How To Tie A Snell Knot: A Guide For Beginner

How To Tie A Snell Knot: A Guide For Beginner

The Snell knot has been used for years to tie leaders to hooks for other rigs, present live bait, and more. However, it started to become more common in bass fishing about ten years ago after fishermen realized how effective it was to snell and peg a hook against a bullet weight. for punching into heavy cover. It may result in the hook kicking at an angle and increase your hooking exposure in the dense material.

There are a few different ways to tie a snell knot, but we’ve found that for bass fishing applications, this is the quickest, simplest, and best option. Here are some quick instructions on how to tie a snell knot on a straight shank hook as well as some additional variation videos of the snell knot being demonstrated by some skilled anglers.

What Is The Snell Knot?

Back in the day, when hooks lacked an eye with a hole through which a line could be threaded, the snell knot was extremely common.

At the end of the shank, these hooks merely had what appeared to be a flat, circular “eye” that was devoid of a hole.

Only the snell knot, which does not require an opening in the hook’s eye, can be used to tie these hooks to a line.

A tightly coiled knot is created by wrapping the line around the hook’s shank instead.

Even today, these kinds of hooks are still readily available, and the majority of them are very well-liked with flies for fly fishing.

You might believe the snell knot is unnecessary or pointless because the majority of fishing hooks available today have holes in the eye where the line can be threaded through to tie a knot.

The truth is that this method of joining your leader or main line to your hook is still very effective.

In particular, the snell knot works well with circle hooks, octopus hooks, and when making tandem hook rigs (rigs with one or more hooks stacked on top of one another).

Types Of Snell Knots

There are various Snell Knot variations, just like there are with other kinds of fishing knots. The following are a few of the most typical variations:

  • Easy Snell Knot
  • Uni-Snell Knot
  • Double Hook Snell Knot
  • Sliding Snell Hook Knot
  • Egg Loop Knot
  • Improved Snell Knot Nail Snell Knot

If you’ve never tied a Snell before, you might want to start by learning how to do so before moving on to the other variations.

Snell Knot Uses

Anglers can attach their leader directly to a baited hook using Snell knots.  The applications for which this knot is most frequently used involve dead bait, with shark fishing being one that immediately comes to mind.  However, if you’re freshwater fishing, this knot is excellent for pitching or flipping baits.  This knot is frequently used by anglers for drop shots, crawler harnesses, and snapper rigs, according to our research.

The Easy Snell Knot In Braid And Fluorocarbon

With a “high coefficient of friction,” as engineers and scientists refer to it, nylon monofilament is renowned for its propensity to bite against itself.” Due to its forgiving nature, mono knots are among the strongest there are.

It should come as no surprise that the Easy Snell performs admirably in mono.

Like mono, fluorocarbon also creates friction against itself, but it has a tendency to be stiffer and less forgiving of knot design. The Easy Snell won’t cause you any trouble until you start working with tests over 80 pounds or so. It can handle stiff, large-diameter lines reasonably well.

For most applications, I’d advise crimping rather than knotting above that point.

Superlines that have been braided are notorious for having knot failure because they are made of Spectra and Dyneema fibers. This is due to the fact that these materials, despite being extremely strong in terms of diameter, are as slippery as fish slime. Their low coefficients of friction necessitate numerous turns and bends, additional wraps, and all the force a knot can muster in order for them to hold.

The Easy Snell, which is a great way to attach a hook to braid, is good news because it delivers this in spades.

Snell Knot

Benefits Of Using The Snell Knot

  • Improves hook sets by keeping your line or leader in line with the hook’s shank when used on “Octopus Hooks” (eyes that are curved back).
  • enables better hook sets when using circle hooks (as demonstrated in the video below). This is because the way the knot is rigged causes the circle hook to turn into the fish’s lip more than a traditional knot would.
  • There isn’t a knot above the eye of the hook, which can help prevent grass or other debris from catching, as a knot above the eye would.

When Should I Avoid Using A Snell Knot?

Only in certain circumstances do some captains snell their hooks.

A snelled hook establishes a strong, if stiff, connection between the leader and the hook. If you want to give your live bait plenty of room to move and swim for a more lively presentation, a snell may not be the best choice for you.

“The Captain states, “I snell hooks very infrequently. Glyn Austin, owner of Palm Bay, Florida’s Going Coastal Charters. “I don’t snell when I’m using fluoro or mono leader. When live-baiting for snook, redfish, and tarpon with a single hook, I have success. I always tie a loop knot to allow the bait to freely swim on the leader whether it is at the surface or below the water’s surface.”

The method for attaching a snell to a hook is demonstrated in detail below. With fluorocarbon or monofilament line, snell a hook as shown.

When Do Simple Snell Knots Fail?

Rarely is the quick response available.

The most frequent offenders are, however, as follows:

  • Tying the knot in frayed or damaged line – Even when tied in a knot, compromised line will never demonstrate the strength it should. You must replace your line if it is frayed or otherwise compromised.
  • Forgetting to wet your knot before cinching – Your line will become lubricated by saliva or water, allowing the knot to slide into position. You should never skip this step in a knot because it offers the most integrity.

What Is The Use Of The Simple Snell Knot?

  • Strong – Snell knots are fantastic at distributing force. As a result, they rank among the hook’s strongest connections possible.
  • Easy – The Easy Snell is about as difficult to tie as the Uni. This knot can be learned in a matter of minutes.
  • Fast – Even on a pitching boat, you can tie this knot in a matter of seconds, making it one of the fastest hook-to-line connections available.

The Simple Snell Knot: What’s Not To Love?

Honestly nothing.

Because it forces the line, shank, and point into alignment, snelling a hook produces better hooksets, but the drawback of traditional snell knots is that they’re slow and difficult to use.

Although it’s quick and simple, the Easy Snell knot accomplishes the same task just as well.

Snell Knot: How Do I Tie One?

Loop Your Line Parallel To Shank

Hold the hook shank with the hook point facing up. The lined should be inserted into the eyelet from the side that the hook point is on. The kick out is a result of this. When you wrap the line back around, it will resemble a uni knot. Run the line down the shank and then curl it back around.

Wrap Inside The Loop

Run your parallel line down the shank and your wraps inside the loop around the shank.

Cinch And Slide

Keep the wraps straight and uniform as you work them all back up towards the eye while tightening the know by pulling on the main line. It usually fails here and causes problems for the wearer. Simply the tag, overlap, and pinch of the wrap are pulled. Simply move slowly, pulling the main line, the tag, and the wraps up.

Conclusion

As you can see, tying this knot is quite easy.

Once you do, you’ll see how powerful and useful it can be. It might take a few tries to get it right.

Do you possess any additional tips for the snell knot?

Want to watch more knot-tying tutorial videos?

Comment and let us know!