Snagged 2024

Tuckahoe Joe reply :

Been getting snagged a lot and losing several hooks, worms, and some other more expensive lures as well. It seems kind of unavoidable since the bass are usually around structure. If I cast near brush piles, logs, or downed trees, Im gonna get snagged sometimes. I can live with that. But sometimes Ill lose 4 or 5 hooks/worms in a couple hours. How often do you guys usually get snagged? And whats the best way to try and free a snag? Someone told me to tighten the drag and pull strait back. It will either pull free or the line will break. This is what Ive been doing but Im thinking its probably bad for the reel/drag system. Any advice?

Shewillbemine reply :

That's exactly what I do when I get snagged (which isn't often lately because I like weedless rigs).

If you're on a boat, I like to move closer to the snag and remove it by hand if it's reachable. When it's underwater, I try to maneuver from different angles and pull that way, trying to work it out.

There are also specialized lure retrieval tools out there but I've never tried them.

Tuckahoe Joe reply :

No boat. Fishing from the shore. Ive seen those lure retrieval things on different websites and was always curious if/how they worked. Anyone ever use one?

Bluebasser86 reply :

I use a telescoping lure retriever from my boat and it has almost a 100% success rate. I also do what I call the bowstring technique that lots of other guys do. Put a little pressure on the rod and then use your reeling hand to pull the line in the middle between the reel and first guide towards you so it's like a drawn bowstring towards the rod. Let go of the line while releasing pressure off the rod. Sometimes this will knock the bait loose also.

LgMouthGambler reply :

Thats a lot of baits you are losing, especially worm baits and hooks. Are you rigging them weedless? Is the hook deep enough in the worm so that it doesnt come out? When you get a little hung up, dont pull hard at first, just let the line go slack, and give a little twitch. This will sometimes either help to free the bait, or help to hop it over what its getting caught on.

rockchalk06 reply :

On 10/12/2012 at 6:17 PM, LgMouthGambler said:

Thats a lot of baits you are losing, especially worm baits and hooks. Are you rigging them weedless? Is the hook deep enough in the worm so that it doesnt come out? When you get a little hung up, dont pull hard at first, just let the line go slack, and give a little twitch. This will sometimes either help to free the bait, or help to hop it over what its getting caught on.

If its truely a weedless rigged worm, then you must be getting the weight or the entire rig wrapped around a limb etc for it to snag.

Whats the clarity of the water?

I fish jigs about 85% of the time and they are expensive at 4 bucks a pop. I switched over to 50# braid on my pitching rod and hardly loose a jig one now. I end up flatening out the hooks.

Topwaterspook reply :

I can speak for our experience with a lure retriever. We wouldn't be without one in the boat. Some of the lures can be awfully pricey these days, and let's face ity, I'm cheap....lol........the one we use has 6 short pieces of sash chain dangling from a painted lead body.........it's tied to a 25ft long retractable dog leash..(the kind with a cord, NOT A RIBBON)..........rarely do we lose a lure, generally by season's end, we have retrieved more than we started with....the small investment is well worth the original cost. Though I don't think it will do much for you from the bank.

Sam reply :

_{1. Invest in the weedless hooks as mentioned above.}

_{2. If in a boat understand that you may have to move to the snag which will destroy the place you are fishing.}

_{3. If in a boat go to the location of the snag and using your rod either:}

_{A. Pull on bait in opposite direction you were fishing it when you got snagged; or}

_{B. Using your rod tip reel down to the bait and shake your rod tip to free it.}

_{4. Be carefull when doing 3B as rod tip can break.}

_{5. Pull on line and snap it like a bow for a bow and arrow. Works sometimes.}

_{6. Put a snag knocker on your line it so the snag knocker can run down your line and hit the lure to free it.}

_{7. Use your net to try to unsnag the lure by running the net along the snag to the bait.}

_{8. Cut the line and retie.}

_{9. If on the bank try to walk as far to the left or right to get the lure free but it is very difficult unless you go into the water.}

_{When considering buying a new net try to get the one made out of rubber so that the hooks do not get caught in the webbing.}

_{Congrats on losing your baits. You are fishing the correct way, as you said, where the fish live. This is why you buy hooks and sinkers with more than one in a pack!!!!}

scaleface reply :

Most snags occur on a Texas rig because the plastic slides down the hook. Keep it from sliding down and you will cut your snags down considerably. This is how i do it. I use the smallest barrell swivel that will fit over the point of the hook . Rig it like this.

Start the Texas rig but dont finish it.

Slide the other end of the swivel on the hook, then finish the texas rig.

