Best method for changing lures rapidly/using split rings

by Michael
(West NY, NJ, USA)

Q.I have been fishing for about 2 years and I'm mostly self taught. I have bought about 5 Rapala lures (xrap, xrap shad shallow, jointed, skitter pop, and shallow shad rap). I also have the ultra light minnow and jointed shallow shad rap on the way.

I am trying to figure out the best way to tie the lures to my line without affecting the action of the lure. I noticed the X-raps, SR, DT, and ULM, and JSSR comes with split rings on the lures, but when I've tied my line to those split rings, the knots failed and I lost several lures. I think it has to do with the knot grinding on the split ring weakening the knot.

I read online that some recommended the rapala loop knot which I've been trying. Does that mean use the rapala knot without the split ring? However, I'd like to have a setup where I can change all my lures out quickly as I experiment. The rapala loop knot takes me several times to get a good knot, so this can be frustrating when I want to change lures fast. The setup I most recently tried was starting with a rapala knot on my line attached to the split ring and then I just change out the lures using that same split ring. However, I think the Jointed and Shallow Shad Rap are not meant for split rings, correct?

Is a rapala knot PLUS a split ring redundant? Can that create "too much action" with the lure? What's the best method for changing out the lures easily without hurting the action? Would you recommend fishing clips? What's the best way to tie line to a split ring? Should I just use rapala knots on all lures? Any suggestions would be very helpful. Thanks!

A.Wow those are a lot of good questions. I don't have the answer to all those but I'll give you my thoughts, which are probably not the most popular when it comes to the what the hardcore, "this is the only way" type anglers will say.

My fishing time is limited. So it's important for me to be efficient in everything I do so that my line spends more time in the water than it does out of it. So for me I will use snap swivels, or as you mention, fishing clips. This is the quickest way to change lures in search of something that the bass want.

Specific to a couple of your other questions; I think you can use a rapala knot with a split ring. I don't find anything that says otherwise. It just says use light tackle if you go this route.

If you don't want to go that route I would just stick to something like a palomar knot to the split rings and continue using the rapala knot directly to the lure. At least you boil it down to only 2 options…”if this, then that”, type of scenario.

We’ll see if any others have any suggestions for your situation.

Thanks for stopping by.