Directly to the lure or to a snap swivel? I was allways told to tie directly to the lure but at the road trip I fished with one partner that used snap swivels. Man did he  catch a lot of fish. 

I always tie direct. I just prefer less hardware.

I have always been told that not tying direct inhibits the true and important action of most baits. I think this would be most true for crankbaits. But I am Kinda hoping to hear that people have lots of success while using them because it sure makes lure changes easier.

I always tie direct. I just prefer less hardware.

X2 on this

  I tie direct to my soft plastics but now this thread has me thinking - could I use a snap swivel when I'm Texas rigging or split-shot rigging soft plastics?  Tie a snap swivel at the end of my line and then connect the hook to the snap swivel?  It would save me time switching out hooks, going from 3/0 to 2/0 or 3/0 to 1/0 and then back to 3/0.   Hmm, I might have to give it a try.   

Uhhhh, with a knot ?

Those who know me know that I have a tremor condition.  On my mistake days it can take me 15 minutes to tie a knot as simple as a Palomar.  For that reason I use snaps on almost all of my gear.  The fish don't seem to mind at all.

Those who know me know that I have a tremor condition. On my mistake days it can take me 15 minutes to tie a knot as simple as a Palomar. For that reason I use snaps on almost all of my gear. The fish don't seem to mind at all.

I haven't really fished with snaps a whole lot before but haven't you noticed your crankbaits still run true?

I have snaps on my rods. I usually fish from the bank, so taking more than 2 rods is difficult. The snaps makes changing lures 100x easier. I don't think that it keeps the fish from biting.

I tie directly always.

Tie direct except for spoons or anything else that requires a snap. 

Tie direct

Texas rig worms I tie direct.  The snap is more weight and even worse, they are weed magnets.

I use snaps on all hard lures.  Tying a palomar knot on a crankbait, with three sets of trebles, wastes too much time and line.

I get a kick out of the idea that a snap is too much hardware when it is tied on a half ounce, or more, of wire, plastic, split rings, lead heads, spinning blades, and any other stuff lures are made of.

I always tie direct. Snaps are just an extra point of failure. If you want to make it easier to tie a palomar on bigger lures with more hooks, just make a much bigger loop. It does waste an extra few inches of line but I think it is worth it.

I tie direct............to a snap.  Never had one fail, and the lures run fine.

Tie direct to everything but to cranks/jerks. Then I use a speed clip. 

Never use a swivel unless I'm throwing a spoon, fluke etc....Anything that has a tendency to spin. 

 

 

 

 

Mike

If the lure comes with a snap, I usually upgrade that snap and fish with the snap.  If it doesn't come with a snap, it gets direct tied!

 

Jeff

I used to us a snap swivel for everything, but I had some of the cheap ones fail and decided to tie direct on everything. I've been thinking about going back to using them on some baits. I never noticed it change the action of a bait unless it was small.

Texas rig worms I tie direct.  The snap is more weight and even worse, they are weed magnets.

I use snaps on all hard lures.  Tying a palomar knot on a crankbait, with three sets of trebles, wastes too much time and line.

I get a kick out of the idea that a snap is too much hardware when it is tied on a half ounce, or more, of wire, plastic, split rings, lead heads, spinning blades, and any other stuff lures are made of.

 

I have used snaps in the past when trolling open water for Rock and Blues on the Chesapeake, and when I started Bass Fishing.  But now that I'm into Bass Fishing, and I now fish a river with lots of weed beds and free floating biomass, I tie direct using the Palomar on all baits.

 

When tying to large hard baits, I hold the tag end of the line while working the excess back to the rod; when I'm happy with the amount of line I'm using for the knot, I wet the loops and complete the knot.  Doing so is just an additional knot skill I picked up over time.  On the other hand, using a lot of line when retying can be a good thing if your fishing heavy cover or areas that can be abrasive on the line.

 

Even though line is my most valuable tool, I still consider it expendable and I'll freely cut off 3-4-6 feet or more if necessary; I therefore have very few if any breakoff's.

 

However, when I was using snaps on Bass baits I found I was less likely to check my line, and retie my line when needed.

I tie direct for the most part.  I like to use certain lures with split rings such as jerk baits, so I guess a snap could replace the snap ring. 

 

Long Mike made a good point, though, about the use of a snap when tying knots is an issue.  I am very far-sighted and I need a new prescription on my sunglasses.  Working with knots up close with an out-of-date prescription is sometimes frustrating. 

I ite directly to the split ring on crankbaits (except some topwaters, like Spooks, there's no split ring. Soft plastics and jigs are tied directly to the hook eye, spinnerbaits are tied directly also. I'll use a ball-bearing swivel ( no snap, only split rings) for spoons and other baits that tend to twist. I guess that I'm never in such a hurry that I can't take 30 seconds to re-tie.

 

Tom

Tie direct always!