New to lure fishing

[Mr_clownface]

Hi there,

i am new to lure fishing and have purchased a few soft plastic lures and some halco twisty metal lures,

i really enjoy beach fishing(bait) and thought this would be a good way to start lure fishing,

i have a few questions,should I tie these lures directly to my line or use a snap swivel is something else so to easily change to different lures?

and what about hard body diving and soft plastic lures,

any help is appreciated thanks.

[savit]

Some people prefer - direct to leader, while some - to ring or snap(swivel). 

I fish usually at night with a number of lures so I prefer easy and quick change with snaps(swivel) instead of tying knots each time.  Another benefit of the swivel is reducing the line twisting due to some lure action. Please note that the size of snap(swivel) should not be too large or too small comparing lure size otherwise it may impact the lure action or may not stop the fish.

I might suggest you to get snaps of several sizes and shapes to fit a lure if you decide to use them.

 

[Cargo05]

For a long time I used swivels, and as Savit said they are great for quickly changing lures or even jigheads. You do need to be mindful of selecting the correct swivel to suit the lure you are using. Too heavy will have an adverse effect on the lure swim characteristic. As with everything, you get what you pay for. Many of the cheap swivels can fail under load. Not what you want when hooked up to the fish of a lifetime.

As most of my fishing is in daylight hours, or under a light on a jetty, I have migrated to using the Loop knot, or sometimes called the Rapala knot.  http://www.netknots.com/fishing_knots/rapala-knot for lures, and use an Improved Clinch Knot http://www.netknots.com/fishing_knots/improved-clinch-knot for tying jigheads.

[macman]

You can also buy snaps without swivels, majority of lures don't produce line twist, they (snaps) are smaller and seem to be a good compromise if you want to change lures often. Particularly good with hardbodies etc. With soft jigs I prefer to tie direct with a knot. I only use the loop knot when I have my glasses and feel so inclined but I reckon it improves the action of the jigs if you can be bothered.

 

Matt

[jdanger]

Snap/swivel is fine for your Halco twisties. All you're doing is cranking it back as fast as possible - the fish cares about the size, flash and speed so you won't affect the action enough for it to matter.

They'll have a lot more time to inspect your soft plastics and hardbodies though, so use caution.

Guess it also depends on how fussy the fish is - salmon & tailor aren't as particular as bream or jew, for instance. Would never dream of using a snap on a small estuary lure but you can much more easily get away with it off a beach. Bigger lures will handle the extra terminal tackle better too.

[tackleberry]

i use these and have never lost a fish because of it

[PaddyT]

Gunna disagree with all of the above- snaps break, they effect the action of the lure and they put fish off, learn to tie a lefties loop knot and you will never go wrong. It also means that everytime you change your lure you also check and retie your knot which is what you should be doing anyway. I only use heavy duty snaps when gamefishing and they are used to join windon to leader a few feet up the line where the direct stress on the snap is less then when it is down on the lure itself/ KISS is best

[Lungfai76]

12 hours ago, tackleberry said:

i use these and have never lost a fish because of it

You may not have lost a hooked fish but how many would have passed up your lure because of the extra appendage? ?

If you are going to use the snaps choose the ones without the swivel. The swivel bastardises the lure natural action, the snap behaves more like a loop knot. 

[tackleberry]

13 hours ago, Lungfai76 said:

You may not have lost a hooked fish but how many would have passed up your lure because of the extra appendage? ?

If you are going to use the snaps choose the ones without the swivel. The swivel bastardises the lure natural action, the snap behaves more like a loop knot. 

when you catch more than 40-50 in a session not many i would imagine

i am not talking about finesse fishing just tossing at pelagics + salmon

tailor and the like .

if you are worried about a swivel putting a fish off you would not be using

halco twisty metal lures or anything like them you would be using a better

quality more life like imitation .