You will now get fewer snags and you will hook more bass.

moguy1973 reply :

While it doesn't work so well for me, my uncle uses a line popping technique to get his lures loose. Seems like it works best on single hook baits such as jigs and worm rigs. He lifts his rod to put tension on the line then grabs the line just above the reel and pulls it out tight and then releases it quickly to "pop" it. This quickly releases the tension on the bait and usually it drops free from what it is caught on. I would say he probably has a 50-60% success rate doing this. The other times he just trolls the boat over and gets it loose.

gramps50 reply :

I have never tried this but have been told to hold the rod up and slide a used spark plug down the line. Seems feesable

WRB reply :

On 10/12/2012 at 1:43 PM, Tuckahoe Joe said:

Been getting snagged a lot and losing several hooks, worms, and some other more expensive lures as well. It seems kind of unavoidable since the bass are usually around structure. If I cast near brush piles, logs, or downed trees, Im gonna get snagged sometimes. I can live with that. But sometimes Ill lose 4 or 5 hooks/worms in a couple hours. How often do you guys usually get snagged? And whats the best way to try and free a snag? Someone told me to tighten the drag and pull strait back. It will either pull free or the line will break. This is what Ive been doing but Im thinking its probably bad for the reel/drag system. Any advice?

Fishing from shore you are trying to work a bottom contact lure up hill through cover ( bushes, logs, etc are cover elements) and bottom structure like rocks etc. try a finesse type C-rig and lighter weight T-rigs. The key to not getting snagged is to recognize a potential snag from a bass strike and not setting the hook hard into the snag. Lift your rod as high as possible, you may need to get higher on the bank, and lightly jiggle the lure free by bouncing the rod tip against a little slack line. You can move sideways to get a different angle, this works at times. Ounce you barry the hook point into wood ot wedge the weight into a crevice, you are out of options from shore, your line either breaks or the lure pulls free.

Tom

roadwarrior reply :

If you are fishiing parallel to the bank, walk past the snag anfd pull from the opposite direction.

Jigfishn10 reply :

On 10/12/2012 at 9:00 PM, scaleface said:

Most snags occur on a Texas rig because the plastic slides down the hook. Keep it from sliding down and you will cut your snags down considerably. This is how i do it. I use the smallest barrell swivel that will fit over the point of the hook . Rig it like this.

Start the Texas rig but dont finish it.

Slide the other end of the swivel on the hook, then finish the texas rig.

You will now get fewer snags and you will hook more bass.

Great minds think alike:

http://www.bassresou...be-hook-advice/

Post #4

scaleface reply :

On 10/13/2012 at 12:04 AM, Jigfishn10 said:

Great minds think alike:

http://www.bassresou...be-hook-advice/

Post #4

I wish it was my idea. I read this tip in Bassmaster, a reader submitted it. I think it makes for a much better rig and use it 100 percent of the time I Texas rig.

Jigfishn10 reply :

On 10/13/2012 at 12:14 AM, scaleface said:

I wish it was my idea. I read this tip in Bassmaster, a reader submitted it. I think it makes for a much better rig and use it 100 percent of the time I Texas rig.

Not sure where I read about it and I know it wasn't bassmaster, but the rig works great, doesn't it?!

scaleface reply :

Im a Texas rig man. Its been my number one weapon for thirty years . After reading about the swivel trick ,and trying it I felt really stupid for not coming up with it myself.Its so simple.

JigMe reply :

There isn’t much you can do if fishing from shore, either walk to the opposite direction or start swimming. But losing 4-5 worm hooks in few hours is not too bad, try some weedless worm hooks and I rarely get a snap on them.

Crestliner2008 reply :

I fish from shore many times and Texas rig quite a bit. I don't loose a lot of baits or hooks though. Mainly - I think - because I do this weightless vs. using a bullet sinker, most often. If I do use a weight, it's probably a lighter version than if I were fishing from a boat. And that swivel idea does work.

Tuckahoe Joe reply :

On 10/12/2012 at 11:37 PM, WRB said:

The key to not getting snagged is to recognize a potential snag from a bass strike and not setting the hook hard into the snag.

You hit the nail right on the head there. Still working on that one.

Thanks for all the tips guys. Barrell swivel sounds like a great idea. Ill try that and a lighter weight. Also gonna make sure my hook points are buried in the plastics properly for my t-rigs. If I do get snagged Ill see how that 'bowstring' method works for me.

WRB reply :

There are a lot of techniques to keep the worm head from sliding down the hook. The rigged shown requires a barrel swivel, there are a few wire keepers on the market, they add weight and cost. There are also hooks designed to keep the worm head in place: KVD Mustad and Roboworms Rebard for example. I use a 1/4" piece of Peg-It through the hook eye, then pulled into the worm head, works great. When you peg the weight to the hook as shown, it becomes a Florida rig, good for vertical presentations and not my choice for casting.

