# Bite tippet for Snook



## Mike1974 (Feb 22, 2013)

A question for you Florida guys. What size bite tippet do y'all use when targeting snook? Fishing redfish I use 20# flourocarbon and that is plenty plenty. When using convention tackle on past trips to the Chokoloskee area we used 20# and 30# shock leaders tied to braid but I wasn't able to get the flyrod out due to the other guy on the boat was just not as into flyfishing. I am planning a trip soon and want to be prepared. Also planning on fishing South.Padre more this.summer when I finish my skiff.


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## gfish (Jan 14, 2009)

20# is usually enough.


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## Mike1974 (Feb 22, 2013)

Hmmm...  I was figuring more due to how rough those guy's mouth are.  But that is good.


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## FlyFisherK (Jan 27, 2012)

I fish Chokoloskee a lot since I go to college in Fort Myers. I normally throw either 20 or 25 for a tippet. The water is really dirty so you can get away with a little bit heavier tippet. Good luck down in Choko!!


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## FredGrunwald (Sep 24, 2012)

I usually don't use anything less than 40# leader with snook but thats mainly cause I fish the docks


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## hostage1985 (Feb 27, 2011)

I've fished for them a lot. I use 25# and 30#: I start with about a 16" length and don't let it get less than 10'. It"s the shoulder and cheek scales that make the bite tippet necessary. If I'm concentrating around docks I will use 35.


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## Mike1974 (Feb 22, 2013)

Good info guys! Thanks. Now when you guy make up your leaders, what is your process? When using the heavier tippet, Using a 12# tapered leader, do you tie the bite tippet direct or tie in a section of 20# to tie the heavier leader to? 12# tied direct to 30# aint pretty... I'm sure some of yall are uni-uni fans, blood knot users and I even read some of you use a nail knot. I am a triple surgeon knot, I can tie that one with my eyes closed, so keep that in mind.


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## Snookdaddy (Jan 5, 2008)

Try a "slim beauty" knot...


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## captd (Feb 8, 2011)

if i am "regular" snook fishing, i use 30. if i see bigger fish or am fishing around structure, i use 40. i have caught a lot of big snook... if you use less than 30, you are going to eventually lose a big one. their gills plates are incredibly sharp, and big ones will shake their heads and rub it against the leader. that's discounting structure and just their strength, etc.   
there is a famous glades snook guide who i have heard uses 50. the best snook i ever brought to hand was only boated because i was fishing tarpon--so i had a 60# tippet. i guarantee i would never have caught her on 30, or probably even 40. i use flouro exclusively.


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## Mike1974 (Feb 22, 2013)

> Try a "slim beauty" knot...


I never tied that one that before so I looked it up on netknots. A little complicated for my taste, I like simple, fast knots. Usually when I have to tie on a new leader fishing is good and I am in a hurry. While looking on that site I found the Yucatan knot, I like that one. Simple and fast and strong. I am going to give it a shot. Cleaner than a surgeons knot and the hard flouro tag end wont pick up grass like the surgeons knot.

Danny I understand that completely. I have lost too many snook to those gill plates.


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## hostage1985 (Feb 27, 2011)

Slim Beauty is the best. Surgeons works but doesn't give as straight a lead. I never went down to 12#, generally 14 or 16 depending on the water.


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## Shadowcast (Feb 26, 2008)

I usually go simple on the leaders for dock snook. I use Monic clear FST line so I get away with shorter leaders which help the turnover. I use like 4' of 40#...nail-knotted to 2' of 20#....then perfection loop handshaked to a 12" 30# bite tippet.


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## Snookdaddy (Jan 5, 2008)

> > Try a "slim beauty" knot...
> 
> 
> I never tied that one that before so I looked it up on netknots.  A little complicated for my taste, I like simple, fast knots.  Usually when I have to tie on a new leader fishing is good and I am in a hurry.  While looking on that site I found the Yucatan knot, I like that one.  Simple and fast and strong.  I am going to give it a shot.  Cleaner than a surgeons knot and the hard flouro tag end wont pick up grass like the surgeons knot.
> ...



Slim Beauty...  Take a look at this video for easy tie instructions:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YsH1gJJRLw

I have switch all of my tarpon rigs to this knot from the much larger and slightly kinked "Huffnagle knot"...


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## deerfly (Mar 10, 2007)

I'm old and old school and have been tying huffnagles for many moons, its just one of a few knots I need to use for big game leaders mostly. It's certainly more involved than some of the others mentioned here, but in terms of time and effort it's not much different than the slim beauty.

