A Q for the Big Fish Trollers

yellow door 1 · #1 10-02-2015, 02:03 AM

I've had a bad experience with a 70lb Tsunami snap in the past - so I've never used snaps for trolling again.

But it would make life easier if I could quickly switch between different depth lures and bait rigs.

Do any of you Big Fish Troller's use snaps to attach your lure to your leader - and if so - what brand, strength and configuration would you recommend.

Bibbed minnows between 12cm and 20cm long and diving capabilities of up to 7m will be used

I'll be running 30lb braid with 30lb leaders on my out fits.

donga · #2 10-02-2015, 02:11 AM

the only time I use snaps is when im using lures pre-rigged with wire leaders for mackies etc.. even then they are pretty big. Can remember size but theyre game snaps. if just trying leader to the lure I use a simple uni knot. Quick, easy and strong. If using braid I use a decent leader of atleast 5M or so to give it a bit of shock absorbsion too, especially those deep divers as they can create a fair bit of drag just to troll them.

Hope that helps.

yellow door 1 · #3 10-02-2015, 02:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by donga

the only time I use snaps is when im using lures pre-rigged with wire leaders for mackies etc.. even then they are pretty big. Can remember size but theyre game snaps. if just trying leader to the lure I use a simple uni knot. Quick, easy and strong. If using braid I use a decent leader of atleast 5M or so to give it a bit of shock absorbsion too, especially those deep divers as they can create a fair bit of drag just to troll them.

Hope that helps.

Yeah thanks Donga - I like the idea of a long leader.

I have a fair Idea of the sort of ground I'm going to cover and it undulates between 4 and 10 metres.

It will go 2km of 4m then 700m of 10 meter deep then back to 1km of 4m then 300m of 10m and so on. And then we stop every half hour and the boys spear stuff. So I switch to bait rigs

The boat we fish out of is a little tinny - so I cant just bring a heap of rods - there will also be spear guns and dive gear taking up all available storage space.

So I'm looking for a way to ride through the peaks and troughs with out having to cut and tie all the time.

This vid will give an Idea of the boat size and the terrain

Broomstick · #4 10-02-2015, 03:03 AM

When I was up north I just tied all my leaders to solid rings and just attached these to the split rings on lures. Was nice and easy to change lures. I'm no expert but it seemed to work well

yellow door 1 · #5 10-02-2015, 03:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Broomstick

When I was up north I just tied all my leaders to solid rings and just attached these to the split rings on lures. Was nice and easy to change lures. I'm no expert but it seemed to work well

Yeah me and split ring pliers dont really get along

I can use them - but I dont like it

They remind me of bad times

yellow door 1 · #6 10-02-2015, 07:59 AM

These are the sorts of snaps I'm thinking of but I dont even know if they are suitable for trolling bibbed minnows

Slazmo · #7 10-02-2015, 08:33 AM

Yellow.

Use NiTi wire and just do a simple twist, being a polymorphic memory wire its easy to undo 'the twist' and redo.

If your uneasy with snaps and that simple twist, why dont you use ovalised rings.

yellow door 1 · #8 10-02-2015, 08:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slazmo

Yellow.

Use NiTi wire and just do a simple twist, being a polymorphic memory wire its easy to undo 'the twist' and redo.

If your uneasy with snaps and that simple twist, why dont you use ovalised rings.

I wanted something super fast so I would actually make quick changes to my lure selection - even if its only a 2 min troll over some deeper water.

In the past - when a deep section presented itself I would just leave the same lure on because I couldnt be stuffed finding the scissors, cutting, tie the knot, trimming it up and then putting the lure back out - by the time I did that the deep water would be over and I'd have to go back to a 4m diver.

So speed and no faffing about is what I'm trying to achieve.

I want to use a snap - but I need to find one that comes well recommended

Ill be searching the other methods you mentioned as I have very little experie3nce in trolling big lures and haven't heard of half the stuff you mentioned

edit - just had a look at the NiTi - If one of my coat hangers started doing that I'd call an exorcist

And the reason I dont like using split ring pliers is I'm not that good with them - I find dealing with split rings to be a painful exercise when I'm sitting at a stable work bench - so you can imagine how bad I am on the open water

luke4220 · #9 10-02-2015, 04:12 PM

black magic snaps best I have used maTe and there not overly bulky like some of the others...

I don't use snaps for hards but just skirts ...still should do the job for ya

tchoklat · #10 10-02-2015, 05:44 PM

As an example, all billfish setups use snaps. 200lb rated I use. This facilitates swapping from skirt traces to live bait traces etc. Buy brand name stainless steel roller bearing ones.

yellow door 1 · #11 10-02-2015, 06:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by luke4220

black magic snaps best I have used maTe and there not overly bulky like some of the others...

I don't use snaps for hards but just skirts ...still should do the job for ya

Quote:

Originally Posted by tchoklat

As an example, all billfish setups use snaps. 200lb rated I use. This facilitates swapping from skirt traces to live bait traces etc. Buy brand name stainless steel roller bearing ones.

Brilliant - I'm already a fan of their hooks - so I'm sure I'll be happy with the snaps - Thanks fellas

yellow door 1 · #12 11-02-2015, 03:32 AM

On a side note - I had a few of these delivered today - check out the clear tube with end caps - very neat idea

yellow door 1 · #13 11-02-2015, 03:35 AM

Also checked out the local tackle store for Black Magic clips and the heaviest they had was 20kg and they werent in the coast clip style.

So I ended up grabbing the halco clips with no swivel - 65kg.

I'll only be trolling bibbed minnows so the swivel isnt entirely necessary

mr perch · #14 11-02-2015, 05:40 AM

Try the shogun snaps....top stuff

Yahoo · #15 11-02-2015, 07:00 AM

300lb big game snaps. I did try 100 something lb decoy egg snaps but suffered line twist so went back to a snap with swivel.

With braid I lost a lot of macks from pulled hooks before running 5-8 meters of mono- fluro and my catch rate went up. I'm not sure if it was due to the baits I use (50-90cm wolf herring) but it's the only thing I changed