Breakaway Clips

[Slipknot]

Originally Posted by ThrowingTimber

go to radio shack. Get yourself some shrink wrap tubing. Cut yourself a small section of the tube. get small diameter. slide tube onto clip as you would a lure. angled bend is on the bottom as you hold the clip. now shimmy that small piece of tube up around the bend at the top. after you clip a lure on shimmy the piece of tubing over the angled portion of the snap. Its just a bit of extra insurance. Personally I did lose a fish on a head shake with them and this will help reduce that. The thing with the clips is that you get soo used to them you dont swap them out often enough. I would never fish a coastlock type clip on two dif trips, but I had been with the breakaways, I guess I got a lil greedy. adding the piece of tubing to form a simple sliding lock and replacing frequently should reduce the fish lost to head shakes. In the fall when I was pretty set on what I was using, I would clip on my plug hold the clip with pliers and hit the shrink tubing with my lighter. The operation itself in type seems more complex than it actually is.

THAT'S a pissa idea Vic

I lost 2 pencil poppers in a row to fish one morning due to the clip, I could not believe my eyes when I saw the clip still on but no plug. I went and put splitrings on all my pencils because of that.
Now I wil get that tubing for extra insurance. thanks

[basswipe]

Originally Posted by Slipknot

THAT'S a pissa idea Vic

I lost 2 pencil poppers in a row to fish one morning due to the clip, I could not believe my eyes when I saw the clip still on but no plug. I went and put splitrings on all my pencils because of that.
Now I wil get that tubing for extra insurance. thanks

Just out of curiosity Slip was the clip fully intact and just missing the plug?

Only reason I ask is because last year I reeled in a fully intact clip and the plug was simply missing.

[Slipknot]

clip was fine and tied on correctly
it simply must have reversed direction with the back and forth pencil popping action and when the weight of the fish pulled, the wire loop on the plug went clean thru that's all I can think of.
Gary2 lost a moster in RI last year because of them, he won't use them anymore.

[basswipe]

It was also a pencil I lost my plug on...curious.

[Bob Thomas]

I had the same experience as you, Slip. The way I figured it, the plug was dancin' so much, on one twitch, the plug rode up into the beginning of the clip. Intertia of the next twitch pulled it through.

I'm going to try that idea with the shrink tubing...seems like it might just be the trick!

Other than that, I love the clips....LOVE them!

[Backbeach Jake]

Must be the action of a pencil, which I guess isn't too different from a head shake. I lost a first time out pencil myself with those things. I fired them.

[Bob Thomas]

This is what it looks like. Not the best picture. It's basically black or colored tubing, like a straw, that, when heated, shrinks. It comes in every imaginable size and can be cut to length.

[Mr. Sandman]

I can envison when working a popper or active plug how it could ride up to the start of the snap then slid off but once you have a fish on I would think the tension is so great that if would not be able to ride up.


I would like to see a photo of this tubing you are talking about.

[Flaptail]

A strightened clip or hook is not the fault of the product if the product is of quality, whenever I straightened anything out it was my fault. Too much pressure, lack of patience etc, big fish on in a spot where I should have been using much Heavier gear. 99-9/10% of the time it's the andlers fault pure and simple.

[Back Beach]

Originally Posted by Flaptail

A strightened clip or hook is not the fault of the product if the product is of quality, whenever I straightened anything out it was my fault. Too much pressure, lack of patience etc, big fish on in a spot where I should have been using much Heavier gear. 99-9/10% of the time it's the andlers fault pure and simple.

That's right. I've fished my entire life, and many of my buds say I fight a fish like an old lady. I could count on less than one hand all of the straightened hooks/snaps, though. Actually, you learn to fish locations and use techniques that present minimal potential for gear failure. With that said, I still like the coast lock snaps best as they are easier to work with IMO.