Reviewed by Capt. Mike Schoonveld
I’ve fished on three different boats owned by friends this summer and was amazed that two of them didn’t have a pair of split ring pliers on board and one of them had a pair that were so crummy, it would be just as easy to try to remove a bent hook using a pair of needle nose pliers or my thumbnail.
Both on Lake Michigan and on Lake Erie it’s not unusual to have a bent or mangled hook on a hot lure. The fish don’t bend them so much as unhooking a fish with a barb stuck in a particularly tough cartilage in the fish’s jaw or when coho salmon are twisting in the net. If the hook isn’t bent it’s not uncommon to have a stretched out split ring in need of changing. In any scenario it would be a simple fix with a pair of split ring pliers.
For the most part, a split-ring plier is a single-tasker and maybe that’s the reason many fishing tool makers try to incorporate a “beak” at the end of a pair of needle-nose pliers that is replete with perhaps carbide line cutter or other features to make it a multi-tasking tool. Often the resulting implement is something that doesn’t do anything very well.
The latest split ring pliers making its way onto my boat are the Angler’s Heavy Duty Split Ring Pliers by made by Rapala. For one, it’s a full-sized tool, not a miniature tool that doesn’t fit my hand adequately. Its handle is spring loaded so I can open or close it as needed without changing my grip and has a rubberized handle just to make it comfortable. I’ve used it on tiny split rings like on #5 Shad Raps and big split rings on magnum spoons. Large split rings are always easier, but this tool handles whatever size ring is being worked.
If you are an angler without a split ring plier in your tool kit, get one. If you are not satisfied with the split ring tool you do have, swap it out for Rapala’s Angler’s Heavy Duty Split Ring Pliers. Priced right, you can purchase them online at www.Rapala.com, or at various other retailers and online sellers. Don’t leave the dock without a pair.
