Learn how to tie a snell knot. Hooks tied with a Snell Knot provide an even, straight-line pull to the fish. The snell knot is a hitch knot used to attach an eyed fishing hook to the fishing line. It passes through the eye of the hook, but primarily attaches to the shaft.
Learn How To Tie A Snell Knot In 4 Easy Steps With Pictures
- Total Time: 4 minutes
- Materials: Fishing Hook, Fishing Line
- Tools: Sharp Scissors
Thread 6 inches of line through the eye of the hook.
Hold the line against the hook’s shank and form a Uni-Knot circle.
Make five (5) to seven (7) turns through the loop and around the standing line and hook’s shank.
Tighten by pulling the standing line in one direction and the tag end in the other. Clip excess tag line.
Snell Knot Review
The Snell Knot allows the leader, or tippet, to be directly tied to a baited hook. This fishing knot was originally invented for use with eyeless hooks but it is still widely used today. The Snell Knot aligns the fishing line or leader with the shank of the hook. The Snell Knot is one of the older fishing knots and is claimed to provide a reliable connection that preserves the strength of the fishing line – particularly if the thickness of the eye is greater than the line diameter.
The truth is, it is still a very effective way to connect your leader or mainline to your hook. More specifically, the snell knot is very effective when used with circle hooks, octopus hooks, and creating a tandem hook rig, where one or multiple hooks are above one another.
Let’s take a look at some of the benefits of using the snell knot:
- Allows for better hook sets – When used on an “Octopus Hook” (the eye is curved back), your line or leader stays in line with the shank of the hook.
- Allows for better hook sets with Circle Hooks – The way the knot is rigged makes the circle hook turn into the fish’s lip more than a traditional knot would.
- There is no knot above the eye of the hook, which can help eliminate any grass or debris from catching, as a knot above the eye would do.