BAIT LOOP · SNELL FAMILY
Soft bait on a plain hook has a short life in current. The Egg Loop is a snell with one deliberate complication: a section of leader gets trapped inside the wraps so you can pull it back out later as a small loop, and that loop is what pins eggs, roe, yarn or similar soft bait against the hook.
Six steps on one shank
Leader material used in salmon/steelhead bait rigs, commonly mono or fluorocarbon.
Works best on a hook with enough shank length for two wrap sections plus the trapped loop.
Holding soft bait without piercing the bait itself over and over — a roe bag hung on the point alone tends to come apart in current.
This loop holds bait. It isn’t doing the job a Kreh or Rapala loop does.
One bight has to survive the wraps
The first wraps anchor the leader to the shank. Then a second wrap section traps a bight of leader, and the whole trick is trapping it without crushing it flat. Pull that bight back out and you’ve got the bait loop. Cross the two wrap sections, or pinch the bight, and it won’t open cleanly — and a loop that won’t open cleanly doesn’t hold anything. It just looks like it will until the first drift.
A bight caught between two wrap sections
- Run the leader through the eye and lay a tag section along the shank.
- Wrap the tag around shank and leader several times toward the bend.
- Pass the tag back through the eye so it lies along the shank again.
- Form and hold a generous bight along the shank; this is the future bait loop.
- Wrap the working end around shank, standing leader, and the base of that bight several more times.
- Seat the snell, then pull the trapped bight out between the wrap sections to form the bait loop.
What goes wrong on the shank
Trapped bight too small, crossed wrap sections, bait loop pinched shut, leader abrasion under the wraps, or a hook shank too short to carry the whole structure. This one takes a few goes before your hands know the order, and that’s normal. Tie a handful at the table, where a wasted leader doesn’t cost you a drift.
Use it
Soft-bait salmon/steelhead rigs when the bait needs a dedicated retention loop.
Skip it
Artificial lures needing free action, tiny hooks, or situations where regulations restrict bait or rigging style.
Salmon and steelhead bait rigs, basically
Traditional Snell: same shank-load logic without bait loop. Knotless Knot: preserves a hair rather than a bait loop. Dropper Loop: creates a branch in the line, not a loop on the hook shank.
HOW I CHECK IT
Watch the second wrap section in motion.
NetKnots’ animation, its companion video, Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s demo, and the Egg Loop segment in Fishing Explained’s snell rundown are all worth watching for that second wrap section, since it’s the part that decides whether the loop pulls open clean. The check is simple, and it is worth doing before anything else: pull the loop open before the bait goes anywhere near it. If it won’t move freely, the roe bag is going to end up back in the current no matter how good the rest of the rig looks.
Open the deeper knot workflowJob, material, route, dressing, seating, pull-test checks and the standardized comparison record.
THE SIX-MOVE CHECK
Job → Material → Route → Dress → Seat → Test
- Job. Name what the connection has to do before choosing the knot.
- Material. Confirm the line, leader, rope, wire, and hardware actually suit this structure.
- Route. Trace every pass before tightening anything.
- Dress. Put strands, wraps, and loops in their intended order with no accidental crossings.
- Seat. Tighten in the order this knot needs. More force does not repair bad geometry.
- Test. Inspect the finished shape, load it by hand when appropriate, and retie if anything moves or fails the article-specific checks.
Practice / pass test. Tie this knot three clean times without rushing. A tie passes only when it matches this article’s What to check before you trust it geometry, shows none of the listed failure clues, and survives the stated load/inspection test. If you cannot tell why one attempt is better than another, keep practicing—the lesson is recognition, not memorization.
KNOT SPEC
Egg Loop Knot — the short answers
- ALSO CALLED
- Bumper knot, bait loop knot. Pacific Northwest and Alaskan salmon and steelhead anglers use it most; it is close to unknown outside bait fisheries for those species.
- KNOT TYPE
- Snell with a trapped bight — a bait-retention loop on the hook shank
- WHAT IT CONNECTS
- Ties leader to a hook and builds a small loop on the shank that pins roe, eggs, yarn or other soft bait in place. It is a bait-holding rig, not a line-to-line knot and not a loop for lure movement.
- LINE TYPES
- Monofilament and fluorocarbon leader, the standard salmon and steelhead bait materials. It is not a braid knot — braid beds into the shank wraps and the loop will not open cleanly. Not for wire.
- STRENGTH BAND
- Solid as a snell, with the usual caveat: strength comes from wraps bearing on the shank, so a rough or lightly finished shank costs you more than the knot does. It is not tied for strength; it is tied for bait retention.
- DIFFICULTY
- Intermediate to advanced. Two wrap sections plus a bight held along the shank is more to manage than any other knot in this group. Expect several attempts before your hands know the order. Not a knot for a child.
- STEPS AND WRAPS
- Six moves and two wrap sections. Five or six wraps in the first, five or six in the second is typical; more in fine leader, fewer on a short shank. There is no braid version.
- TIE TIME
- A home knot, firmly. A minute or more even when fluent, and there is no version of this that becomes a bite-window knot. Tie a batch at the table.
