Reviewed by: CAPT. MIKE SCHOONVELD
Do you have a pair of scissors on your boat? I never did even though they do a terrific job of cutting braided line. I had traditional nail-clipper style line cutters on board and I used them to “gnaw” through braid when needed. Line clippers are basically, single task tools – perhaps dual task if you find yourself in need of an emergency manicure while fishing.
I don’t like single-task tools – especially on the boat. I imagined including a pair of scissors just for when I needed to cut braided line would be just another single tasker.
But when I saw the SPRO 9″ Sportsman Scissors at the mid-summer ICAST show, it caught my eye. Not only are they top notch “braid cutters,” they are decidedly a multi-use tool.
So I got a 9″ Sportsman Scissors to add to my fishing tool assortment and used it the last half of the 2021 fishing season. I was worried about the size – a nine-inch scissor is a rather robust tool, especially compared to a fingernail snipper. However, what I found is it’s easier to do “micro” jobs with a large scissor than to tackle a “macro” chore with a mini-set of clips or snips.
A few of the details about the scissors: they are stainless steel, naturally; have a serrated edge (necessary to cut braid) and a non-slip, man-sized, rubberized grip. Inside the grip is what SPRO calls a nut (as in walnuts) and claw cracker (as in crab claws). I’ve not cracked any walnuts or crab legs with them, but I have grabbed the scissors several times to use the crab-cracker as pliers when I needed a better grip on a stubborn something. When the blades are opened fully, the two blades of the tool will pop apart allowing the fish-scaler and bottle opener to be used.
Besides cutting braided line, I’ve used the scissors to open new blister-packed lures, clipping fins, trimming flies and other chores. Maybe they are a multi-tasker.
There are some brands of fishing products that are recognized as being the highest quality. SPRO is one of those. From snaps and swivels to tackle storage to tools, if it’s a SPRO I know it’s well made and isn’t going to let me down. I’ve used the SPRO scissors for half a season now and I wish I’d had them for the last half of my life (or longer.) If you don’t have a pair of scissors on board your boat, you need a pair and the SPRO nine-inchers will do the multiple jobs you’ll find for them.
To check out the SPRO scissors, go to http://www.SPRO.com.
FISHING TOYS 