Split Rings

Looking for a fun project this winter that will set up a successful spring fishing season? How about changing out your hooks?

Lures with rusty trebles may hook fish but often times they don’t land fish. A few easy steps will help you change your corroded hooks, many of which you may have sharpened-to-the-bend. The split rings are the link between your iron and your lures, and there is a fast and easy way to change ‘em up.
 

• Buy a pair of split ring pliers. Invest in a good pair. Cheap brands bend easily and only frustrate your project. Split ring pliers will be one of the best purchases you make as they make the change up easy.

• Get a variety of sizes of split rings and trebles. It’s important to match your split rings and trebles to the size you’re going to replace so that they swim properly. Split rings run from a small size of 1/0 to an 8 and they hit every number in between. Using a size 2 split ring with a 3/0 treble means that your lure won’t swim properly and you won’t get fish-catching action.

• Consider your split ring: Split rings are either double or treble rings. The treble rings give you an extra wind of stainless steel which adds fighting strength when you have a big fish on. Double rings are appropriate for most freshwater applications treble rings are preferable for the salt.

• Pinch the split ring with the point of your pliers. Once the end of the ring is open, slide the hook’s ring eye into the gap. The pliers can then be used to rotate the split ring around the hook until it is off.

• Replace with a new hook. After you have matched your hook to your plug and have it in place, make sure to sharpen the points as even new-out-of-the-box hooks are dull. A Mill Bastard file gets ‘em razor-sharp.

• Replace troublesome rings. Add water and air to metal and you get corrosion. Even split rings can rust, and some might need replacing so your lure will swim properly.

• Add split rings to plugs that don’t come with them. Many lures come with split rings but others do not I add split rings to plugs that do not already have them so that they swim well and are easy to maintain.

You Might Also Like

• 

  Spring Tackle Tune-Up

  Read More

• 

  Catch and Release Fishing: 4 Tips for Easier Hook Removal

  Read More

Tom Keer

Tom Keer is an award-winning writer who lives on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.  He is a columnist for the Upland Almanac, a Contributing Writer for Covey Rise magazine, a Contributing Editor for both Fly Rod and Reel and Fly Fish America, and a blogger for the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation’s Take Me Fishing program.  Keer writes regularly for over a dozen outdoor magazines on topics related to fishing, hunting, boating, and other outdoor pursuits.  When they are not fishing, Keer and his family hunt upland birds over their three English setters.  His first book, a Fly Fishers Guide to the New England Coast was released in January 2011.  Visit him at www.tomkeer.com or at www.thekeergroup.com.