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mark poulson

Line Tie Question

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I was sitting here, thinking about crank bait construction, and a question/idea popped into my head.

Since I use swivels for belly hook hangers on my poppers, and they hold fine, why not use a swivel for the line tie?

I was thinking of why having a rigid line tie was important, and I couldn't think of any, at least for baits that use a split ring or snap for line attachment.

A swivel at the line tie might reduce the leverage a fish has to throw the bait.

Then again, I may have been sitting on my brain.

Or not.

Whatcha tink?

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When I make a crankbait, I almost always have to make slight adjustments to the line tie to tune it properly. I'm not sure if using a swivel would allow that option. I'm curious as to how you are securing the swivel into the belly of your lures. Are they epoxied into a hole or do you have a wire running through them?

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Mark I too was thinking why not after your post but Woodenfeather makes a valid point. The anchor point would have to either be perfect or adjustable to allow for some tuning. I think it could be done to adjust and work. As long as the shank on the end of the swivel your going to use as the anchor is long enough to still leave room for some fine tuning and still make a secure connection.

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I build with PVC, so the super glues hold really well.

For my belly hook swivels, I drill a hole that's a semi-snug fit for the swivel barrel, pinch one end of the swivel so the loop is the same width as the barrel and fits in the same hole.

I measure the swivel from the tip of the bent loop to the shoulder of the barrel at the other end, and drill a hole that's just that size.

I test to make sure the swivel will go in easily, and then I put a drop of the gap filling crazy glue into the hole. I use a piece of wire to dip in and coat the sides of the hole completely, and then I push the swivel in, being careful to keep it facing up, so no glue gets into the swivel barrel itself.

I let it sit for half an hour, to be sure the glue is set, and I rotate the line tie loop from time to time, just to be sure it's not frozen.

I've screwed up and gotten some of the swivels frozen. When that happens, I twist the loop wire off, file it smooth, drill another hole next to the first, and then do the swivel installation again, only, hopefully, more carefully this time.

I caught the fish in my avatar, 8.37lbs, on a popper I made with that kind of belly hook hanger, so I know holds for fish up to that size.

I'm constantly doing on-the-water research to try and increase the tested weight limit. Hahaha

For larger baits, like the jointed swimbaits I make, the lure weighs enough to give the fish a lot of leverage when it shakes it's head, and that puts a lot of strain on the glue joint.

To allow for that, when I've used swivel hook hangers on my swimbaits, I drilled a hole from side to side through the lure body at the loop position, and pushed a short piece of spinnerbait wire in to pin the swivel in, and act as a mechanical backup to the glue.

Several of the top commercial swimbait builders, including Triple Trout, use swivels for their hook hangers, but I don't know how they attach their swivels,

I don't think a swivel line tie would work for a popper, because it is a direct tie lure, and knot position is critical.

But for a regular crank, which uses a split ring, I think it will work. I'm going to try it on the next crank I make with the line tie in the nose, not the bill.

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with the split ring being cheaper and doing the same thing i think its a waste of money on smaller baits but with the swivel on the bigger baits it might help on belly hooks and back hooks but i can have a swivel tied to my line and change out baits too with the split ringed line tie?imo

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I build with PVC, so the super glues hold really well.

For my belly hook swivels, I drill a hole that's a semi-snug fit for the swivel barrel, pinch one end of the swivel so the loop is the same width as the barrel and fits in the same hole.

I measure the swivel from the tip of the bent loop to the shoulder of the barrel at the other end, and drill a hole that's just that size.

I test to make sure the swivel will go in easily, and then I put a drop of the gap filling crazy glue into the hole. I use a piece of wire to dip in and coat the sides of the hole completely, and then I push the swivel in, being careful to keep it facing up, so no glue gets into the swivel barrel itself.

I let it sit for half an hour, to be sure the glue is set, and I rotate the line tie loop from time to time, just to be sure it's not frozen.

I've screwed up and gotten some of the swivels frozen. When that happens, I twist the loop wire off, file it smooth, drill another hole next to the first, and then do the swivel installation again, only, hopefully, more carefully this time.

I caught the fish in my avatar, 8.37lbs, on a popper I made with that kind of belly hook hanger, so I know holds for fish up to that size.

I'm constantly doing on-the-water research to try and increase the tested weight limit. Hahaha

For larger baits, like the jointed swimbaits I make, the lure weighs enough to give the fish a lot of leverage when it shakes it's head, and that puts a lot of strain on the glue joint.

To allow for that, when I've used swivel hook hangers on my swimbaits, I drilled a hole from side to side through the lure body at the loop position, and pushed a short piece of spinnerbait wire in to pin the swivel in, and act as a mechanical backup to the glue.

Several of the top commercial swimbait builders, including Triple Trout, use swivels for their hook hangers, but I don't know how they attach their swivels,

I don't think a swivel line tie would work for a popper, because it is a direct tie lure, and knot position is critical.

But for a regular crank, which uses a split ring, I think it will work. I'm going to try it on the next crank I make with the line tie in the nose, not the bill.

Thanks Mark. Good luck with your build and let us know how it turns out.

Dan

Edited by woodenfeather
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