There is a advantage allowing the sliding weight to slide; the weight separates from the worm on the fall giving the worm freedom of movement. I also like to add a glass bead between the weight and hook, protects the knot and adds clicking sounds. When you snag a T-rig, the weight moves away from the worm and helps to loosen the hook from the snag. Unless You fishing heavy cover, a T-rig will usually out fish a Florida rig when casting horizontal and retrieving from shore. The finesse C-lrig, I believe may be your best choice for shore fishing soft plastics.

Tom

PS; you can make a quick finesse C-rig when using a T-rig with a glass bead by pegging the bead up the line. Use the thin ends of the same Peg-it you use to hold the worm to the hook eye into the weight and thie rubber will hold the weight against the hook for a Florida rig. I think we are getting into the lure forum.

Loop_Dad reply :

I used to fish from shore and lost fair share of the lures. My .02 below. I didn't read all the advices above, so sorry if there are duplicates.

1. Have a good set up that you can feel what's going on down there. If you are using mono, switching to floro will give you much better feedback from the bottom. This will help you distinguishing bites and snags.

2. If you feel potential bite, keep the tension on the line and pose for just a second. If it is fish, you will feel the fish, then set the hook.

3. Use lighter weight to reduce the chance of weight getting caught. If you go too light, then you lose some of the sensitivity. You have to find the good balance for you.

4. Pegging the weight on t-rig might help.

5. Try different way of retrieving. (less jerking)

Hope this helps.

ClackerBuzz reply :

lure knockers don't work well from shore b/c they are too heavy to slide down the line at a 45deg angle. you kind of need ur pole to be 20+ft in the air for it to slide to ur lure. they do however work awesome from boats/kayaks etc. save me a bundle of money. here's a home made/homedepot version

Loop_Dad reply :

On 10/13/2012 at 10:42 AM, ClackerBuzz said:

lure knockers don't work well from shore b/c they are too heavy to slide down the line at a 45deg angle. you kind of need ur pole to be 20+ft in the air for it to slide to ur lure. they do however work awesome from boats/kayaks etc. save me a bundle of money. here's a home made/homedepot version

ClackerBuzz, I might make this one! So you need some chain, the quick clip thingy and...is that a treble hook? Why do you need the hook?

SirSnookalot reply :

On 10/12/2012 at 11:52 PM, roadwarrior said:

If you are fishiing parallel to the bank, walk past the snag anfd pull from the opposite direction.

Yep, probably the first thing to do. Everything works some of the time and nothing works all of the time. As bluebasser said the bowstring method works well, even better with braid because of the no stretch, I would try jiggling the line by hand first, pulling hard to quick may result in burying the hook deeper. If I'm really stuck I'm going wrap the line around my shoulder and walk backwards, release your bail first so you don't break a tip, I learned the hard way on that one.

WRB reply :

Trying to get a different angle by moving higher up the bank and sideways, walking parallel up or down the bank was an option that I mentioned and a few others have noted and is good, but not always possible.

Keeping the worm or creature on the hook correctly doesn't help to prevent snagging, it helps getting a good hook set because the soft plastic doesn't slide down to fill the hook gap or cover the hook point with more plastic. Pegging the weight to the hooks creates a more streamline lure that will go through cover better than a sliding weight and will prevent some snags......however you will miss more strikes when casting a distance. A pegged rig is the same as a jig, the weight goes into the baases mouth, the bass feels the weight and rejects quickly like a jig. A free floating worm or creature is more life like, no weight in the basses mouth, so the bass will hold onto to it longer and that increases strike to hook up ratio. I have been fishing jigs a very long time successfully. I do not like to fish jigs from shore because of the uphill retrieve makes it difficult to feel strikes when working the jig uphill in cover, a finese C-rig or T-rig (with sliding sinker) works better for me when fishing from shore.

Fan casting by starting down the shoreline in front of you and working a fan pattern 180 degrees. Everyone snags bottom bumping lure, all you can do is try to work it free, easily at first before forcing it free.

Tom

PS; lure retrievers are not practice for shore anglers. Sliding lure knockers work good used from a boat when freeing lures with treble hooks, not very effective trying to free a jig or worm rig.

ClackerBuzz reply :

did you consider going weightless? i rarely get t-rigs snagged...90% of time im fishing soft plastics weightless in less than 15ft of water so patients is needed more than lead weight.

TNBassin' reply :

I usually troll backwards and try to free mine up when I get on the side of the lure. Works nearly every time. I've also stopped T rigging worms and other baits in favor of the rage rig and haven't gotten hung up one time.

Tuckahoe Joe reply :

On 10/14/2012 at 2:45 AM, ClackerBuzz said:

did you consider going weightless? i rarely get t-rigs snagged...90% of time im fishing soft plastics weightless in less than 15ft of water so patients is needed more than lead weight.

