Makeing spinner rigs.

[Crappiechaser]

I started getting into makeing my own spinner rigs last season. What I was wondering is how long should I have the line be. I have just made them with about a 4 to 6 foot line. What would you suggest?

[poutpro]

I usually have mine between 3 and 4 feet, but it is good to have a variety. The longer the line, the higher off the bottom the spinner will take them bait. I also like to make some with floating jigs, spinners, and just plain hooks and beads. Sometimes it seems like a plaing trailing hook seems to work the best.

[CALVINIST]

One thing you can do is make all your snells a certain length, the shortest snell you would use, and attach a barrel swivel to the end. Then, if you need a longer snell, you can just tie another piece of line onto the barrel swivel of the snell, and attach a barrel swivel onto that. So if you have pretied all your snells at 4 feet, and you need a snell that is 6 feet in length, then tie a 2 foot piece of line onto the barrel swivel and attach a swivel to that. I read about this idea in the #3 book of the "Critical Concepts For Walleyes" book series; i haven't tried it yet, but plan to this season.

Hope this helps.

[deeky]

Does anybody use circle hooks for their rigs? Seems like a good application, but I haven't heard of/seen anyone doing that, and I've fished spinner rigs quite a bit. Comments?

[Guest]

I make all my spinners a different length and some with floaters and quick change clevises.With the different lengths,no matter where the eyes are,you can change the length to a longer one so your bait will float a little higher.The quick change clevises are nice to change blades quickly for a different color for murky or clear water and fish preference. Have used circle hooks some, but you better remember if you have one on or not or you will go to set the hook with the circle hook on and miss the fish.The nice part of making your own is you can make anything you want and for a little less money.Great project for the winter evenings when nothing else is going on,and sure beats TV.

[matthothand]

I've used circle hooks on some rigs I've tied, but some seem to work better than others. There's a variety of shapes that circle hooks come in and I prefer those that don't have such a dramatic bend near the point. It's more of a hybrid between standard hooks and true circle hooks. In my opinion, those seem to do the best job of preventing deeply ingested hooks, but still maintain a solid hooking ratio....very few missed fish. I strongly recommend circle hooks for any angler with any interest on conservation at all. Circle hooks save lives.