Tackle clips and Bignose spinners

[dsaavedra]

With the waters heating up many of us will soon be throwing small lures to docks and shady wooded shorelines in search of white perch. The Bignose spinner is a favorite perch lure of many folks on this forum, myself included.

This season I added tackle clips to my arsenal. Having never used them before (but having heard good things), I bought a pack of the 25lb Tactical Angler clips just to try them out and see how I liked them (there are lots of cheap no-name varieties available on Amazon - I do not trust their durability, YMMV, but I know Tactical Anglers are legit). I quickly became a fan of the clips as they allow for very quick and simple swapping of lures with minimal downtime and I have not had a single one fail. I primarily use them for crankbaits and jigheads with paddle tails and they allow me to quickly change color, style, weight, diving depth, etc.

They look and function a lot like a paper clip, you tie your line to one end and slip the eye of your lure through the bent wire loop where it's held securely in place.

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This works great for lures with a closed line tie like jigs, crankbaits, metal spoons, inline spinners, etc. I gave a couple tackle clips to a friend who also quickly became a fan and he asked "when would you not use a tackle clip"? My answer was that there were not many situations when fishing in tidal water where I would not use one, except when fishing with a Bignose spinner. Because Bignose spinners do not have a closed loop where you tie your line, the tackle clip can slide up and down the spinner arm and will assuredly foul up your retrieve.

The other day I was pondering this issue and trying to think of a way I could modify the lure to make it compatible with tackle clips. I considered twisting the wire with pliers to form a closed loop but feared that would alter the action or weaken the wire. Then I thought of a solution. I took a piece of fluorocarbon line and tied a loose uni knot. Before tightening the knot, I slipped the open loop of the uni knot over the bend in the wire, then I moistened the line, cinched it down, and trimmed the tag ends. I made sure to orient the knot in line with the wire arm, in hopes of minimizing the amount of weeds or floating debris it might catch.

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The result is a fast and easy way to modify the Bignose spinner to accept a tackle clip that requires no extra tools or skills and uses materials you already have. I used fluorocarbon line here, but monofilament would work too - I would not recommend braid since it is so slick I would fear it could slip off the wire. I fished with a Bignose spinner rigged this way over the weekend for the better part of an hour and had no issues with it at all. I caught 5 white perch and 1 small striper on it.

[bignose]

The simpler solution would be to take a pair of needle nose pliers and gently squeeze the R-bend until it is closed.

Stu
aka: bignose

[dsaavedra]

The simpler solution would be to take a pair of needle nose pliers and gently squeeze the R-bend until it is closed.

Stu
aka: bignose

I did consider that too, but I thought the tackle clip might work it's way through the pinched gap since the wire is pretty flexible. Maybe I'm overthinking... I tend to do that.

[UnkleRob2020]

Dave and John had both recently suggested tackle clips. I tried them (25lb) and I am a big fan. Changing lures in yak is much easier with the clips. Also, I had two very succesful days while using them, so it does not appear to negatively affect the lure action in the water.

Hidden bonus: My lines always twist when I am trolling paddletails, but this did not happen with the tackle clips. People have suggested that I tie loop knots to prevent line twist, but I am not proficient with many different types of knots. I think the tackle clip gives the jighead a little space to move (similar to a loop knot) and the result is less, or no, line twist :--)

My eyes are not what they used to be and I do struggle a bit getting some lures onto the 25lb tackle clip. I have ordered some 50lb to see if they are easier to utilize while hopefully not altering the presentation of the lure.

[bignose]

Seems to look OK to me. You might need to tweak the arm up a little.
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[Jigsup]

Learned something new.
May be a newbie question but are the “big nose spinners” the same as a “spinner bait”?

Never utilized a tackle clip with any of my lures for fear of it interfering with the lure action. I also like to keep the lure looking as realistic as possible (per say). Meaning not to add more metal to the front of lure or any other additions. With the exception of grass shrimp on shad dart.

With that said, I’ve never had good success with small spinner baits. When I do have success I use the perch hounder lures. I tie all my perch lures strait to main line using a improved clenched knot. That’s the only knot I can tie super fast if need be. Haven’t seen any difference in catching perch. With that setup.

I love using either a double loop rig with gulp alive mullets or just a single shad dart tipped with grass shrimp with a cork above around piers. I find myself with the cork rod in hand majority of the times. Something about watching the cork go down. Although it wouldn’t work with the shad dart setup, I may try it next time with the spinner.

