In my article, Snell Tying Basics, we took a look at the basic information you need to know to tie your own snells. We discussed the pros and cons to monofilament and fluorocarbon, determining snell length, the types of hooks to select and the basic types of beads you need. We also took a look at my six favorite types of snells to tie.
However, I left the sixth option pretty open-ended. These are the size 3 blades or larger that I like to run in the summer months. As the food web runs at full speed, there are numerous options that can fall into this sixth category. I wanted to pick up where I left off and take a look at the types of snells you can deploy during the hot summer months.
If you need caught up, check out Snell Tying Basics before continuing. Once you’re ready, let’s pick up with some more advanced snells!
Rigging Components
As discussed in Snell Tying Basics, a good selection of 5mm beads is exactly what you need to begin tying your own snells. In fact, you may talk to anglers that only use these options. If you do have the itch to get creative, I favor a couple other components to add to my rigs.
The first of these is a few packages of tapered beads. These beads provide color, flotation and also allow for increased distance between the clevis (part that holds the blade) and the hook.
Another excellent option is torpedo beads. These give more of a solid body appearance to your snell and also provide that increased distance from blade to hook. For torpedo beads, I favor more natural colors as I’m looking to emulate gizzard shad, smelt or herring.
The next component I like to add to the mix is a float. These floats provide the color and distance I mention above, but most importantly they add a great deal of buoyancy to the bait. This lifts the bait off the bottom and allows you to reach higher, often more aggressive fish.
Take a peek at your favorite tackle website, bait shop or the websites of companies who specialize in snells and other rigging components. While you’re there, it’s time to do the next stage of tying your own snells.
Seek Inspiration
I spend a great deal of time looking at the various snells available on the market. Don’t stick to one specific tackle company either, look at all the options out there. As you look, ask yourself these questions:
- What do I like about this snell?
- What don’t I like about this snell?
- What changes would I make to this snell?
- What takeaways can I take to improve the snells I tie?
Once you find a few snells you really like, don’t be afraid to order some. Having a “test” version to hit the water with allows you to see the action in person and also see what your local walleyes feel about it. Physically holding these in your hand also allows you to make a better analysis and determine more key information. This information includes:
- The length of the snell.
- The type of line and pound test of line used for the snell.
- The size and strength of the hook.
- The type of action the snell has.
Generally, I have a Tackle Tamer of about 15 “test” snells in my boat. If I’m on a hot bite, I drop one down to see if the action continues. However, I have found I gain more confidence faster in a bait if I am struggling and drop one down and begin to catch fish on it. Here’s a perfect example:
I was fishing on Lake Francis Case in Chamberlain, South Dakota in late-July. The shad and mayflys were abundant, but the walleyes were not. I had cycled through numerous Colorado blade sizes, colors and snell lengths. I couldn’t buy a bite. I decided to drop down this new bait, a Mack’s Lure Pee Wee Wiggle Hoochie. I was skeptical as I had not had great success with similar baits like this in the past. It was the exact bait and color you see below, just rigged with about 2 or 3 inches of nightcrawler.
It wasn’t fast, but I had my four walleyes within about two hours of dropping this bait down. Every single fish came on this presentation. The action, color and scent must have been just the perfect way to stand out among the schools of gizzard shad.
This experience made me realize, I may have been too passive with presentations I deploy during the summer. I had generally thought of my snells as “attraction is attraction”, but I realized when the bite is tough and you need to stand out from the rest of the forage, you need to go bold.
This brings us to another case study. Below is a Mack’s Lure Super Slow Death Rig. You may notice this is the beefed up, muscle shirt wearing version of Snell 2: Mack’s Lure Smile Blades. The addition of a Slow Death hook creates additional action and the added beads increases both color and the size of profile the bait has to offer. This is exactly what I’m looking for in a mid-summer snell.
We have one final case study to evaluate before unleashing our creative side. Here we have a Mack’s Lure Double Whammy Pro Series snell. The first thing I notice here is the increased body size and addition of a “crawler harness”, better known as “two hooks are better than one!”
But wait, what else is there I can takeaway? Did you notice there is always a small bead of a different color at the end of a tapered bead? I did, in both the Double Whammy and the Super Slow Death rig. This is something I can apply to my own snells, so let’s get to it!
Get Creative
In Snell Tying Basics, I evaluated each of my favorite rigs. I don’t want to do that here, because this is where you can have the fun and let the sky be the limit. Let’s take a look at a few of my snells and see if there are any takeaways you have for your own!
Snell 7: Perfect Perch
For this rig, I go with a more natural approach. I have a perch colored size 3 Colorado blade and I want to compliment this with a corresponding bead set up. Whether we are talking South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa or even Ontario, perch are likely on the menu for the local walleyes. In addition to matching color, the bait’s size will be very similar to that of an age-0 perch in mid-summer.
Snell 8: Watermelon
Much like in the above snell, I let the blade color determine my bead pattern as well. Unlike the above snell, I haven’t seen many watermelons swim by lately. This type of rig taps into the lessons learned above: stand out from the rest! If the buffet table is fully stocked, try putting something completely different out there!
Snell 8: Silver Bullet
The final snell we’ll take a look at is one that features the “body” created by the torpedo blades. On the Missouri River reservoirs of Lake Sharpe and Lake Francis Case, shad are the main food source. On cold-water reservoirs like Lake Oahe, you will find smelt and herring as options. Regardless what waterbody you are on, the goal remains the same. This presentation emulates the natural forage and produces a great deal of flash and vibration as it goes through the water.
Now let’s put the above lessons into practice. What takeaways do we see from the three snells I outlined above?
All of these rigs feature a #1 Aberdeen hook. This is because I am most likely going to deploy these in the middle of summer, when I am pulling nightcrawlers. I personally prefer threading a crawler onto a hook with a longer shank as opposed to running a crawler harness of two small octopus hooks.
I have a bead of a different color at each end of a tapered bead or torpedo bead. Yes, this was a takeaway from my market research.
Generally, I try to let my bead selection correspond to my blade color. The reason for this is simple. Walleyes have color vision, but they aren’t very good at deciphering small details of color. The moral of this story is a walleye won’t appreciate that one odd colored bead for that “extra pop” quite like you will. I feel that the blade is the main color source, let’s just make it a little stronger.
Tying snells is the perfect way to unleash your creative side, put a personal touch on your baits and make sure the snells you are pulling are exactly what you want on the end of your line. Research, experiment and hopefully your summer days with bottom bouncers result in a smiling picture with a beautiful walleye. Good fishing!
Related Articles
Do you need to refresh your thoughts on the basics of snell tying? Check out Snell Tying Basics and you’ll have everything you need to make your own snells!
If you’re looking to take your bottom bouncing to the next level, check out what Lip Ripper Tackle has to offer! Visit with Nick about the areas you like to fish and he can create custom made snells to help you put more fish in the boat!
