Split rings stop being a fight: the three Shimano ring pliers I use for fishing and craft work

Rigging a lure means getting a split ring open and threading a hook or a swivel onto it. Fingernails do not cut it, so you buy a pair of ring pliers. I bought my first pair back when I was fishing area trout ponds, and every time I moved up to bigger fish I ended up buying another. I now own three.

Three does sound like a lot. It is not: each one handles a different range of ring sizes.

• Between them the three cover rings #00 through #11
• The smallest pair, the first one I bought, is still in service after eight-plus years
• They get about as much use off the water as on it — including strapping plush toys to my bag

These are Japanese-market Shimano tools, so the links below go to Amazon Japan rather than the US store. Worth checking whether they ship to you before ordering.

Shimano Mini Ring Pliers TYPE-F CT-544P

View on Amazon.co.jp

Shimano AD Pliers RH TYPE-F CT-541P

View on Amazon.co.jp

Shimano Power Pliers CT-561P

View on Amazon.co.jp

The only real difference is the ring size each one handles

They look and work much the same. What changes is the size of the tool, and with it the range of split rings it can pry open.

The ranges overlap, which turns out to matter. Sizes #1 to #3 fall to either the Mini or the AD, #5 to either the AD or the Power, and lined up the three give unbroken coverage from #00 to #11. I have yet to hit a ring my setup could not handle.

Those are the manufacturer’s published figures. Colour variants split into separate listings, so check the size range on the product page before you buy.

One pair for trout, then a bigger one every time the fish got bigger

The first pair was the smallest, the CT-544P. I started out on managed trout ponds, where the rings are correspondingly tiny, and I assumed a single pair of pliers was all anyone needed.

Then I started fishing saltwater, the target species got bigger, and so did the rings. Put a small pair on a large ring and the tip does not spread wide enough to prise it apart — it is not hard work, it simply does not open. The reverse is just as true: a big pair is hopeless on a #00 ring. Obvious in hindsight, but I genuinely expected one pair to cover everything.

So I added the AD, then the Power. Not a flaw so much as the thing to understand before buying.

That first CT-544P has to be eight years old by now, and there is nothing wrong with it. I mostly rig at home rather than on the bank, so it never really gets a chance to rust. At my rate of fishing — roughly once a month — it feels like a buy-it-once tool.

Half the use has nothing to do with fishing

I bought these for rigging, and by frequency the non-fishing jobs now account for about half of it.

Swapping the rings on a keyring. Fitting straps to the plush toys I clip to my bag. It is the same operation — open a split ring, thread something on, let it close — so it is the same tool. The build quality means they do not chew up the ring or leave it bent out of shape.

On the fishing side, a lot of my saltwater trips are bait fishing rather than lures, so the two bigger pairs see comparatively little action. The one I reach for most is still the trout-sized CT-544P.

What I do not like

They are expensive. Reasonably so, given the quality, but these are not cheap pliers and buying all three adds up. You do not need all three at once, though — mine accumulated over about eight years.

I have never used the line cutter. All three carry a serrated PE-capable line cutter, and in eight years I have not touched it once. I cut line with scissors. Some of what you pay for is that extra functionality, so if all you want is something that opens rings, a plain split ring opener may serve you just as well for less.

In short

If you deal with split rings, these are easy to recommend. Eight years in and mine show no sign of giving up; I have no complaints about how they perform or how they are made.

You do not need all three. CT-544P for area trout and light game, CT-541P for mid-size work like sea bass, CT-561P for offshore and larger pelagics — start with the one that matches the ring sizes you actually use. And once you own a pair, you will probably find yourself using it for things that have nothing to do with fishing.

Shimano Mini Ring Pliers TYPE-F CT-544P

View on Amazon.co.jp