Has anyone used the "Fas-snap " fly attach?

[cimarron]

This question may have been asked before, but couldn't find it in archives. I recently returned from my summer trip to NE New Mexico. While there, on the stream, I realized I was spending way too much time tying on flies and changing. I decided to check into those little snaps you use to tie in flies, called the fas-snap. They come in small, medium, and large. They are not supposed to hinder the action of the fly in any way. Bass Pro has them but you got to buy 30 for nearly $9 bucks. I bought 5 for $.89 at fly shop in Red River,NM in small and medium. The small is TINY! I've lost a bit of feeling in left hand and it was getting hard to tie on a #12, let alone a #16. I tried them out on the stream and the medium does OK, but the small is still a bit of a challenge. I found if I use my haemostat to hold snap while inserting snap into eye worked well, a bit faster than tying the Palomar knot into the fly. I used the small for #12-16 and the med for #8-10. Do any of you have any experience with them? What do you think of them?

 

[Guest1]

I am amazed you didn't get a response by now. So I will. I don't generally do small flies. If I do little dry flies it's for Mooneye or something else relatively odd. I don't even do dries for Trout when I fish them anymore so I can't help you on how they work for that. I have used them for things like clousers and even bigger flies. They make a really heavy one I have used for pike leaders, and trust me when I say, I have really big Pike here. I have yet to have a Pike bust one or bend it out. In all the time I have ever used them I only had one problem. I put one on a spey leader for the first time ever. I got snagged on the bottom and cast past it. Pulled the fly off away from me and stripped it in and looked to see if everything was OK. I actually bent it out a bit. As I was looking my fly fell off and the water where I was standing was to murky and to deep to recover it. Brand new clouser. Kinda annoyed me. I may have been snagged on the front part of the snap and in casting past it, bent it out. I have never had one do it before, and I doubt it will happen much in the future, but it is my only bad experiance ever with one and I have used them on occasion for at least 40 years. You should keep in mind, things are not the same when you toss a spey rod in the mix. I never had a single problem with them till I did. I can't even cast a clouser with smaller than 8lb. tippet on my Meiser without busting it off and potentially putting the eye out of some poor Canadian on the opposite side of the river. This is a big big river and I'm serious about whacking Canada with the fly. I would not worry about any problems with these. A friend of mine landed the fattest 30" Walleye you ever saw with a small one. On the bigger sizes, I have laned Pike well over 20 pounds. The only concern I can Imagine is that it may sink A TINY DRY FLY, BUT IT'S MY UNDERSTANDING THEY DON'T. Dang caps lock! I might be a tad worried about how well a size 18 or something would float with one, but I have no reason to worry about anything else with them as long as you use the size you should. By the way, that's a lot smaller than what looking at it would make you think.

 

[caseywise]

sorry i didn't respond earlier, must have missed your thread
about three years ago my dad shattered the left pointer finger on his left hand with a 16 pound sledge hammer.
my fam and i arrived on vacation a few months after that and when we arrived it was quite obvious that his fishing abilities were going to be greatly inhibited.
it soon became quite apperant that he was going to be unable to tie any knot whatsoever.
so we ordered some fas-snaps and...problem solved! great product

 

[Guest1]

my dad shattered the left pointer finger on his left hand with a 16 pound sledge hammer.

I did almost the same thing back in about 1983 or 4. I hit the end of my left index finger so hard with a hammer it left a finger print in a piece of Redwood in the shape of the bone. It sprayed blood in a circular pattern like a fine airbrush for a good foot and a half. I held it up finger nail towards me and looked at it. It looked fine and didn't even hurt. I said to mysefl "self, this is really going to hurt in a minute." About that time my finger nail fell off and fluttered away like leaves in the Fall. Then the fun part. My finger tip spread open like the end of an exploding cigar. Then I felt it. I go to the doctor and the first thing he does is shoot it full of Betadine and scrub it with a brush like it's a badly stained bit of grout. My insurance info had not arrived so of course this was with no pain killers. Then he pinned my hand to the table with one hand and with the other goes at it with a pair of tweezers yanking little chunks of bone and who knows what out, saying " Well you won't need this, aaaaaand you won't need this...... or that....." My finger was so smashed there was nothing really to sew up. They put it in a little cup thing after cutting everything off that hung down, with me pointing down, and shot it full of foam. It stayed in that for a seriously long time. They said I would probably loose that part of my finger and there was no way I was ever going to have a finger nail on it ever again. I learned a valuable lesson there. The little finger and the one next to it are for decoration only. Worthless. Except for scratching your butt. I got lucky and it healed, I even have a finger nail and other than being a tad shorter and a bit uhhh, not even, it looks pretty good!

