Worst Snag Story? 2024
MysteryTackleBox reply :
What's the one time you lost a lure to a snag that still bothers you?
When I was a kid, maybe 12 years old, my dad took me to the local bait shop to pick out a new lure for my birthday. I spent about 45 minutes meticulously reviewing each bait hanging on the walls (it was a small shop and did not have a huge selection, but I wanted to pick the perfect bait). I cautiously read the box of every crankbait that hung on the wall, evaluating sizes, running depths, weight, sounds, and colors, but it just wasn't the right day to pick a crank - I already had a few nice ones. Plastics were out of the question, I was just a kid and I had not yet learned how effective they could be. Plus, like most kids, I wanted something flashy. I finally landed on, of all things, a dimpled metal spoon that with plastic rubies for eyes (it was supposed to resemble a frog). It looked at me and I could not resist the urge to buy it.
30 minutes later we get to the lake and I tie the ruby-eyed frog spoon on to my line. This was going to be epic! I slung my rod tip back and unloaded a cast filled with all the anticipation of catching a hawg on my new amphibian look-alike. I watched in the distance to see where my lure would land (I hoped it would be near the lilly pads). I kept looking. No splash. Nothing. I noticed my line was not resting on the water, but rather was going up into the sky. I looked up to see my frog-spoon dangling in the trees above, swaying back and forth in the wind, ruby eyes looking down at may saying "help me." I gave it one hard tug and with a loud snap, down came my line, all alone. It took all my strength to hold back my tears. To this day I can still picture my frog spoon staring back at me for help him.
RIP frog spoon. I'll never forget you.
J Francho reply :
Not a snag, but I once fed some northern pike six Lucky Craft Slim Shad. I caught two of the buggers. Don't ask me why I kept it up...I knew they were pike, lol.
AK-Jax86 reply :
I was with Bass Czar and hooked into the biggest fish that I have seen on this site, this is no exaggeration I have a BR member witness lol. I was using 12lb mono hooked her out by a small patch of lilly pads using a storm swim shad. At first I thought I was snagged on the pads til I felt the beast run. She jumped 2 to 3 feet out the water and my heart stopped and I yelled holy ish Czar had the same reaction lol. I'm reeling her in all excited that I finally got my double digit bass. There was a patch of pads about 10 feet from shore and she makes a run to them and GETS SNAGGED. Derrick is like keep it tight no give it slack lol I'm trying so hard not to lose her and then SNAP goes the mono!
Since that day it has been 30lb braid and I go to this lake about twice a week trying to hook into her again!
To this day I still have the image of that once in a lifetime fish and replay the scene over and over again lol
MIbassin reply :
On 9/19/2013 at 4:54 AM, DEEPdish Panda said:I was with Bass Czar and hooked into the biggest fish that I have seen on this site, this is no exaggeration I have a BR member witness lol. I was using 12lb mono hooked her out by a small patch of lilly pads using a storm swim shad. At first I thought I was snagged on the pads til I felt the beast run. She jumped 2 to 3 feet out the water and my heart stopped and I yelled holy ish Czar had the same reaction lol. I'm reeling her in all excited that I finally got my double digit bass. There was a patch of pads about 10 feet from shore and she makes a run to them and GETS SNAGGED. Derrick is like keep it tight no give it slack lol I'm trying so hard not to lose her and then SNAP goes the mono!
Since that day it has been 30lb braid and I go to this lake about twice a week trying to hook into her again!
To this day I still have the image of that once in a lifetime fish and replay the scene over and over again lol
How big would you say that fish was?
AK-Jax86 reply :
On 9/19/2013 at 6:40 AM, MIbassin said:How big would you say that fish was?
Bigger than the pics of the fish people post from Lake Baccarac. My buddy has a pic of his PB a 13lber and it was bigger than the fish in his pic
coryn h. fishowl reply :
does having had three treble hooks (Rapala original floater) make contact with a rather sensitive part of the male anatomy count. (Note to all: WEAR DENIM, NOT JERSEY SHORTS WHEN FISHING!)
flyfisher reply :
On 9/19/2013 at 7:33 AM, coryn h. fishowl said:does having had three treble hooks (Rapala original floater) make contact with a rather sensitive part of the male anatomy count. (Note to all: WEAR DENIM, NOT JERSEY SHORTS WHEN FISHING!)
lol that most definitely counts and probably triple given the number of treble hooks involved.
aquaholic reply :
I have two lures i could take you to right now hanging from trees. I just cant get to them
flyfisher reply :
I guess i haven't had any memorable snag stories other than fishing a stretch of river where i couldn't buy a bite. I switched to a white popper and the fish were killing it. They battered it so much that the paint was chipping and the hackle was about gone. I ended up losing it in a downed tree in a fast section that i couldn't get back to and along with that fly went any more fish catching that day.
Missourifishin reply :
On 9/19/2013 at 7:33 AM, coryn h. fishowl said:does having had three treble hooks (Rapala original floater) make contact with a rather sensitive part of the male anatomy count. (Note to all: WEAR DENIM, NOT JERSEY SHORTS WHEN FISHING!)