That said, I think either is probably overkill for snook leaders because a heavy shock isn't necessary and mostly just kills any action the fly may have. With a fly rod I don't think you need more than 20-25lb bite tippet under the vast majority of circumstances. 

There's a couple reasons. One is you can't pull as hard and abruptly with a fly rod as you would with a stout conventional rod and high test braid or heavy mono running line. The other reason is a slot size snook's gill plates can shear 40-50lb mono pretty easily if the leader gets under there just right and there's enough tension on the line, which there would be on the initial run or two for cover. 

In my experience there's a substantial element of chance the gill plates will end the show and the heavier leader isn't necessarily a guarantee you'll beat those odds. I think you're much better off with 20lb and get more life and strikes from your fly and take your chances after the hook-up that the gill plates will cut you off.

With 12-15lb tippet and 20-25lb shock a double surgeons will work fine, a uni-uni, blood knot or an albright etc. No need to over think it, snook can be challenging but they aren't 80lb+ tarpon.


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## Mike1974 (Feb 22, 2013)

Thanks for that DeerFly.  A razor blade cuts 20# just as easy as 40#.  So true!

SnookDaddy, that video was a much better example of how to tie the Slim Beauty. I will play around with it some more and see how I like it. It looks like a good knot to have in your arsenal. Give that Yucatan knot a try, you might like it too.


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## captd (Feb 8, 2011)

i agree with both of you that razors cut equally sharply (or something)... but if you've done a lot of snook fishing, you'll know that even small ones will chafe your leader in 3 seconds. so that's why i go heavier. if the leader is just going to get spliced in one shot, sure, i guess it doesn't really matter. (though i'd still rather go a little heavier... 30)... if it's going to get rubbed and chafed... if you go with 20 you're going to be on the losing end of some of those battles (not that that matters much to me usually, either).
typically, like i said, i go with 30. almost always. i also don't know what kind of size fish you're talking about, but i am mostly looking for fish over 10#... and luckily finding them.
far as knots go, i agree with simplicity and what you tie well. i use bloods, or unis, and loop knots to the fly typically. i also like to use a long leader... again, just my opinion.


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## deerfly (Mar 10, 2007)

Danny, I don't disagree with what you're saying either. In just in my experience 40lb doesn't prevent cut-offs but it does seriously affect the action of the flies I use most for snook, which are deer hair sliders and seaducers. With 12-18" of 20lb and short abrupt strips I can get near walk-the-dog like action out of a slider. If go up to 30lb there's a lot less side to side motion, up to 40lb and it's pretty much gone, just straight pulls. Plus the weight of the leader will drag the fly down too. Not that a straight pull or sub-surface slider won't draw a strike, it's just that I prefer the extra action over a little more chafe and cut-off protection. 

Plus, I can't say with any certainty that I lost fish with 20lb shock that I wouldn't have lost with 30 or 40lb either. And it's not just the gill plates, its the tippet getting chaffed and cut by barnacle encrusted mangrove roots, blow downs, dock pilings etc or a 50+yd run dragging 15lbs of turtle grass. In those cases 50-60lb shock wouldn't help any. Beach fishing for them is probably the most gentile form, otherwise it more like combat fishing where the shock tippet is only one aspect of a much larger battle.  

Anyway, that gist of my point here. 

ftr too, I've been snook fishing all over S. Fl, the east coast, the keys, ENP etc since my dad and grandpa started hauling me along with them back in the mid-to-late 60's. I've caught them in all sizes and every which way they can be caught including one about 18lbs in a cast net, by accident of course.


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## nightfly (Jul 7, 2011)

I usually start off with 30# . If I get broke off with that then I go up to 40#. If I'm not getting many strikes I drop down to 20#. What's not being talked about is how abrasive a snooks mouth is. When a snook gets a fly,jig, or hook down its mouth and the leader is rubbing on its mouth the whole fight 20# won't hold up long. That would be more likely to break you off than the gill plate


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## deerfly (Mar 10, 2007)

There's lots of variables and no right or wrong answer, we could split hairs indefinitely on this, but I don't have issues with lip abrasion and 20lb shock. The overwhelming number of snook I lose on fly is because I failed to keep them out of structure within the first minute of the hit. If I'm lucky, lip abrasion is something to worry about 10-15 minutes later.


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