I haven't really fished weightless that often. Usually only a senko. Ive only been at this a couple months and I started out using weights so I guess I've just been sticking with what I know. Maybe Ill try going weightless tomorrow and see if I notice a difference with snags.

WRB reply :

On 10/14/2012 at 1:02 PM, Tuckahoe Joe said:

I haven't really fished weightless that often. Usually only a senko. Ive only been at this a couple months and I started out using weights so I guess I've just been sticking with what I know. Maybe Ill try going weightless tomorrow and see if I notice a difference with snags.

Your goal should not be focused on not getting snagged, it should be on catching bass. A Senko, due to its heavy salt content doesn't float, it sinks as it's name indicates. Expecting the hook to sink a soft plastic without any additional weight added will,take more time then most anglers have and casting from shore will reduce your casting distance and if it's is windy will be ineffective. Trick worms and surface or near surface soft plastics work good when the bass are looking up for prey. It's now fall transitioning to winter, the bass are deeper and moving, not a good time to sit in one spot and fish very, very slow.

If you are going try weightless worm, try it, however get yourself some round split shot about the size of a small pea, no ears, and clamp 1 about 14" above the worm; this is called a split shot rig.

Good luck with your bass fishing. You have been given some good advice, try everything and you should find a presentation and have success.

Tom

loodkop reply :

On 10/12/2012 at 6:48 PM, rockchalk06 said:

I fish jigs about 85% of the time and they are expensive at 4 bucks a pop. I switched over to 50# braid on my pitching rod and hardly loose a jig one now. I end up flatening out the hooks.

I also use braid but would never reuse a hook that has been bent open. The next cast might be my first and long awaited DD bass and I wouldn't take a chance on a hook that has been compromised.

ClackerBuzz reply :

On 10/15/2012 at 12:02 AM, WRB said:

Your goal should not be focused on not getting snagged, it should be on catching bass. A Senko, due to its heavy salt content doesn't float, it sinks as it's name indicates. Expecting the hook to sink a soft plastic without any additional weight added will,take more time then most anglers have and casting from shore will reduce your casting distance and if it's is windy will be ineffective. Trick worms and surface or near surface soft plastics work good when the bass are looking up for prey. It's now fall transitioning to winter, the bass are deeper and moving, not a good time to sit in one spot and fish very, very slow.

If you are going try weightless worm, try it, however get yourself some round split shot about the size of a small pea, no ears, and clamp 1 about 14" above the worm; this is called a split shot rig.

Good luck with your bass fishing. You have been given some good advice, try everything and you should find a presentation and have success.

Tom

another great post for me to bookmark. you never disappoint Tom. thanks

Loop_Dad reply :

On 10/15/2012 at 12:02 AM, WRB said:

A Senko, due to its heavy salt content doesn't float, it sinks as it's name indicates.

Tom, actually I am not sure if this is the case. (Of course, only Gary Yamamoto knows how he named it.) You are think in terms of "Sink-O", right? Senko in Japanese means incense stick. http://www.sakai-ipc.jp/en/local_industry/senko.html.

So if something is called like senko, that implies something long and straight.

Just a fun fact.

shootermcbob reply :

I might add that when using the "bow and arrow" method, make sure to lift your rod tip while pulling (gently) on the line....The key is letting go of the line and pointing the rod tip at your lure. Think about it this way, you are trying to shoot slack line down to your lure, thus releasing your lure from the snag. I have also learned that it may take 8-10 times for this to work. I have used it to un-snag spinnerbaits, crankbaits, rattletraps, and many other types of lures.

I too fish from the bank. I encourage you to learn this method and work with it each time you get a snag. I have it to be very effective. It is not 100% effective, but it can work the majority of the time.

Tuckahoe Joe reply :

On 10/15/2012 at 1:33 AM, ClackerBuzz said:

another great post for me to bookmark. you never disappoint Tom. thanks

X's 2. All WRB's posts always seem so well thought out and contain lots of info. So if the bass are deeper and moving, where should I look for them on a lake thats a pretty much a constant 6 or 7 feet? Most of the cover on this lake is along the shoreline. Theres a semi-circle shaped dam at the lower end which empties into a circular pool before feeding into a creek. The creeks about 20-30 feet wide and no more than 2.5-3 feet deep. Theres also another little, I'd guess I'd call it kind of a channel, running between shoreline weeds feeding into another exit stream. Channels about 15 feet wide but deeper than the other creek. These are really the only spots avaialable for shore fishing. Ive been trying the same areas where I've caught some during the summer but lately I've been getting skunked a lot. Anyone have any suggestions?

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