I think that's the worst snagging story anyone has ever had. What a nightmare!
Caylub reply :
My worst snag was on a tiny creek I was kayaking. My buddy didn't have a rod holder on his and asked me to put his closed faced rod and reel in one of mine. I guess I hit the button on something and the lure fell into the water and snagged on something. Unaware of it I kept on kayaking. This place was miserable. Downed trees,snakes,dead animals in the water,you name it. I don't know how much line was on the reel but it was all out before I realized it was snagged somewhere. Not wanting to drag my kayak back through all of that I decided to go back on land to get his lure. We were separated at the time so I couldn't ask him what he had tied on. It took me 10-15 minutes to get back to the snag because of the conditions. Oh yea it was raining also. I fell off of a log into water I wouldn't want to dip a toe into. It was terrible. When I finally got to the lure and unsnagged it, it was a $2 Rooster Tail. Not knowing what he had tied on I didn't want to pop his line. Honestly I should have known given the location that it was something cheap.
AK-Jax86 reply :
On 9/19/2013 at 7:33 AM, coryn h. fishowl said:does having had three treble hooks (Rapala original floater) make contact with a rather sensitive part of the male anatomy count. (Note to all: WEAR DENIM, NOT JERSEY SHORTS WHEN FISHING!)
There is nothing worse than what happened to you my friend. You by far win the award for worst snag story
Christian M reply :
Years ago a buddy and I were fishing out of this tiny 12' V-hull that I found on the side of the road at an abandoned house. It was only good for about 3 hours before we had 6" of water in the boat. My buddy is a big guy, 6'2 two hundred sixty lbs, and I'm about 5'9" two hundred lbs, so it was really sketchy whenever we took the boat out. One day we had it out on a pond tossing crankbaits, I was in the front and swung away, except instead of the lure rocketing off my pole, two trebel hooks buried into his face and the other in his jacket. we had no motor so I had to paddle us back to shore. I took him to his house and he had to push the hooks all the way through to get them out. Thank god we're close cause I was ready for him to swing at me. He healed up with no scars.
Another time I was tossing a crankbait into submerged timber, it was a Perch pattern Rapala DT flat rap that I couldnt find anywhere in stores or online. Well you know the lure got snagged, but the bill was stuck between two branches about 12' down. I did the only logical thing I could think of, tied the boat to a tree and dove in after it. I still have the lure to this day and its still catching bass like crazy!
Bankbeater reply :
A few years ago we were bank fishing, and my Dad snags what looks like a small twig sticking out of the water maybe 15' off the bank. Well he decides to use the rig with braid, snag the hung lure, and drag it in. I'm not going to go into details, or discuss how much foul language was said, but when he finally accepted defeat there were four lures stuck out on that twig.
We were in the middle of a drought back then, and a couple of weeks later we go back to this lake. The lures are gone, and the lake has dropped a couple of feet so you could get a really good look at this snag. Turned out it was a tree maybe 3' in diameter, and around 20' long. I still like to rib him about that day.
Grizzn N Bassin reply :
well I lost a few rom snapping off but its not big deal, but a few years back me and buddy skipped school to go fishing.. We have a john boat so were out on this lake we've fished a few times I know there stumps and so does he but he's not very good at fishing with cranks and jigs.. so he's using 4 split shots like he always does throwing various plastics.. Well as soon as we get to a good area we want to fish we anchor down front and back. well a few cast in he gets snagged so there goes the anchors up to get his bait.. I cant tell you how many times we did this but it was very annoying....
Hyrule Bass reply :
i remember last year at Smith Mountain Lake, me and my uncle were out on his pontoon boat drifting along and i was casting towards the mountain bank into a bunch of downed trees. using a black and white colored 6XD and had caught some fish when nothing else had worked. one cast goes flying into a tree limb overhanging on the bank. i give it a few quick jerks and its stuck, my uncle suggest driving the boat over there and i said lemme give it a few more jerks. well the lure came free, and it came back at me like 100mph. it stuck through my shirt, through my jeans, and a hookpoint was stabbing my leg. the other treble went through my shirt, through the jeans and was stuck into my back pocket of my jeans. so i cut the line and went to work. luckily the hook point stabbing my leg wasnt buried in my leg and was no worry. ripping the treble out of my shirt and jeans proved more challenging. finally got them ripped out with my pliers. the back treble broke and i didnt feel like changing out a hook at the time, and had no more similar lures in that color. so i tied on a chrome and black RES and managed to pick up a small striped bass before we called it a day...
PABASS reply :
I am sure that I have forgotten a few but one of recent memory was earlier in the year. Was fishing docks and saw a huge fish, I was in the back of the boat and asked my rider if he saw the thing, he did and told me to cast for it. I had a drop shot tied on using a robo worm and when this submarine went down towards my bait I knew it was on, he nailed it and I reeled in only to get snagged up on some kind of metal down below, we tried for 10 min to get the snag out but sadly it wasn't meant to be I lost the lure and the fish 
.. Later that day I did catch a 5#1oz monster so it wasn't all bad but this fish appeared to be larger then this..
