The next time you tie on a Rapala use an improved clinch and draw it down nice and tight. Then angle the knot down 30 degrees from center (not 45!). Notice how much better it behaves? It has a nice little roll to it.

That was not original with me but rather I picked the tidbit up from an article about night trolling for walleye about 30 years ago. I tried it and sure enough it makes for a better lure.

Be advised however, any collision, be it a rock, a fish or a weed can throw the knot off to one side and / or wreck your angle. So constant maintenance and observation needs be employed. Casting, for the most part, does very little to wreck the placement.

Try it sometime for your self.

Thanks for the suggestion M.T. I've messed around with this on my smaller raps and I know you're right. Have you ever tried a Rapala knot like the pic? It supposedly gives a little room for movement, but I so often use a snap swivel that I haven't tried it.

OgimaaBines: "
Thanks for the suggestion M.T. I've messed around with this on my smaller raps and I know you're right. Have you ever tried a Rapala knot like the pic? It supposedly gives a little room for movement, but I so often use a snap swivel that I haven't tried it. "

The problem with loop knots is you sacrifice line strength. A snap swivel is the worst possible connection IMO for a Rapala and any crank bait for that matter. Besides, a loop would come off the lure directly in line which defeats the purpose of the tip I have presented.

If you want a free swinging presentation then a fas snap has no equal IMO particularly when using light line. The smaller and mid sized original balsa rapalas really shine when they are used with lighter lb tests.

The article where I picked up the tip was trolling larger rapalas at night. Angling the knot down really does give the lure a much better roll.

This time of year especially, it seems, those cold-water walleyes prefer that lazy wobble vs tight vibration. I think I read that same article and started doing it right away. Infisherman I think.

mastertangler: "

OgimaaBines: "
Thanks for the suggestion M.T. I've messed around with this on my smaller raps and I know you're right. Have you ever tried a Rapala knot like the pic? It supposedly gives a little room for movement, but I so often use a snap swivel that I haven't tried it. "

The problem with loop knots is you sacrifice line strength. A snap swivel is the worst possible connection IMO for a Rapala and any crank bait for that matter. Besides, a loop would come off the lure directly in line which defeats the purpose of the tip I have presented.


If you want a free swinging presentation then a fas snap has no equal IMO particularly when using light line. The smaller and mid sized original balsa rapalas really shine when they are used with lighter lb tests.


The article where I picked up the tip was trolling larger rapalas at night. Angling the knot down really does give the lure a much better roll. "

Do you use Fas Snaps directly to the lure, or do you leave the split ring on your lure when using these?

Tombo my passion for all things "knot strength" is well known in these parts.......thus my love affair with Fas snaps.

An explanation is in order. If you use mono, be advised that it wants to tie itself to diameters which are equal or perhaps slightly less than its own diameter. Tie mono to thick tie offs and expect to sacrifice line strength. Its why 8lb mono dislikes tying off to a Heddon Torpedo and its fat wire tie off for example. You can easily lose 1/3 of the line strength.

What the fas snap does is bridge the gap between the diameter of the line and the diameter of what your tying off to. Capiche?

The thicker your line, the less you need a fas snap. For example, if your using 10lb mono and tying off to a typical walleye crank baits split ring you are probably fine. But drop down to 8lb or even 6lb and here is where you will start to have some issues which will cost you fish, especially big fish. The double wire of a split ring is not only a larger diameter than 8lb line it also creates an oval shape instead of round.........not so good.

The fas snap solves that and in an extraordinarily discreet fashion. Indeed they are tiny and appear rather frail. Fear not, you are only at risk should you over-tackle. FWIW I have never had one open up.

I use the medium size in silver or black and occasionally the large and X-large (saltwater version). You will seldom find a split ring on any of my hard baits. 90% of them have a dedicated fas snap attached. I do not take them on and off lures. That will tend to open the little clip up, perhaps permanently. Besides, I like retying and do it rather often. Even some of my larger X raps have the X-lg saltwater version of the fas snap attached. Perfecto!

Any of the balsa lures perform best on lighter lb tests. On a hard day on Conmee for example, I dropped to 4lb line and an original J-11 perch rapala and was able to start getting bit and scored dinner. The fas snap enabled me to use lighter lb test and still have confidence I was at 100% knot strength. Try fast running a large deep diving tail dancer with 8 or even 6lb line. Very tricky even with 100% knot strength.......forget it tied direct to a split ring.

