Quote:
Originally posted by fishweewee
Crafty,
People think I am strange because I rinse off all my terminal tackle - including these hooks, after every trip. Then these hooks get lovingly dried and I givem a good coating of unscented mineral oil before they get put back into the plano box. 
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Hmmmm....WeeWee, ya got me a little worried there, Cap. Overly fastidious? Maybe, I dunno - hey, not that there's anything wrong with that. Hell, come to think of it, I like a good rinse myself once I get back to the tackle bunker - always have a coupla cold ones while I'm doing the damage report on my gear.
Goose, the reason I don't snell anymore is because 8 or 9 years ago I was out slow trolling eels with a friend of mine (okay, no wisecracks about being a latent boat-fisherman) and I got hung up on the bottom - or so I thought. Even the skip thought so - so I loosened the drag until he started backing down on the hung-up eel, I screwed the drag down good and tight, yanked a couple of times, and all of a sudden the bottom started peeling off line hell bent for leather. Looked down to loosen the star drag just a little just as the fish broached and I looked up to find nothing but the hole it had left in the water - it looked like someone had thrown a friggin' mule off the bridge.
All the while my friend is yelling "Holy #$#%$##, didja see the $#%$#^## size of that #%#*&&$ fish? Oh man, oh man, are ya still on?" I start pumping the rod reeling as fast as I could and then my heart sank - kept winding real slow until the little curly-cue at the end of my leader crossed the transom.
Nope, I don't snell.
Since then I'll just use a clinch or an improved clinch knot on 50 lb. flouro for my eel hooks, which are just the run of the mill bronze Mustad Live Bait (short shank, straight point) in 5/0 or 6/0, touched up with a diamond file.
I know DZ uses a clinch for his eeling and so does Iron Mike, if memory serves. I've never had a clinch fail yet, knock wood.