I mentioned that I was planning to give the 3-way swivel rig a try this year and the feedback I'm getting is that it can be a hassle.  I still want to give it a go and see for myself but I will also have my snap weights with me and I want to get some feedback on their use as well.
Last year, as I said, I used the snap weights and did pretty well - a whole mess of 6 lb Lakers, which was very exciting.  But I'm not sure that I'm using them correctly.  What I've been doing is tying on, say, a jerk bait and then attaching the snap about 50 feet up the line.  It worked fine in terms of getting my bait down where it needed to be but when reeling in I had to stop to take off the snap.  Because I'm using braided line I wound the line around the snap pad twice so it wouldn't slip free, which made getting it off just a little more difficult. While I'm getting the snap free from the line I feel like I'm losing control of the fish.   So ... am I using the snaps correctly?  Any hints as to how I might use them more effectively or efficiently?  And honestly, this is a fishing question not a metaphor. ;D

Quote:

Storing a three way once it is out of the water also presents a challenge.

Hey, I took two - one pound downrigger weights one year. Complete with the release clips and flashers... Lesson learned although figuring/imagioning how that would work was enjoyable, quality time for me back then.


What's a snap weight? The rubber twisty things?


Personally, I'm not fond laker meat although I like the social aspect of stuffing and baking. It's like bringing the main course and a dish to pass.

These days I try to avoid catching lakers. Last trip, I was trolling a contour ... didn't want to waste time covering a walleyeless looking bay ... so I made a beeline for the next point. I marked fish (or something) at 40' in 60' of water just before the usual tap, tap, tap - laker on. I was trolling a 20' contour and the fish was released none the worse for wear. I don't think I even saw bubbles before pulling it up to be sure what it was before attempting to let it spit a barbless treble.

What I do with my 3-ways when not in use is wrap them separately around a Stim-u-dent, you know, those wooden toothpicky things for cleaning your gums.

Snap weights?  Well a picture is worth a thousand words (which, by the way, has never stopped me from talking):   (You need to Login or Register
As you can see from the pictures they can also be used as in-line weights, which might make more sense in the end than either 3-ways or snap weights.

Oh, and I love trout - grilled with the skin on.  Very meaty, more like salmon than walleye.

Just a thought Kerry, why not combine the 3-way swivel with the snap-weight.
I've done this. Take a 3-way swivel and attach mainline to one side with your braid and a good swivel.
Clip your snap weight to 3-way ring or use a another snap-lock to attach. If your worried about weight hanging in rocks and losing whole set-up, use a short piece of mono line that will break before braid.
Run a 3-4' leader other side for your lure of choice.
Snap weight should be easy to unhook or just leave on while you bring in laker.
I'm sure a little experimentation will give prove what works best.
Trying to unloop braid 50' up the line from lure/fish would be a hassle.

Quote:

As you can see from the pictures they can also be used as in-line weights, which might make more sense in the end than either 3-ways or snap weights.

I think your on to something. Snapweights I used didn't have the in-line option.

solotripper wrote on Jul 25^th, 2013 at 6:55pm:

Just a thought Kerry, why not combine the 3-way swivel with the snap-weight. I've done this. Take a 3-way swivel and attach mainline to one side with your braid and a good swivel. Clip your snap weight to 3-way ring or use a another snap-lock to attach. If your worried about weight hanging in rocks and losing whole set-up, use a short piece of mono line that will break before braid. Run a 3-4' leader other side for your lure of choice. Snap weight should be easy to unhook or just leave on while you bring in laker. I'm sure a little experimentation will give prove what works best. Trying to unloop braid 50' up the line from lure/fish would be a hassle.

I'm not sure I'm following you here, ST.  I would typically set up a 3-way swivel by tying one end off to my mainline, tie a snap weight off on a 3 foot leader and attach to the other end (in a vertical line with my mainline) and finally tie my lure off to a 3 foot leader and run that off the horizontal end of the 3-way.  I'm not sure if you are suggesting something different.  Are you?

The way I use snap weights is to attach them 6-7' ahead of lure. Very simple. I use 2-4 oz . No need for 3-ways or anything else. ;)

Do you just snap them on or use them as in-lines?

Kerry,

Ditto to what Old_Salt has said, using this equipment:

  (You need to Login or Register

I just snap them on.  They work great.  I use them in conjunction with Sutton Flutter Spoons (see:   (You need to Login or Register ).  Can't tell if the picture is of the "featherlite" variety that I prefer.  Great for lake trout & walleyes.

Jimbo  8-)

So these are heavy spring clothespin type things? Seems easy enough but how deep do you guys fish?

I was thinking another option for 30'+ (if you know you can eat a laker you're gonna probably kill anyway). Tie on a big ol' tinsel jig or a doctor spoon and drift a sunny <ten and >two o'clock (angle of the dangle) day away. It's much more enjoyable than trolling for laker meat anyway. My guess is braid may be better as mono does stretch a bit too much for a barbless jig. I've not jigged that way since that reg came out but could see line stretch being an issue either way.

Fishing for Lakers in August, I reckon I'm 50-60 feet down.

Active feeders will come up to 30 feet from down deep but you're probably right; better to be in that 50-60 feet range.  Also, as db mentioned, better hope it's an eater.  The odds of the fish surviving if it's not are pretty low that time of year.

Jimbo   8-)

Yeah, that's the thing about fishing for Lakers in August - if I catch it, its an eater.  Sometimes that means fish for supper and breakfast.

Kerry wrote on Jul 26^th, 2013 at 12:18pm:

solotripper wrote on Jul 25th, 2013 at 6:55pm: Just a thought Kerry, why not combine the 3-way swivel with the snap-weight. I've done this. Take a 3-way swivel and attach mainline to one side with your braid and a good swivel. Clip your snap weight to 3-way ring or use a another snap-lock to attach. If your worried about weight hanging in rocks and losing whole set-up, use a short piece of mono line that will break before braid. Run a 3-4' leader other side for your lure of choice. Snap weight should be easy to unhook or just leave on while you bring in laker. I'm sure a little experimentation will give prove what works best. Trying to unloop braid 50' up the line from lure/fish would be a hassle. I'm not sure I'm following you here, ST.  I would typically set up a 3-way swivel by tying one end off to my mainline, tie a snap weight off on a 3 foot leader and attach to the other end (in a vertical line with my mainline) and finally tie my lure off to a 3 foot leader and run that off the horizontal end of the 3-way.  I'm not sure if you are suggesting something different.  Are you?

I found that when I tried using a 3-way rig ( paddling solo) was that unless your moving forward the set-up you described would tangle on the descent faster than I could get enough forward momentum to deploy it properly.
9 out of 10 times when I reeled it in the weighted dropper line was tangled in the main/leader line.
I decided to eliminate the dropper line and attach weight directly to 3-way.
Next trip I decided to just take some keel weighted trolling sinkers.
My jury rigged 3-way was just a keel sinker anyway.

In-line is definitely the ticket.  Just clip to the main line with the double-wrap you described, Kerry.  Like OS, I clip it about 6-10 feet in front of the lure.  With practice, it comes off pretty quick and easy.