I also use Fas snaps on jigs / underspins etc. Any time I want a finesse presentation and the tie off is larger than my line I will bridge the gap. Works perfectly. They also give the lure or jig complete freedom of movement which can be important if you are in current or have a bow in your line.

mastertangler: "Tombo my passion for all things "knot strength" is well known in these parts.......thus my love affair with Fas snaps.


An explanation is in order. If you use mono, be advised that it wants to tie itself to diameters which are equal or perhaps slightly less than its own diameter. Tie mono to thick tie offs and expect to sacrifice line strength. Its why 8lb mono dislikes tying off to a Heddon Torpedo and its fat wire tie off for example. You can easily lose 1/3 of the line strength.


What the fas snap does is bridge the gap between the diameter of the line and the diameter of what your tying off to. Capiche?


The thicker your line, the less you need a fas snap. For example, if your using 10lb mono and tying off to a typical walleye crank baits split ring you are probably fine. But drop down to 8lb or even 6lb and here is where you will start to have some issues which will cost you fish, especially big fish. The double wire of a split ring is not only a larger diameter than 8lb line it also creates an oval shape instead of round.........not so good.


The fas snap solves that and in an extraordinarily discreet fashion. Indeed they are tiny and appear rather frail. Fear not, you are only at risk should you over-tackle. FWIW I have never had one open up.


I use the medium size in silver or black and occasionally the large and X-large (saltwater version). You will seldom find a split ring on any of my hard baits. 90% of them have a dedicated fas snap attached. I do not take them on and off lures. That will tend to open the little clip up, perhaps permanently. Besides, I like retying and do it rather often. Even some of my larger X raps have the X-lg saltwater version of the fas snap attached. Perfecto!


Any of the balsa lures perform best on lighter lb tests. On a hard day on Conmee for example, I dropped to 4lb line and an original J-11 perch rapala and was able to start getting bit and scored dinner. The fas snap enabled me to use lighter lb test and still have confidence I was at 100% knot strength. Try fast running a large deep diving tail dancer with 8 or even 6lb line. Very tricky even with 100% knot strength.......forget it tied direct to a split ring.


I also use Fas snaps on jigs / underspins etc. Any time I want a finesse presentation and the tie off is larger than my line I will bridge the gap. Works perfectly. They also give the lure or jig complete freedom of movement which can be important if you are in current or have a bow in your line. "

Wow, you just blew my mind. Here I was only asking in relation to action of the lure with a Fas Snap and split or not split ring - I had no idea that larger diameter tie-offs reduced knot strength. That's huge... and probably explains a lot of break offs I've had.

Yeah, I normally use 6-8 pound mono or 10 pound Power Pro with 10 pound flouro leader.

I really appreciate all the info, I think I'll be picking up some Fas Snaps.

This information is seems opposite to how I remember Rapala wants the lure to run. To get the best wobble they want you to tie the Rapala knot that uses a 1 inch loop.

Savage Voyageur: "This information is seems opposite to how I remember Rapala wants the lure to run. To get the best wobble they want you to tie the Rapala knot that uses a 1 inch loop. "

Well its simple enough to test out SV. Just try it.

Rapala knots suck ;-) Pardon my french...........And the reason being is you lose line strength with any loop knot. Don't misunderstand, I frequently use loop knots in salt water fishing but I can overcome the loss of strength because my leader is usually thick. I like the perfection loop, which as the name implies, is the premier loop knot. Besides, that double line in front of my Rapala just adds stuff to my presentation that I don't want or need.

With fresh water fishing why lose line strength which you really cant afford to anyway? If you want a free swinging rapala then use a tiny fas snap. I use them with rapalas if I am going ultra light. Otherwise, I will angle a tight improved clinch down 30 degrees. 45 degrees is to much and if the knot gets kicked to the side the lures action is impacted negatively as well.

I mean, come on, who are you going to believe, the guys who actually make the lure and field test it or yours truly ;-)

Tombo you seem open to being helped out. Thats a good thing. Indeed mono wants to tie to things of like diameter. Now I will expose you to a knot which excels in tying to diameters larger than itself........no small feat and few, if any, common fishing knots do this.

Enter in the Tie Fast tool. Yes, this fishing fanatic frequently uses a tool to tie knots. I was first exposed to the tie fast tool on an offshore party boat where an angler that I had admired greatly for several years (he killed the snapper) was using it. I am open to being instructed as well and soon had one.

It ties the Gryp Knot. The advantage is the running line is within the coils. As pressure is exerted the coils merely get tighter around the running line. Better! What I noted with the tie fast is how well it performed with Fluorocarbon and how well it tied mono to diameters which were larger than itself. That is very peculiar from a physics perspective.

