  Seems to work OK.  Mostly relatively clean water.

[Bird]

I've used snaps in the past but after having one actually walk itself out of a knot during a fight, quit using them.

Certainly a rare event but it did happen......snap and spinnerbait gone while knot still intact. 

 

I'm never in a hurry these days and simply retie. 

 

[Captain Phil]

The only good reason I can see to use snaps when bass fishing is if you are handicapped and have trouble tying knots.  Adding hardware to a bait changes the action and adds an additional point of failure.  If you wish to increase the action of a bait, use a loop knot.    It's a very easy knot to learn and tie.  We use them in inshore salt water fishing and I have never had one fail. 

[cyclops2]

I have long ago ALWAYS required a split ring or a snap and swivel on all lures. Rebel & Rapala always put on excellent split rings.

 

 I am happy.     I some times tie on a separate snap & barrel swivel to speed up changes.

[Oklahoma Mike]

I use snaps on crankbaits because I will often change lures numerous times for size or color. I use them on some topwater baits where I don’t see the action negatively affected, like crawlers or pencil baits. That’s the extent of my use of snaps. 
 

As for swivels, only on inline spinners to prevent line twist. 

[swhit140]

I only use snaps on crankbaits and no difference in catching fish. I also have never had a snap break/fail, I normally use a #0 size.

[Cgolf]

I use snaps on cranks of all sizes and types. If the bait has a split ring I leave it on, if not I connect the snap to the line tie. 
 

On my spinning rods with Ned’s and sliders I also use snaps for presentation reasons. 
 

like some others, other than one Norman speed clip failing I don’t remember a duo lock snap failing. 

[Koz]

I use VMC Touch-Loc snaps for just about everything. They are a bit different than a regular snap.

 

At first I did this because I was bank fishing and covering miles of ground so I usually brought just one rod.

 

Now I kayak fish and I use them because it’s a pain to maneuver the rod and tie off on a kayak, especially with the pedal drive in front of me.

[Bluebasser86]

I use snaps on most of my hard baits and remove the split ring before snapping it on. Key is to not get lazy and keep retying when changing baits. The snaps are so tiny they do not effect the baits action but plenty strong that they don't fail. 

[WRB]

I don’t like tying to split rings period or attaching snaps to split rings, too many joints.

For a long time I used Berkley cross lock snaps for hard lures except light weight Minnow type lures like Rapala and jerk baits. Some lures the added weight affects the lure action negatively. 

The past few years I use Owner Hyper Weld snaps, light weight small wire diameter and strong.

Tom

[Columbia Craw]

I use snaps on baits where the snap was attached.  This means all Luhr Jensen baits.  I never add a snap to a split ring.  I prefer a loop knot over a snap.  I also transitioned my hard bait to the pear shaped split rings by Owner. This is effective for me. 

[Bankbeater]

I've always used snaps directly to split rings on all of my hard baits.  

[papajoe222]

I use snaps on almost all my hard baits (spinnerbaits excluded). I remove split rings on baits that come with them. That is why I began using them as my line would always work its way into the gap and eventually into split rings. That was one of the reasons I retied regularly.  Like feathered trebles, on some baits they will alter the action.

[Deephaven]

My method is simple.  If it had a split ring, I take if off and use a snap.  Otherwise no snap.

 

[jbsoonerfan]

On 11/28/2021 at 7:56 AM, Captain Phil said:

The only good reason I can see to use snaps when bass fishing is if you are handicapped and have trouble tying knots.  Adding hardware to a bait changes the action and adds an additional point of failure.  If you wish to increase the action of a bait, use a loop knot.    It's a very easy knot to learn and tie.  We use them in inshore salt water fishing and I have never had one fail. 

I'm not handicapped and I use snaps for hard baits. I can't speak for the vast majority of guys who use them as well, but in your opinion, there must be a lot of handicapped anglers out there. That's a broad brush.

[Bluebasser86]

35 minutes ago, jbsoonerfan said:

I'm not handicapped and I use snaps for hard baits. I can't speak for the vast majority of guys who use them as well, but in your opinion, there must be a lot of handicapped anglers out there. That's a broad brush.

I scoffed at my fishing buddy for doing it until I tried it myself, then I wondered why in the world I waited so long to try it myself. Not only is changing baits easier, but being able to remove my baits easily before storing my rods at the end of the day is so nice too. Way less tangled rods in the rod locker and no surprise hooks that slipped out of the bait wraps when I'm reaching for a rod in the locker. 

 

I know for fact that I caught 1 of my fish over 7 this year as a direct result of using snaps. With cold hands, I never would have switched baits if I had to retie just to put on a deeper running bait to make a few cast like I did. With the snap, I did it fairly easily though and having already thrown my flatside through the same area, that fish took the deeper running bait. Never would have happened otherwise. Now I keep a small selection of baits out that I can cycle through in productive spots and narrow down productive baits faster also. 

[Hammer 4]

Guess I'm just old fashion, unless a snap is either recommended or comes with a snap, I tie directly to the bait.

The only hard baits I toss regularly are my large jointed swimbaits, glide and wake baits. Don't do cranks or lipless any longer, and my jerkbaits aren't used often enough to warrant having a dedicated rod for them.

[Catt]

Split ring or Loop knot ?

 

[Captain Phil]

6 hours ago, jbsoonerfan said:

I'm not handicapped and I use snaps for hard baits. I can't speak for the vast majority of guys who use them as well, but in your opinion, there must be a lot of handicapped anglers out there. That's a broad brush.

 

Using a snap when bass fishing reminds me of a statement made about football.  “Three things can happen when you throw the ball, and two of them are bad.”   Using a snap adds weight to the bait.  It changes the look of the bait and the action.  It also attracts weeds and additional  hangups. In some cases this can be an improvement, too often it's not. In offshore salt water fishing, we use high quality ball bearing swivels and snaps.  This is necessary as we may need to change the bait and entire leader quickly.  This is not required in bass fishing.   If using a snap or swivel works for you, use it.  If I was going to fish a bass tournament, I would want all my competitors to use them. 

[Jigfishn10]

On 11/28/2021 at 8:56 AM, Captain Phil said:

The only good reason I can see to use snaps when bass fishing is if you are handicapped and have trouble tying knots.  Adding hardware to a bait changes the action and adds an additional point of failure.  If you wish to increase the action of a bait, use a loop knot.    It's a very easy knot to learn and tie.  We use them in inshore salt water fishing and I have never had one fail. 

As much as I hate using snaps, having 1 eye impaired, this is the only reason I consider it, otherwise I use a surgeons end loop. I'm mostly fishing saltwater.

 

Capt Phil, which loop knot do you use/recommend? 

[Captain Phil]

I am sure there are many other ways to tie a loop knot.  This is the one I use.