Swivels and Knots

[Scott Stein]

How many of you guys use swivels? I haven't used them for cattin before and haven't had any problems. But am thinking about using them this year. Also what kind of knots do you guys use?

[AceintheHole]

I have always used swivels except in a few locations I fish and have never had any problem with them.

[A.W.Wolfram]

Im with ace on this one. I have played with both but I think it is a must with cut bait, it always tends to spin around on me and twist my line.

With live bait I like to give the little guy some room to be tormented with when not on a jig

[Scott K]

I too fish with and without. It more depends on the area I am fishing, if I am fishing with live bait, and if there are alot of snags, and if I have one on already, I wont take one off if its on there.

[Scott Stein]

What about knots? Do you have a special one,or just the good ol' twist it 10 times,through the bottom and back through the top loop?

[Scott K]

I use the polymer knot for all.

[A.W.Wolfram]

As far as knots, the polymer and the KOTC

[hanson]

If you are using Superline, its gotta be a Palomar Knot.

[crazyice]

Palomar all the way for pretty much everything. I've given up on the trilene knot. Too many times I have seen it fail. I've even gone to the palomar on most of my non-braid set ups as well.

[MinnesnowtaWild]

I love the Trilene knot for mono, as I have never had it fail me and it's easy for me to tie with my crippled left hand.

I will definitely be using the Palomar though with my PP 80#.

As for swivels, they are a must for me. Cannot stand when the split shot inevitably slides down to the hook. I use either SPRO power swivels or more preferably Cabela's size 5 or 6 ball-bearing swivels.

[DTro]

I Cannot stand when the split shot inevitably slides down to the hook.

Split shot is for bait fishing

[aanderud]

Cannot stand when the split shot inevitably slides down to the hook.

How many split shot does it take to hold a 10 inch creek chub down to the bottom in a 4 mph current?

[dan z]

palomer here also, I use the spro 150lb power swivels, never had one fail and I also can use them on my muskie rig.

[hanson]

Originally Posted By: MinnesnowtaWild

Cannot stand when the split shot inevitably slides down to the hook.

How many split shot does it take to hold a 10 inch creek chub down to the bottom in a 4 mph current?

It takes 1 big 4 ouncer. You guys ever try biting a 4 oz split shot closed with your teeth?

[Shack]

He must be using it as a stopper for the river weight. That is no good IMO. Causes a weak point more so than tying in a swivel would. To get it to stay in place under the river current, you have to smash the heck out of the split shot.

Yep, killer set-up for bait like Dtro said. Cheap, easy and where I fish for bullies, the slipping of the split shot and bell weight helps get me out of snagged rocks on the bottom.

[mainbutter]

No one here uses uni-knots? I thought that was pretty universal.

[Scott Stein]

So I'm going to go with the Palomar. So it will be like this......

line----swivel(tied on w/ Palomar knot)-----a foot of line (tied w/ Palomoar knot)to the swivel----the hook (tied on with Palomar knot)?

So line-swivel-line-hook

[ratherbefishn]

Scott, you will want to tie your leader first before attaching to main line when using a palomar knot.I always have my leaders pre tied. Saves you a bit of time if you break off on a snag. Also less gear to carry around. I try to keep a dozen pre tied and a bag of sinkers in the boat. That way your always ready to tangle with a cat. I also agree with Palomar being the best knot out there. Then again I olny uses power pro.

[AceintheHole]

Don't forget to put a bead on your line to cushion your sinker

[Scott Stein]

Ya I got a whole pack of them!

[7 Tine]

hey all.i was wondering if any of you have been fishing the horseshoe chain lately.i was out on horseshoe lake on monday,and i never did find the cats.i found a few crappies,and a large rock bass,but no whiskers.

i have fished that lake several times each winter,with no succes with the catfish.i always seem to find some crappies,even rock bass,or shiny eyed suckers(walleye).

i can catch cats no problem in the summer,which is usually my fish of choice.are there any spots or techniques you can share with me?i hate to admit it,but i have never put a cat on the ice.sad,isnt it!

i am going to try it again tommorow afternoon/evening.

[DTro]

hey dan, welcome to FM/HSO.

The meth hole is a good place to start, community spot that seems to always produce. Check out the get together forum under "cool cats"

[Scott Stein]

I got some 330lb SPRO swivels at Gander. You think that will be strong enough? Kidding lol

So my flathead rig will look like this!!!

[MinnesnowtaWild]

He must be using it as a stopper for the river weight. That is no good IMO. Causes a weak point more so than tying in a swivel would. To get it to stay in place under the river current, you have to smash the heck out of the split shot.

Yep, killer set-up for bait like Dtro said. Cheap, easy and where I fish for bullies, the slipping of the split shot and bell weight helps get me out of snagged rocks on the bottom.

This is what I was talking about when saying split shot. We tried using a small split shot to stop the big bank sinkers from going down to the hooks but realized this does not work well at all. Swivel is the way to go.

[MinnesnowtaWild]

I got some 330lb SPRO swivels at Gander. You think that will be strong enough? Kidding lol

So my flathead rig will look like this!!!

Those are the swivels I used last year but am upgrading to some Cabela's ball-bearing swivels that dwarf those SPRO 330 lb swivels.