# Snelling a hook (or two, or a half dozen)



## AtlantaKing

I saw that there was some discussion and, seemingly, some interest on snelling hooks. I grew up fishing with spade-end hooks that by father brought from Taiwan when we moved. The spade-end hooks didn’t have an eye, so they all had to be snelled; I learned from my father this snell and didn’t think anything of it. I believe it’s known as the nail-snell as the two lines that run parallel to the hook shank are under the wraps. This method allows the hook to be snelled without any tools, and allows for snelling in sequence (like two hook rigs for long strip baits). 

Please note, this method produces a long standing end, so if you need to snell a hook for a short fishfinder rig, this method can be used, but in reverse. See the fishfinder hook snelling link for instructions on "reverse snelling". 

Anyhow, here’s how I do it. The hook is a 5/0 Gami Octopus and the mono is 100lb for clarity. I start with a piece of leader that’s about three inches longer than I want to accommodate for the snell. 

Hold the hook and thread one end through the eye. 









Take the other end and “loop” it around, so that the two ends are parallel, overlap at the hook shank, and the ends point in opposite directions.









This is actually how I hold it to snell. 









Take the “loop” end (standing end) and wrap over the other end that’s pointing to the right.









Take another wrap away from the hook eye.









And another wrap, keeping the wraps smooth and even, going away from the hook eye. 









Make as many wraps as you want; I generally shoot for 5-7, depending on the thickness of the leader. 









When you make as many wraps as you want, pull the end facing to the right. This will pull the loop through the wraps and collapse the loop. At this point, the wraps will be fairly loose so it won’t hurt the standing end of the leader too much. 









As you can see, the two ends are trapped under the wraps, and the standing end is through the hook eye. Note, if the hook eye is not turned up or down, you can forgo threading the line through the eye if desired. 









Here it is lightly cinched up. Be sure to wet the line at this point to reduce friction.









Here is he snell snugged up to the hook eye, and cinched down. 









Trim tag end









The nice thing about snelling with this method is the ability to snell “in sequence”, that is, snelling two or more hooks on the same leader. As before, lay one end parallel to the hook shank. In this case, the end facing the left has the trailing hook on it, but the steps are the same. 









Take the other end, loop it around bringing the leader parallel to the hook shank, but with the end facing the other direction and feed it through the hook eye. 









As before, take the “loop” end (standing end) and wrap over the other end that’s pointing to the right.









Wrap away from the hook eye. 









Make as many wraps as desired, away from hook eye and keeping each subsequent wrap from crossing preceding ones. 









Pull the standing end through the hook eye, collapsing the loop and loosely cinching down the snell. 









Snug up to the hook eye and cinch down tight. At this point, the sequential snell is finished. No trimming is necessary. The other end can be tied to a swivel or a snap or into a loop as desired. 









Repeat as many times as desired. With this method, you can snell as many hooks on the same piece of leader as you want. This is my rig for catching fish that don’t want to be caught…one tiny whiff and, BAM! It’s ON!!!  J/K. FYI, this rig is probably illegal in Maryland except when you’re using it to snag cats out of trees . LOL


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## mtbrider

nice write up


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## O Shin Rin

Nice never thought of doing that ....Mod 's could be bible materail?


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## SALTSHAKER

*snelling*

Use it the same way for the second hook, but, take a seperate piece of mono and tie the second hook the same way, but it gives you a sliding second hook... works great for squid and fluke baits also for fishing heads.......salt


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## BlueHwy

Thanks for that. Great pictures!


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## mytmouse

O Shin Rin said:


> Nice never thought of doing that ....Mod 's could be bible materail?


DEFINITELY!!!! Great write up and I love the pics...I will definitely be bookmarking this one!

MYT


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## Hudak

That is the same way that I tie my snells, theoretically. I never thought about making my "mainline" so short and pull it like that. I usually wrapped around the arc of the hook. Thanks for sharing, it took a little dexterity to do it my way. I will be doing it like this for now on.

Robert


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## Too Busy

Great write up and pics. It's easier than the method I was using.


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## luv_2_fish_2

*Be careful with friction burn of the main line*

I snelled the fishing hooks with the same method. A word of caution during the pulling of the main line. The pinching of the wrapped line on the main line and pulling can possibly damage the main line because of friction heat. So you may want to wet the line to reduce friction burn that can weaken the main line.


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## Woodchuck

Good job. That is the way I learned to snell and have never seen it explained anywhere. Don’t remember who I learned it from but works great. And as stated a few times make sure it is good and slimy before snugging.


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## NCangler308

Very helpful!! Thanks for sharing this!!


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## zztopsail

*Commercial Knot*

I have thought better of this post as it takes away from a good post that should go in the Bible.

I will post another thread for discussion


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## NcRon

Im gonna have to try it this way for sure!


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## Fishman

Bible


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## redhorse9902

*knot*

I been fighting those loops for years. Thanks for an easier way!!
redhorse9902


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## cidman

Thanks for a quality write up. Will have to give this a try.


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## RuddeDogg

Nice. Thanks for sharing.


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