Not a matter of life and death or anything, I was just wondering what you guys think.  I've thought about doing it because I lost one once due to the line slipping through the ring.  

Your thoughts.

I never tie onto a split ring.  I use a snap.  

Brad

On Rat-L-Traps that would be a no   8-)

not trying to take this off the subject..but how about jerkbaits?  I was going through my tackle the other day and noticed that a lot of my stickbaits do not have split rings to take off. So, my question is, can you use a snap (Norman Speed Clip, Berkley Cross Lock, etc) on jerkbaits or will it effect the action too much? My new boat doesn't have as much  rod storage as I anticipated so I may have to double up my crankbait rod as my jerkbait rod.   >

FD

I never tie onto a split ring. I use a snap.

Brad

Funny you should bring this up Brad.  I started using snaps, but It was talking me as much time to open these suckers, get the bait off and replace the new bait, than it was to tie a palomer knot directly to the split ring.  

To answer the question of the poster, I used to replace the split rings and hooks on ratltraps faithfully, now, sometimes I do, sometimes I don't.  I have heard all the stories, but I have never had any hook failure with a ratltrap.

As far as the line tie is concerned, none of my hard baits (crankbaits, jerkbaits and topwater plugs)  have rings.  I use snaps on everything including stickbaits.  I haven't noticed any impaired action by doing this.

I use snaps on all my hard baits, I thought it was just me People have told me in the past it's a no-no, but I've never had a problem so......

I never take them off. If you lost one do to the line slipping though it then that was just a lesson to be learned.

ALWAYS

-Cheek to see if the ring is  damaged if it is replace it with a new one

-Tie a tight knot and don't forget to lubricate it with spit, add super glue if necessary

I believe that the ring gives it the rocking motion that some crank baits have, taking it off will just mess up the motion of it.  

I put oval split rings on the front of my jerkbaits.

http://www.basspro.com/servlet/catalog.TextId?hvarTextId=30197&hvarTarget=search&cmCat=SearchResults

With these your knot stays in the same place and you don't have to worry about it sliding around into the split.

For most crankbaits I use a snap.  Berkley makes some good ones.

You don't really want to tie on a rattletrap without a split ring because you do kill some of the action of it. If you lost a bait because the line slipped off the ring then you might have tied to the part where the two ends of the split ring comes together which is a no no. Braid and fireline slips bad and you might want to change to a oval ring if this is the case.

Most of my jerkbaits I have an oval ring on. I don't use a clip for any of my baits not that there is anything wrong with it I just feel that I can tie a knot faster than I can clip an new bait on. Rapala's don't have split rings and you are better off with a loop knot for them.

I don't and have never had any issues with using them. It's a personal choice as far as I'm concerned try it for yourself with them and then without them let your own experiances take root.

For rattle traps, I change the line tie to the oval type split ring, either Lucky Craft, or Rick Clunn XPS brand. I also down size the hook split rings 1 size, using the same round type split ring, just smaller and I change the hooks out on them with the split rings.I like the VMC Barbarian treble hooks, they are priced well, fish are locked in when hooked.I was using Gamakatsu EWG hooks before that, they seem to work well, I just like to change the hooks out every 3 months, if not before from multiple catches on them . Ivan

How do you know which size oval rings to use?

I replace the OEM split rings with the Peformance Split rings.

JT Bagwell

Some I leave on some i take off. I use snaps but NEVER SNAP SWIVELS, they ruin the action on most baits

I like to use snaps because, by changing the snap sizes you can get different wiggles and actions on these baits and sometimes that is the difference in getting hits or not

I keep the ring on tie on opposite side of groove

I replace the OEM split rings with the Peformance Split rings.

JT Bagwell

+1

I use the Rick Clunn Oval rings.  They keep your knot directly in line with the bait, and help keep your bait on track.  

Oval's are definitly the way to go its solves your slip through problem and leaves an O ring on the bait so theres no restriction of action. They're cheap and definitly worth replacing all your O rings with.

How do you know which size oval rings to use?

At first I bought a few sizes of each and then went from there.I like the #2 size, but other people I talked to use a #3, I thought they were on the big side for some baits. Ivan  

http://www.***.com/descpageHDTTLUCKY-LCRING.html

I'M REPLACING MY SPLIT RINGS WITH #2's .

I never take them off. If you lost one do to the line slipping though it then that was just a lesson to be learned.

ALWAYS

-Cheek to see if the ring is damaged if it is replace it with a new one

-Tie a tight knot and don't forget to lubricate it with spit, add super glue if necessary

I believe that the ring gives it the rocking motion that some crank baits have, taking it off will just mess up the motion of it.

I agree with the "other" guy... But: On occasion it might be worthwhile to experiment by trying them without the split-ring. The above mentioned altered action might just make the difference. But generally, they work better most of the time with the line attached to the split ring...

Here's something to think about. Tying to the split ring will allow your lure to have a wider wobble as to tying direct to the lure which will give a tighter wobble I did do the experiment by running the lures just below the surface and the difference was visual.

I still use the split rings but, I changed over the rings on all my cranks, jerks and such to oval rings instead of round ones. They are easier to work with and a set of split ring pliers are worth their weight in gold.