 

[dirvin21]

use a snap for the twisty as previously stated

as for plastics and hardbodies I use a lefty's loop, it doesnt affect the lure action and it also reduces the temptation to constantly change lures I watch people starting out especially with hardbodies and they spend more time changing lures than casting them 

good luck

welcome to the lure side

[PaddyT]

Pelagics are generally hitting a particular size of bait so a snap adds to the size of your lure and can reduce the number of hits you get, cheap snaps are generally made of very low quality wire which rapidly fatigues and the most torsion is down at the lure when a thrashing fish is on the line. Even the expensive ones we use for marlin have a life span  and we pay between 8 dollars plus per swivel depending on the line class for those. A well tied lefties loop knot is the way to go for 90% of lure casting and keeps everything simple

[savit]

1 hour ago, dirvin21 said:

as for plastics and hardbodies I use a lefty's loop, it doesnt affect the lure action and it also reduces the temptation to constantly change lures I watch people starting out especially with hardbodies and they spend more time changing lures than casting them 

Are you sure that those people are using a snap and not a knot? It will take only a sec to change a lure using a snap. 

[foolforjesus]

I'm gonna say learn to tie your knots well, and before you know it you'll be able to tie them quickly in the dark with a little light of course.

You'll become a better fisherman for it.

The knot I prefer to use, which is predominately for SP fishing, is a lefty's loop knot. Never had one fail.

Plus, once you master it, takes less than a minute to change a lure.

I would advise a loop knot 100% when SP fishing.

It might not be so critical when fast retrieving metal lures/poppers etc.

I think once you master your knots, you won't use snaps/swivels anymore.

Edited November 2, 2016 by foolforjesus

[Guest Guest123456789]

You can connect a swivel straight the the split ring on a halco twisty. 

I'm slightly obsessed with these lures 

[Guest Guest123456789]

But these days I just tie a uni knot straight to the split ring on lure. I've played around with snap swivels and loop knots before.

if you tie the knot correctly on a jig head and rig it properly as well you can get the SP to zig zag through the water. The fish go nuts over this motion. I've seen two guys fishing side by side using the exact same setup but one guy had the zig zag action and got his bag limit of bonito. The other guy got one. 

[Mr_clownface]

A big thanks to all who have replied to this thread,your assistance is much appreciated,

im rather keen to start lure fishing ?

[Mr_clownface]

16 hours ago, flatheadluke said:

You can connect a swivel straight the the split ring on a halco twisty. 

I'm slightly obsessed with these lures 

I noticed you use single hook rather than a treble,do you think that works better 

[PaddyT]

15 hours ago, flatheadluke said:

But these days I just tie a uni knot straight to the split ring on lure. I've played around with snap swivels and loop knots before.

if you tie the knot correctly on a jig head and rig it properly as well you can get the SP to zig zag through the water. The fish go nuts over this motion. I've seen two guys fishing side by side using the exact same setup but one guy had the zig zag action and got his bag limit of bonito. The other guy got one. 

Luke,

 

what youve done there with the swivel on the split ring works quite well but what I found over the years was that a solid brass ring is better- it allows the metal to swing more freely in the water and you can change lures with just a split ring plier. We used this system for spinning for spannies and longtails on the north coast worked very well. The ring took more of a bashing than a swivel and let the lure work more freely 

[Guest Guest123456789]

Hi shaun_burkesh - the main reason for the singles is so I can more easily release fish unharmed. Nothing worse than gut hooking a rat with a treble. Also those little trebles I found would hook the fish lightly near the lips and I would lose a lot. I still lose fish now with the singles but a lot less, the big hook often penetrates straight through the jaw near the eye.

Hi Paddyt, I can't see the benefit of adding a brass ring to a halco twisty, what is it? The twistys are designed to be used out of the box with a swivel. The idea being the swivel enable the lure to spin, thus the shimmering reflective tape draws the attention of the fish. Given I've got big singles I doubt the lure would spin now anyway even if I did add a swivel.