It is not the "be all - end all" in the knot discussion however. It has limitations.........it does not do well tying to very small diameters. But thats OK as a plethora of other more common fishing knots do that very easily. My first choice is always the Gryp Knot tied with the tie fast tool. If it won't stick I will reach into my back pocket and pull out an improved clinch.

Some tips on using the tool..........the lighter the line the more loops. 6 loops with 4lb, 6lb, 8lb, > 5 loops with 10,12,14, etc.> 3 loops with 50 or 60lb (fluorocarbon or mono).

The loops need to shoulder up against each other without overlapping. Trapping each rotation with an extended forefinger greatly aids in keeping everything organized. Then run your line through the channel and give it a little snap to remove. Wet and tighten. Be advised that Fluorocarbon needs be handled S-L-O-W-L-Y when you tighten or you risk heating the knot and damaging the line (tis true!) and hence ruining your knot.

Get a tie fast and you won't go wrong........it revolutionized my knots in salt and fresh water. They are a fly fishing tool but I use them for line 4lb to 80lb. Just follow the instructions provided but remember..........the lighter the line, the more loops that are required. I think the instructions suggest 5 but I vary according to the line.

Make sure you test all your knots. I am a ruthless knot tester and it is not uncommon for me to break a few while testing. Better in your hand than in a fishes mouth.

What is your connection knot braid to Fluorocarbon?

Ah, I've seen that tool but had never picked one up. That's very interesting, I'm definitely willing to give that a try since it sounds like it you're saying the Gryp knot does well as a term knot for flouro. I normally use a Palomar knot for hooks/jigs, but it definitely seems to weaken the line on flouro.

For braid->flouro I just use a double-uni knot. I don't recall having any failures at the braid/flouro connection, the only thing that bugs me is the double-uni doesn't glide as well as I'd like through the guides, which hinders casting.

tombo131: "Ah, I've seen that tool but had never picked one up. That's very interesting, I'm definitely willing to give that a try since it sounds like it you're saying the Gryp knot does well as a term knot for flouro. I normally use a Palomar knot for hooks/jigs, but it definitely seems to weaken the line on flouro.


For braid->flouro I just use a double-uni knot. I don't recall having any failures at the braid/flouro connection, the only thing that bugs me is the double-uni doesn't glide as well as I'd like through the guides, which hinders casting.
"

Definitely not a fan of the Palomar when it comes to fluorocarbon. In another thread Geo posted the link to the floro knot which includes a double line. Shaw Grigsby was demonstrating and he is a very good pro. This knot is a variation of sorts of the Gryp knot that I like but tied with a double line.

I used to tie the double uni for braid to floro for years and years in the backcountry fishing for snook and reds. I had a fair amount of issues tying it especially in the wind and waves. I found it more or less unreliable and clunky (as you have mentioned). Then I went to the slim beauty which was OK but sort of complicated. Now I have fallen in love with the FG knot which supposedly is the strongest but yet trimmest knot out there. I have had excellent results with it. Different ways to tie it........some are outrageously complicated. This guys method makes it EZ.

FG KNOT

Better lures out there but I've modified plenty to Doug Stange standards. The line tie can be slighted flattened and bent downward to achieve better wobble, but you'll probably ruin more baits than you want trying to get the right effect. Loop knot seems to work best when they are fished as a topwater (ac shiner style).

siusaluki23: "Better lures out there but I've modified plenty to Doug Stange standards. The line tie can be slighted flattened and bent downward to achieve better wobble, but you'll probably ruin more baits than you want trying to get the right effect. Loop knot seems to work best when they are fished as a topwater (ac shiner style)."

I agree........I am not a fan of bending the line tie downward and have mixed results in doing that including ruining the lure. I disagree however with the use of the loop knot however for reasons already stated.

I suppose the claim can be made that there are better lures around than the original rapala. I have been using Mega Bass and Lucky craft with good results but they are ridiculously expensive and can be a bit fragile. I have had some of the light wire sticky sharp hooks on their stick baits break or the delicate split ring come apart after landing the fish. Definitely finesse type baits.

The original rapala however is still a tough lure to beat IMO in the right circumstances. Most guys use line which is to heavy for them and they are not able to strut their stuff. Throw a J-11 on 4lb line and it literally comes alive. Yep, I get that its a tricky task especially with a nice fish on but it can be done and quite successfully I might add with the right rod, reel and correct knots and no heavy weeds or timber. Even 6lb makes for a completely different lure than say 10lb.