The snell knot

The snell stands apart from every other hook knot: it fastens the line not to the eye but to the shank, the straight part of the hook. Because of that the pull runs along the hook instead of dragging it sideways by the eye.

How it is tied

The tag end goes through the eye and is laid as a loop along the shank. That loop wraps the shank together with the line — six to eight turns, working downwards. Then you pull on the standing line: the turns seat and the knot clamps onto the shank.

The turns must lie tight and without crossings, and the knot itself must not slide down towards the bend. If it slides, retie it.

A hook without an eye also works

Some bait hooks have no eye at all but a spade end — a flattened tip of the shank. Nothing can be tied to it, and the snell is the only workable option here: it holds on the shank itself, and the spade only keeps the top turn from slipping off.

Head shapes — eyed, spade and the rest — are covered in the section on fishing hooks.

Why the hookset works differently

When the line pulls on the eye, the hook rotates a little under load. With a snell the force is applied along the shank, and the hook travels in the direction the point is facing.

That is why the snell is kept for fishing where the strike is short and sharp and the hook has to go in on the first movement.

How many turns, and which way

Take six to eight and lay them from the eye towards the bend — downwards. The direction matters: turns laid upwards creep towards the eye under load and work the knot loose.

The tag comes out from under the bottom turn and is drawn up together with the standing line. Pulling on the standing line alone will not do: the top turns seat while the bottom ones stay loose.

Checking it

A finished snell is a tight spiral on the shank with no gaps. The line must leave along the shank rather than at an angle: an exit to the side means the knot has seated crooked and will twist on the strike.

The hair rig

On carp rigs the snell is tied with a longer tag, and that tag is left free — the bait sits on it. The hook stays bare and the boilie hangs beside it, on the line itself.

That rig holds precisely because of the snell: the turns on the shank keep the line from shifting when a fish takes the bait and pulls it aside.

Where it is used

Bottom and carp fishing with bait, hair rigs, sea tackle with large hooks. That is, wherever the hook works alone and its position on the rig is predictable.

Its limits

The snell is no good for lures that have to work: it fixes the line rigidly and in one direction. For action you take a loop knot, and for ordinary attachment to an eye — the Palomar.