Breakaway on the rocks - Striper Talk Striped Bass Fishing, Surfcasting, Boating

EricM · 08-27-2007, 04:16 AM

I just tried out the 50lb breakaway clips while fishing through boulder fields.

One of the things I like to do every once in a while (and it happens when I don't want it too as well, I'm no marksman with the surf rod

) is to bank a creek chub popper off a boulder, but on my first bank shot attempt with the breakaway the plug neatly popped right off the clip and sank into the depths! That was it for me and the breakaways.

Tell me, was that a one in a million shot? I know I had it on right as I reviewed the discussions on the clips on this forum. Then again, I never really used any clips at all before August so perhaps that would happen with any clip or snap?

BigFish · 08-27-2007, 05:07 AM

Use the 80# clips.....I have been using them for about 5 years! Fish the rocks at Cutty as well as in my local spots and have never had an issue with the Breakaway's! You sure you did not have the clip tied on upside down? Its easy to do if you are not careful.....I have always said that Breakaway should have a closed eye on the business end of the clips so there is A. no confusion as to which end to tie and B. to prevent the clip from reversing itself on the line during use! Don't give up on them for one incident.....how long you been using them?

DZ · 08-27-2007, 06:34 AM

EricM,
Congrats - You just had a perfect "Breakaway" on your first cast - for most of us it took us a while. Back to CoastLOCK for me.

DZ

luds · 08-27-2007, 06:56 AM

You're going to have failures if you continue to bank plugs off the rocks on purpose. Coaslocks will be less likely to fail but your plug might still crack in half or the through wire could get reallly bent. It's happened to me.

DZ · 08-27-2007, 08:03 AM

Bigfish,
Good point about user error. I know we all hate to admit it but we all make mistakes. For example with knots – there probably isn’t anyone here that hasn’t regretted tying a bad knot(and paying for it) once or twice. And in all fairness to Breakaway clips – I’ve also had failures with Coastlock snaps. Coastlocks get “soft” over time – experienced casters can feel the difference. If your black Coastlock snap is losing its paint - it has long past its time to be replaced. If it is unusually easy to change your plugs – change your snap.

All gear fails from time to time during periods of high stress – when gear fails without stress – a red flag should appear to the user.

One of the unique advantages of these online threads is being able to learn from the experiences (and mistakes) of others.

DZ

Mike P · 08-27-2007, 08:56 AM

Coastlocks on plugs, Breakaways on jigs

JohnR · 08-27-2007, 09:34 AM

I've had the least amount of failures with Breakaway 80# links and they are pretty reliable to me...

I can easily see flipping the plug against a rock just right (or wrong I suppose) would cause the plug to pop off when you consider the ease of putting them on or off to being with...

EricM · 08-27-2007, 09:40 AM

BigFish,
100% positive I had it on the right way. It was my first time using them so I searched through the forums here and double checked the posts to make sure I knew which end was the business end...plenty of gents here posted pics which showed which way was right and, unintentionally, if I remember, there was even a pic of which way was the wrong way to attach to a breakaway clip.

My cumulative experience with breakaway clips was a total of about
20 minutes before I went for the CCB bank shot that did result in the "perfect breakaway." I was enjoying the easy snap-on snap-off breakway experience until then...and then decided to experiment with coastlocks for the rest of the trip and had zero failures for the rest of the time. I've been tying direct previously and wanted to try something new.

And Luds, good point that something is bound to give banging plugs off of the rocks, I agree...but its fun to do sometimes...with a nice cheap industrial plug, that is...

BigFish · 08-27-2007, 11:08 AM

Eric...chalk it up to a million in one incident and give the breakaways a shot....you will love them! Bump up to 80# clips for the salt though!

stripadan · 08-27-2007, 05:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike P

Coastlocks on plugs, Breakaways on jigs

Breakaways for plugging and split rings and improved clinch for jigging. I have had too many snaps open from the fishes mouth when jigging, you get the fish in and the hooked end of snap is stuck in jig eye. Never lost a fish but gave up tempting fate.

