Avoiding Snags

[MichaelAngelo]

Hey guys, share your tips on avoiding snags while shore fishing!

Here's what I try to do
-No treble hooks unless I'm off a dock and the weeds are light. Single hooks work, they really do. All the big spinnerbaits that pike love use single hooks, nobody's trying to put a treble on those

-If I get snagged first thing I do is I don't pull on the rod any more, that's going to make it worse. Grab the line infront of the spool and pull it, let go and let it spring back. Do this a few times and it just might be able to pop your hook backwards enough to loosen the snag.

-I remember where I snagged and stay away from the bottom or from that direction when I cast again.

My question to the experts:
-When fishing a spoon, often the best action "wobble" happens at a slow retrieve... usually so slow that you're grazing the bottom. Is this a problem you guys run into? Am I running the wrong types of spoons?

Mike

[BarracudaBoy]

second this question about spoons

[manitoubass2]

a few tips....

If your fishing a river with current, don't set the hook on your snag. When you realize its a snag, give it a little line, give it a few seconds then a quick pop in a different direction.

If it's still snagged, wrap your hand around the rod in about the middle(and the line), or even just a little (about a foot or two above the reel), tighten your drag and walk straight backwards. With mono, it will break your line, with braid, it will break the knot. If you do it carefully, and after a little practice, it will straighten the hook (at least on jigs.)

Use braid where you can...

If you snag, don't be scared, figure it out.

If your grazing bottom with a spoon and you snag, give it another go, with a slow retrieve and a quick pop. Repeat....

[MichaelAngelo]

(02-14-2012 01:41 AM)manitoubass2 Wrote:  If your grazing bottom with a spoon and you snag, give it another go, with a slow retrieve and a quick pop. Repeat....

And I guess this is why it's important to use braid! I don't think "mono" can get you that pop at a distance lol.

[manitoubass2]

You can MA, just not as much. You only need a quick little pop with the rod tip, it doesn't have to be a dramatic pop off bottom.

If you want to learn that "popping" technique, or what I'd call a jigging retrieve, practice with jigs.

The one thing about a spoon, is when you pop it, it with flutter back down slower then a jig.

Keep a really close eye on your line to see when it makes bottom contact(if your using braid, youll also feel the bottom contact), as soon as it does, give it another little pop. As you get closer to shore, speed up your retrieve abit, and your pop as well.

I'm not a huge spoon guy on the soft water, although I love fishing them vertically through the ice. But, ripping a spoon shallow in mud bays, around rock in the current at bends and ambush spots can be deadly for bass and pike. Even better yet if you can find a mud bay with a stream flowing into it. Absolutely deadly for pike at ice out when they are spawning or getting ready to spawn.

[MikeH]

For weedy areas I usually switch to a texas weedless spoon if I can. But I have been thinking of trying some of those "smartlinks", anyone tried them?

They are flexible titanium split rings that are designed to flex open under steady line pressure like when you wrap and pull the line to free from a snag. Basically you lose the hook and not the whole lure (in theory) They are way more expensive than a normal split ring, but compared to 10-12 bucks a shot for a decent Rapala they could pay for themselves pretty quick

[MichaelAngelo]

(02-25-2012 05:24 PM)MikeH Wrote:  For weedy areas I usually switch to a texas weedless spoon if I can. But I have been thinking of trying some of those "smartlinks", anyone tried them?

They are flexible titanium split rings that are designed to flex open under steady line pressure like when you wrap and pull the line to free from a snag. Basically you lose the hook and not the whole lure (in theory) They are way more expensive than a normal split ring, but compared to 10-12 bucks a shot for a decent Rapala they could pay for themselves pretty quick

I had no idea those exists, really it sounds like a brilliant idea. But you'd have to factor in the lb test of your line when working those as well as your drag setting when you actually have a fish on.

Nevermind I found all the answers here:
http://www.ultimateluresaver.com/faqs.cfm#10

But THIS is what gives me an idea:
http://www.watergremlin.com/lure-knocker...retriever/

Just clip a bell sinker onto your line and voila! It's the ANSWER! lol

Seriously going to try this next time I snag woodwork.