[savit]

1 hour ago, flatheadluke said:

Hi shaun_burkesh - the main reason for the singles is so I can more easily release fish unharmed. Nothing worse than gut hooking a rat with a treble. Also those little trebles I found would hook the fish lightly near the lips and I would lose a lot. I still lose fish now with the singles but a lot less, the big hook often penetrates straight through the jaw near the eye.

Hi Flatheadluke, thanks for sharing photos. Interesting design. Perhaps I should try the same with my twisties. I can see the Halcos of 20g and 40g weight. What are those hooks (size/brand)? They look big, are they heavy? Do the impact casting distance? Did you try the the hooks without barbs or other design hooks e.g. with normally turned hook eye.?

 

12 hours ago, shaun_burkesh said:

A big thanks to all who have replied to this thread,your assistance is much appreciated,

im rather keen to start lure fishing ?

Shaun, don't get confused  with all suggestions. Many men - many minds. Perhaps, try different  things and see what you like and what works for you.

[Guest Guest123456789]

30 minutes ago, savit said:

Hi Flatheadluke, thanks for sharing photos. Interesting design. Perhaps I should try the same with my twisties. I can see the Halcos of 20g and 40g weight. What are those hooks (size/brand)? They look big, are they heavy? Do the impact casting distance? Did you try the the hooks without barbs or other design hooks e.g. with normally turned hook eye.?

 

Shaun, don't get confused  with all suggestions. Many men - many minds. Perhaps, try different  things and see what you like and what works for you.

Here you go. You can cast further, the 7/0 weighs 3.78 grams and the 9/0 weighs 6.48 grams. I've tried lots of different hooks and I like these the best.

 

i won't lie, attaching these hooks is hard work. You need to upgrade the split ring to a larger one. It's hard getting the hook on as the diameter of the eye is quite large. I think there are hooks on the market with special low diameter eyes but these do me, I use some rigid scissors and some pointy nose players, can get one on in about 3-5 mins. First time took me a good 30 mins!

[savit]

5 minutes ago, flatheadluke said:

Here you go. You can cast further, the 7/0 weighs 3.78 grams and the 9/0 weighs 6.48 grams. I've tried lots of different hooks and I like these the best.

i won't lie, attaching these hooks is hard work. You need to upgrade the split ring to a larger one. It's hard getting the hook on as the diameter of the eye is quite large. I think there are hooks on the market with special low diameter eyes but these do me, I use some rigid scissors and some pointy nose players, can get one on in about 3-5 mins. First time took me a good 30 mins!

Thanks mate. I know what you mean from my personal, sometimes painful experience. Investing in split ring pliers was a good idea.

[Guest Guest123456789]

Guys just did some experiments with halco twistys and 5 inch SP minnows on 1/4 jig head. Used my saltwater swimming pool. 

first up the halco with uni knot. This looked like a wobbly piece of metal being dragged through the water. Any fish that has eaten this before was either approaching starvation or had cataracts.

next the halco with the loop knot. Motion was better but still looked weird.

next up the halco with the swivel to the split ring. Motion looked like a fleeing baitfish, the hook looked just like a tail swimming about. Very happy with the result, putting swivels on all my halco twistys now.

the soft plastic didn't seem to change much between the loop knot and Uni knot. Maybe swam slightly more naturally with the loop knot. To be safe I'll just use the loop knot on all soft plastics moving forward.

swimming pool test for lures is great you can really see how the lure behaves from a distance including how it sinks - recommend giving it a go.

[Mr_clownface]

Thanks luke,

like savit said the pliers are worthwhile,I was putting a swivel on a twisty today and separated some skin underneath my fingernail,ouch...we live and we learn

[Guest Guest123456789]

No worries. Agree the pliers would be good. The local tackle store offered to fit my singles for me next time. I think they knew I bought all my current ones online. I tried to buy local but all the good lures and associated tackle is always out of stock.