 

[kibby]

I did almost the same thing back in about 1983 or 4. I hit the end of my left index finger so hard with a hammer it left a finger print in a piece of Redwood in the shape of the bone. It sprayed blood in a circular pattern like a fine airbrush for a good foot and a half. I held it up finger nail towards me and looked at it. It looked fine and didn't even hurt. I said to mysefl "self, this is really going to hurt in a minute." About that time my finger nail fell off and fluttered away like leaves in the Fall. Then the fun part. My finger tip spread open like the end of an exploding cigar. Then I felt it. I go to the doctor and the first thing he does is shoot it full of Betadine and scrub it with a brush like it's a badly stained bit of grout. My insurance info had not arrived so of course this was with no pain killers. Then he pinned my hand to the table with one hand and with the other goes at it with a pair of tweezers yanking little chunks of bone and who knows what out, saying " Well you won't need this, aaaaaand you won't need this...... or that....." My finger was so smashed there was nothing really to sew up. They put it in a little cup thing after cutting everything off that hung down, with me pointing down, and shot it full of foam. It stayed in that for a seriously long time. They said I would probably loose that part of my finger and there was no way I was ever going to have a finger nail on it ever again. I learned a valuable lesson there. The little finger and the one next to it are for decoration only. Worthless. Except for scratching your butt. I got lucky and it healed, I even have a finger nail and other than being a tad shorter and a bit uhhh, not even, it looks pretty good!

Retired USAF jet mechanic here, and I've had a full career as a machinist and industrial mechanic since I retired from the Air Force in '96. Until now, I thought I've heard it all. Needless to say, I've had my share of gruesome experiences, but this is easily the most-graphic story of a good finger-smashing I've ever heard. Well done!

 

[Liphookedau]

Incidentally I came across some I have which I used many years ago,they were made by Mustard of Sweden & came in two sizes,I didn't like them because they tended to give the attached Fly a hinging effect.
Also I broke a couple so I thought if I could break them then there's a possibility they could break & cause the loss of Fish,however I just might have to revert back to them in the future when I can't tie the Flies onto the Tipit.
Brian.

 

[bigjim5589]

I tried some of those snaps many years ago, and believe they were made by Mustad. They work OK IMO for streamers, but I didn't care for them with any other type fly. Personal preference, I really don't care for hardware like that when fly fishing. I'll use snaps with other tackle, but not flies. At this time I have no physical limitations for tying knots, but if that changes, I might be inclined to go to something like that too!

If I was going to use such things, and was concerned about them bending or losing flies, then I would go with duo lock type snaps instead. They're made in very small sizes as well, but they lock closed. Yes, they can be damaged just as any other piece of hardware,(even the hook a fly is tied on can be broken) but used in the manner you're intending, then IMO they'll work as well as the fast snaps.

Dan, great story! You're now my hero! :bowdown:

 

[Guest1]

Retired USAF jet mechanic here, and I've had a full career as a machinist and industrial mechanic since I retired from the Air Force in '96. Until now, I thought I've heard it all. Needless to say, I've had my share of gruesome experiences, but this is easily the most-graphic story of a good finger-smashing I've ever heard. Well done!

Well, thank you!

I had mentioned getting one of those snaps to pull open using it on my spey rod. I got some small red ones and they don't seem to pill open. I wasn't going to use them any more when I use the spey rod, but we have been fishing in the dark and at temps well below freezing. Between being dark, numb fingers and I need cheaters in a big way, I decided to use them enyway but only with streamers in the top of the water column. The fish were not cooperating so I went back to clousers. I hung up on the bottom twice. Cast past the snag and pulled the fly off away from me. No problems with the snap. It seems the red ones that come on red stinger hooks for jig fishing are better than the Mustad version. I'm going to research the things and see if I can find out who makes them.

 

[d3adp0ol]

Hopefully I can re-start this old thread, since I'm interested in how well these work with small flies (16-18-20). I've got big fingers and have a hard time tying the tiny midges, ants and gnats the nearby bluegills like to eat. I've also lost a few flies to weak knots on light lines against those blues, so I also want to know if the smallest sized snaps can hold up against something that likes to fight.

 

[Liphookedau]

A guy I used to work with always uses them,however he addmitted they eventually tend to either break or open up,so if you do happen to use them it would pay as he suggested to periodical check them,especially after you have caught Fish.
Brian

 

[TAT]

Hemostat knot

I was close to trying the Fas-snap until I came across the hemostat knot. I've gotten to where I can tie one of these in about 5 seconds. Super easy.

20/20 magnetic tippet threader

Another aid for aging fingertips and eyes. Nothing harder than trying to thread a size 22.

The William Joseph Hemocuts have also been a big help for my fat fingers.

 

[d3adp0ol]

Do you know if he was using the smallest sized snaps? I have heard about the bending and that people usually carry a few extra in their vest in case they need to replace them. I think I might give it a try and see how it goes.