Mike P · 08-27-2007, 05:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stripadan

Breakaways for plugging and split rings and improved clinch for jigging. I have had too many snaps open from the fishes mouth when jigging, you get the fish in and the hooked end of snap is stuck in jig eye. Never lost a fish but gave up tempting fate.

I started using the clips on jigs in the Canal last year and am still batting 1.000. And, I know guys with more than a few 30 and 40 pounders from the Canal, without clip failure. These are guys who fish 65# braid on All Star 1209s with 15 pounds of drag on the reel. I'm convinced. It's a clip--it can't open. And it's strong enough not to bend and straighten, even with all that pressure on it.

The clip is the least of my worries when a fish is peeling drag. Mostly, I worry about my leader. That's still the weak link between me and the fish.

stripadan · 08-27-2007, 06:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike P

I started using the clips on jigs in the Canal last year and am still batting 1.000. And, I know guys with more than a few 30 and 40 pounders from the Canal, without clip failure. These are guys who fish 65# braid on All Star 1209s with 15 pounds of drag on the reel. I'm convinced. It's a clip--it can't open. And it's strong enough not to bend and straighten, even with all that pressure on it.

The clip is the least of my worries when a fish is peeling drag. Mostly, I worry about my leader. That's still the weak link between me and the fish.

I agree, just got in the habit of split rings long before breakaways were around. All my jigs are already rigged with rings so I just haven't tried the breakaways jigging. Funny, I just got off the phone with a buddy and we had this same conversation.
I'm waiting for Flaptail to tell how he uses the breakaways, and he has no problems with them.

Slipknot · 08-27-2007, 07:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike P

I started using the clips on jigs in the Canal last year and am still batting 1.000. And, I know guys with more than a few 30 and 40 pounders from the Canal, without clip failure. These are guys who fish 65# braid on All Star 1209s with 15 pounds of drag on the reel. I'm convinced. It's a clip--it can't open. And it's strong enough not to bend and straighten, even with all that pressure on it.

The clip is the least of my worries when a fish is peeling drag. Mostly, I worry about my leader. That's still the weak link between me and the fish.

yep, 5 years now using them jigging, never a problem

try the 80 lb clips, the 50's are for fresh like Bigfish said

numbskull · 08-27-2007, 09:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EricM

BigFish,
100% positive I had it on the right way. It was my first time using them so I searched through the forums here and double checked the posts to make sure I knew which end was the business end...plenty of gents here posted pics which showed which way was right and, unintentionally, if I remember, there was even a pic of which way was the wrong way to attach to a breakaway clip.

That was me. I used them upside down for two years and never had one fail plugging. Before that I had long since given up on snaps. Coastlock, crosslock, duolock, didn't matter they used to open all the time. Presumably the folks who have success with snaps use bigger ones than I did ( but they seemed to kill the action on the medium sized plugs I used back then) and I can't say I was ever smart enough to change them before they failed.

BigFish · 08-27-2007, 09:26 PM

Oh....and I don't know about the rest of you....I re-use the breakaways over and over! They don't seem to fatigue! Over the winter I will put them in a small zip lock bag and put a spray of WD-40 in there!

EricM · 08-28-2007, 07:10 AM

OK, sounds like the mission is clear: upgrade my breakaway clips to 80lb and go for it one more time...good to know that they can be re-used over and over again, that is a good money-saving tip.

Rockport24 · 08-28-2007, 12:27 PM

I fish rocks pretty much exclusively and whack plugs off of them all the time (not on purpose). I have destroyed plugs doing this, I've snapped a lot of swimmer plates right off and stuff like that, but the breakaways have never failed me in that way. Now I haven't caught any big fish on breakaways, so I can't attest to that kind of failure, but it seems like guys here do okay with them