- POOR CONDITIONS
- Poor. It needs two hands, a held bight and a controlled wrap count, and cold river-bank hands take all three away. Rig these in advance and carry spares in a leader wallet.
- THROUGH THE GUIDES
- It is tied at the hook, so it does not pass guides in normal fishing. On the shank it is bulky by design, which is fine because it is not trying to be discreet.
- LUBRICATION
- Yes. Wet the wraps before the final seat. Two wrap sections closing on a trapped bight put a lot of friction in a short length of leader, and fluorocarbon in particular scars there.
- TAG END
- Trim close once both wrap sections have seated and the loop pulls open freely. Do not trim until you have opened the loop with a fingertip — if it is stuck, the knot is coming off anyway.
- TOOLS
- None strictly, but a hook holder or a vise makes a real difference while you are learning, and good light helps you see whether the two wrap sections have crossed.
- BEST SUITED TO
- Salmon and steelhead on roe, egg clusters, sand shrimp and yarn. Also used for other soft baits where the bait would tear off a plain hook. Check local bait and rigging regulations first.
The strength bands are rough on purpose. Published knot tests don’t agree with each other — the same braid-to-leader knot has tested near ninety percent of line strength on one machine and under half on another, because the line brand, its diameter, how fast it got cinched, whether it was wet and whose hands tied it all move the number more than the knot does. Use the band to compare this knot with the others, not as a number to quote.
FIELD INTELLIGENCE
Where it earns its place, and where it costs you
Advantages
- It holds soft bait without piercing it repeatedly, which is the whole reason it exists — a roe bag stays on through a drift instead of washing off in the current.
- The loop tightens against the bait as the leader loads, so the bait is held harder exactly when the water is pulling hardest at it.
- It is a snell, so the pull comes off the shank in line with the hook point, which helps hook-up angle on a swung or drifted bait.
- It is honest about what it is not. This loop holds bait; it gives no lure or fly freedom at all, and nothing about a drifted roe bag wants a pivot at the eye.
- Loop size is a deliberate choice at the bight, so you can match it to the bait you actually fish.
Disadvantages
- It is the fussiest knot in this group to tie, and the two wrap sections cross easily without announcing it.
- A pinched or crushed bight will not pull open, and a loop that will not open holds nothing.
- It needs a hook with shank length for two wrap sections plus the trapped loop, so small and short-shank hooks are out.
- It is entirely wrong for artificial lures that need free movement — use a Kreh or Rapala loop there instead.
- Bait and rigging regulations vary by water and season, and this knot only makes sense where bait is allowed.
Use a different knot when
- Traditional Snell — when you want the same shank-load geometry and do not need to hold bait
- Knotless Knot — when the rig wants a hair for a boilie or a bait stop rather than a bait loop
- Non-Slip Loop / Kreh Loop — when you are fishing an artificial that needs freedom at the eye rather than bait retention
- Dropper Loop — when the loop you actually need is a branch in the line, not a loop on the shank
WHAT TO CHECK BEFORE YOU TRUST IT
Judge this one by the rig it builds, not by strength. It is the answer to a specific problem: soft bait that washes off a plain hook in current. In a steelhead or salmon drift the loop cinches against the roe as the leader loads, so the bait is gripped hardest at the moment the water is trying hardest to take it. It offers no lure or fly freedom whatsoever, and it should not — a drifted bait wants to be held, not hinged. Check the loop with a fingertip before any bait goes near it. If it will not pull open freely, the wraps trapped it wrong and the rig will fail in the water.
What actually makes it fail
- The trapped bight tied too small, so there is no usable loop to pull out.
- The two wrap sections crossing each other, which stops the loop opening cleanly.
- The bait loop pinched shut by wraps drawn down too hard on top of it.
- Leader abrasion under the wraps, from a rough shank or from seating the knot dry.
- A hook shank too short to carry two wrap sections and the loop, so the structure never sits properly.
How to test it, and how it ages
Before bait touches it, pull the loop open with a fingertip. It should open and close freely without dragging wraps out of place. Look for two tidy separate wrap sections that have not crossed, and leader exiting the eye in line with the shank rather than at an angle. Then load the leader steadily against the hook and watch the loop close down on itself rather than the wraps migrating. A stiff loop or a wandering wrap section means cut it off and tie another.
Over a session: It holds up well through a session as a knot, but the loop is worked hard every time bait is added, and the leader under the wraps takes abrasion from the shank. Re-tie after a fish, after any hard snag, and whenever the loop has stopped opening freely.
Troubleshooting
Why will my bait loop not pull open?
The wraps crushed the bight, or the two wrap sections crossed. Hold the bight generously along the shank and keep the second wrap section clearly separate from the first.
Why does my roe bag still wash off?
Either the loop is too big and never grips, or you seated it before the bait went in. The loop should close on the bait as the leader loads, not sit slack around it.
Can I tie this in braid?
No. Braid beds into the shank wraps and the loop stops opening. Use mono or fluorocarbon leader.
Why does it keep failing on small hooks?
There is not enough shank for two wrap sections plus a trapped loop. Move up to a longer-shank hook.
Is this a good loop for a lure or fly?
No. It is a bait-holding loop on the shank and gives no freedom at the eye. For an artificial that needs to swing, tie a Kreh or Rapala loop.
