Rigging and repairing longlines has always been one of the most time-consuming and costly jobs in longlining. Even though baiting is now done by machines, repairing the lines still has to be done by hand on board, making it a demanding task. To ease this work, O. Mustad & Son AS have developed new types of longlines, snoods, and hooks known as Rotoline and Quick Snap lines. These come in different sizes, the most common being 1.4 mm and 1.8 mm monofilament Rotolines and 5 mm and 7 mm twisted polyester Quick Snap lines.

The principle is simple. Along the main fishing line, known as the groundline, small metal fittings called ferrules are attached at regular intervals. Each ferrule is fitted with a sleeve that can spin freely, and from this sleeve protrudes a small hooked pin, shaped like a shepherd’s crook. The pin holds the snood securely once it has been snapped into place, while still allowing it to swivel. Because the snoods can rotate freely, they do not twist or tangle with the groundline, which in turn increases catch rates compared to older systems with fixed snoods.

Different types of snoods can be used with the system, but braided snoods are particularly strong. These are made with an eye at each end: one end snaps onto a special springy-eyed hook from Mustad, and the other end attaches to the ferrule pin on the groundline. With this arrangement, setting up a longline becomes much simpler, as the snoods and hooks can be snapped directly into place. Since braided snoods are highly durable and rarely damaged, repairs are usually limited to replacing hooks rather than rebuilding large parts of the rig.