[bignose]

Bignose spinner jigs are a small spinner bait style of lure that I make and sell in very limited numbers to Snaggedline members. They are based on a 1/8 oz. Do-It mold. If you are interested in buying some, send me a p.m.

Click on the "Tackle Shop" section and look on page 12 for Bignose baits 2021 to see what my lures look like.
There is also a discussion of the fishing techniques used to fish them.

I have been fishing locally for 60+ years, and tie my lures in colors that (the fish tell me) work.

They are perch magnets, but they also catch many other species of fish. I'll let the other members tell you about them so I won't sound like I'm bragging or making a sales pitch.

BTW, I agree with Jigsup. I tie my lures directly to a mono leader using a plain clinch knot. I don't even bother with the "improved" version of this knot.

And I am gradually doing better with my RA symptoms, so I can finally tie some knots and assemble some more lures!

[J.A. Veil]

Dave - Your approach seems sound for using a tackle clip. A few years ago I thought about sliding a small split ring over the bend in the lure to create a closed area where I could attach a tackle clip or snap swivel. I never got around to doing it, in part because once I tie a Bignose spinner on with an Improved Clinch knot, I leave it there until I lose it or it breaks. Often this is weeks later. I never saw any need for changing out a Bignose spinner for some other lure or for going to a different color multiple times during a single trip.

But just for fun, this afternoon I decided to rig one rod with the split ring and a tackle clip.


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I am going out for perch tomorrow morning and will take two rods -- one with the spinner tied on using an Improved Clinch knot, and one using the split ring and tackle tip rigging. I am curious to see if the spinner swims well on the tackle clip rig.

[bignose]

I am curious to see how this clip will pass thru the vegetation. It looks like something that might catch and drag weeds. That is one of the reasons I use spinner jigs with an R-Bend wire loop rather than a twisted eye. These tend to come through clean.

I think that you are trying to fix something that isn't broken for the sake of changing lures without resorting to tying new knots.

Generally, when I perch fish I use two rods: one rigged with a Chartreuse, Yellow, White spinner jig (the Weems Creek Usual), and the other with experimental colors.
I use the "usual" lure to catch a couple of fish as a baseline. Then I cater to my ADD and toss my experimental lures, sometimes just see if there is something that perch won't hit. There ain't much that they won't hit, if it crosses their face.
On the experimental rod, I frequently change lures. I always use a very simple clinch knot.

[Mark]

I'm not a fan of clips. That's not because I think clips deter fish. Let's face it, a spinner bait is very effective. It looks like nothing natural that a fish should eat, and it flashes plenty of hardware to our prey without deterring them from striking.

I don't use clips simply because I like to tie knots. I can tie a simple loop knot quickly and easily. I've tied quite a few over the years. And I have no doubt that loop knots add action to most lures and flies. However, I don't find them particularly useful on small spinner baits. I think there is already enough "action" going on with the spinner blade(s). So, unless by habit I forget and tie a loop knot, I generally use a clinch knot on my small spinner baits:

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My spinners have a built in twist in the blade arm so I can use either a loop knot or a clinch knot. Again, I don't notice a difference in their effectiveness with one form of knot over the other.

Also, white perch are crazy aggressive at times. The variety of lures and flies that they will hit is amazing. All of these small spinners, jigs and lures have worked for me to attract white perch and most certainly will work for you too:

Perch Lures .jpg

But what I find really interesting is the size variance of the lures that perch will hit. That ranges from large to small. I'm sure most of us on this forum have caught white perch on 1/2 Oz. Rat-L-Traps and 3 to 4 inch paddletails while fishing for stripers. Sometimes those lures are 1/2 the size of the perch itself. I always wonder what they were thinking by attacking something so large that they could not possibly swallow it.

But what intrigues the most about them is that the same school of white perch in a particular area where I am successfully casting small spinners will simultaneously hit very small flies like these:

perch flies.jpg

The orange foam with the upturned hook is a float that I dangle the small flies under on about 3 feet of mono. I've also used strike indicators indicators intended for trout fishing as a float. When the float disappears, a fish is on. It's that simple. And unlike a spinner bait, very little movement of these small flies is required to entice a strike.

