How to tie a snell knot

Here’s a quick and easy way to attach a line to a hook

No matter how good your gear is, you’ll never catch a fish if you can’t attach your line to a hook. The snell is one of the quickest and easiest ways of doing that. Some anglers call a snell a “knotless knot” because you really aren’t tying a knot, at least not in the conventional sense.

All you’re doing is feeding the line through the eye of the hook and making some tight twists. Then you make one long twist, feed the line back out of the eye, and you’re done. And when a fish pulls on your hook, it can only make the line tighter than it already is.

The weakest part of any fishing line is the knot, but because you’re not actually tying a knot, snelling a hook maintains almost 100% of the strength of the line. Sabiki rigs utilize snells, and many pre-tied leaders also use them.

What’s your favorite fishing knot?