Perch will also hit these small Bluegill Bullies tied on size 8 hooks dangled under a float:

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And of course, they attack traditional minnow immitation streamer flies like this Bendback Minnow:


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We're entering the time of year where they are readily available to us in the shallows in tidal creeks -- a fun time indeed.

I often carry a 5-weight fly rod with floating line along with two light spinning rods on perch outings. I'll switch back and forth between fishing methods just to mix it up. White perch rarely disappoiint. Double digit catch numbers on summer outings are the norm.

Finally, white perch are cousins to stripers in the fish family. They're strong swimmers for their size and give us a very good fight on light tackle. Plus their larger cousins often swim with them. It's not unusual to catch stripers on the same lures and flies, even the small dropper flies I showed above, while perch fishing.

So, it's June and that means it's white perch time again. They'll hang around in our creeks to entertain us all summer through the early fall. And what I find most intriguing is the variety of lures and flies that they will attack. At times it's hard to cast something at them that they will not hit. I have to wonder if their true purpose in life is to make us think we are better anglers than we really are.

[dsaavedra]

At times it's hard to cast something at them that they will not hit. I have to wonder if their true purpose in life is to make us think we are better anglers than we really are.

Lol! That's a good one, and you might be onto something there...

I'm looking forward to doing more perch fishing soon. I didn't do nearly as much perch fishing last summer as in previous years. I have plans to do several targeted perch trips this summer.

[Shoobs]

This is a great thread and very happy to see snagged line un-snagged. I reluctantly started using tactical clips a few years ago because I like the ease of changing lures but was very concerned about the impact on presentation. Of course, we can never know what fish I missed because of the clip - but over time I don't believe it has had any negative impact. In addition, as my eyes get worse, I don't trust my knots as much - the clip helps reduce that problem. On one of my first kayak trips back in March I used a big nose spinner for the first time and the first time using a spinner bait - I used the clip and can vouch it doesn't work! But I did catch my first perch a few weeks ago on the same spinner tied direct. I am looking forward to enjoying perch fishing this summer.

[J.A. Veil]

I want to follow up on my post from yesterday. I fished for perch this morning and caught my first Severn perch of 2022 (14 of them plus 1 pickerel). I started out throwing a Bignose spinner tied directly to the leader (my usual way). Once I caught a perch, I picked up the other rod that had a Bignose spinner with a split ring over the bend and attached to the leader by tackle clip. The split ring rig did catch perch, but on 3 of the first 12 casts, the leader got caught around the spinner blade swivel during the retrieve as shown in the photo. That sent a clear signal to me that using the tackle clip attachment would create some problems (or at least annoyance) for me. I did not use that rod after that. As I mentioned yesterday, I don't see a strong reason to use a tackle clip on a Bignose spinner anyway since I leave one attached to the same rod until is becomes damaged or lost.

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On my previous Severn perch ventures during May (all four were skunk trips), I observed huge amounts of filamentous SAV (I think this is horned pondweed). In some shoreline sections the SAV was so thick that casting was not practical. Here are two photos shot in one Severn tributary last month.

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Today, some of the SAV has died back (a natural stage in its life cycle). Where I fished, the southern (shaded) side of the creek had only minimal SAV remaining, whereas the northern (sunny) shoreline still had quite a bit. Based on 2.5 hours of fishing, I can say with some confidence that white perch have moved into the shoreline shallow areas, but are not thick yet. The ones I caught today were all small (one at 9", but most below 8").

[Slough Sleigher]

J.A.V., et.al., SAV were getting annoying in the creeks and downwind shores in Crab Alley last Sunday. I did a lot of skipping baits, pulling drives and yanking on rudder, skeg & transducer cords through the day in those sheltered coves. The rest of the area was clear of SAV where I ended up trying the get away from that huge bay fetch from the NNE at Sandy Point and Romancoke.

Big Nose

https://snaggedline.com/forum/snagge...20more%20lures!

Glad to hear you are experiencing some improvement!

[bignose]

Once I caught a perch, I picked up the other rod that had a Bignose spinner with a split ring over the bend and attached to the leader by tackle clip. The split ring rig did catch perch, but on 3 of the first 12 casts, the leader got caught around the spinner blade swivel during the retrieve as shown in the photo. That sent a clear signal to me that using the tackle clip attachment would create some problems (or at least annoyance) for me. I did not use that rod after that.


Murphy's law strikes again!