TC235 <*))))>< reply :
Im waiting for someone to say they lost there roman made swimbait
Jay Ell Gee reply :
On 9/19/2013 at 11:46 PM, TC235 <*))))>< said:Im waiting for someone to say they lost there roman made swimbait
That does happen, sadly.
All of my big baits are floaters or super slow sink just for that reason.
If I get a bull shad stuck, I'm going swimming!
Big Jon reply :
This has been in the last few days, but I'm pretty steamed on it still. I decided I was going to learn the jig. I spent hours reading articles and watching videos on the lure and different techniques. I went out and made some very careful selections. I bought 7 different jigs and different trailers. I was fishing around some down trees where I knew there were fish. I really wanted to "Pick them apart", and I to I lost 4 of them on the same tree, different branches/forks in branches (it was a rather large tree). I guess I don't know when to quit. Oh well, I guess the next time I have money for it, I'll go buy some more I can lose.
5 Dollar Fishing Game reply :
When I first started fishing a couple years ago I took my wife in my old canoe. I was so excited to show off how much I knew about how all the lures worked. I tied on (with a simple overhand knot) my new $5 spinner bait with 4 blades. I told my wife this was the lure I would demonstrate different retrieve speeds with. I casted into the water and "ping" the lure comes off of my knot in mid air. I didn't know how to tie different knots at the time. lol. My wife sat there and said "so I guess that will be a slow retrieve". :-(
CPBassFishing reply :
Hooligan has. It was a mother too.On 9/19/2013 at 11:46 PM, TC235 <*))))>< said:Im waiting for someone to say they lost there roman made swimbait
motodmast reply :
worst snag, it wasn't me, but my friend, and to this day, i still dont know what he was thinking, we were in a small jon boat and he was casing side handed instead over over head and he casted a pop-r right into the back of my head, thankfully none of the trebles went in past the barb, but that still hurt like a SOB.
KyakR reply :
20 years ago was fishing next to the dock of what I thought was a Boy Scout camp and hooked into a nice fish who promptly scooted into a hollow log and snagged my nice new rapala. As I was in a kayak at the time, in I went, hoping to save my lure and maybe even pull the bass out. I was splashing and diving and snorting around when I looked up and saw a boat with an angry looking camp counselor staring down at me. I grinned foolishly with eelgrass and mud sticking to me and told him I was only trying to get my lure........"Look lady, I don't know who you are! I called the cops". He pointed to the shore and there were two men with guns! Unknowingly I was fishing near Seeds of Peace Camp where youngsters from Isreal and surrounding Arab countries go to meet and spend time together. Several of them were children of Royal Families who had sent bodyguards to prevent terrorist attacks at the camp! I grabbed my kayak and swam away as fast as I could with the tow rope in my teeth. Glad they didn't get my name.....
Grizzn N Bassin reply :
Snagged......
.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HY-oWN7Y9gs
Sam reply :
I bought a new Norman crankbait and on the first cast, not knowing how far it would travel, it got hung up in a bush on the bank. Due to the water being so shallow I could not rescue the bait. As far as I know it has never gotten wet other than for the rain.
Had a shocking hit to a crankbait. She ran when I set the hook into a tree and got snagged. I let out slack, pulled hard, stuck the rod tip down to try to unsnag her, put my arm in the water to try to follow the line to the snag, did all I could other than to drop a snag retriever on her.
So what happened? The line finally snapped. I hope she swam off and lived happily ever after. Lost her and the crankbait.
KyakR reply :
What's a roman made crankbait??
CPBassFishing reply :
its a swimbait not a crankbait. Their cheapest bait is $90 and their most expensive is $400.On 9/21/2013 at 9:09 PM, KyakR said:What's a roman made crankbait??
South FLA reply :
As a kid I was fishing from the bank and snagged my Rapala Shad Rap lure in a tree while casting to a school of bass about 20 yards from the bank. The bass were exploding everywhere and in my excitement I ended up casting the lure too high and snagged the tree limbs. I ended up having to use my BB gun to shoot it down, but that wasn't after a couple of errant shots of course, I put one through the middle of it, but was able to get it in time to catch another couple of bass.
Jay Ell Gee reply :
On 9/20/2013 at 10:07 PM, KyakR said:20 years ago was fishing next to the dock of what I thought was a Boy Scout camp and hooked into a nice fish who promptly scooted into a hollow log and snagged my nice new rapala. As I was in a kayak at the time, in I went, hoping to save my lure and maybe even pull the bass out. I was splashing and diving and snorting around when I looked up and saw a boat with an angry looking camp counselor staring down at me. I grinned foolishly with eelgrass and mud sticking to me and told him I was only trying to get my lure........"Look lady, I don't know who you are! I called the cops". He pointed to the shore and there were two men with guns! Unknowingly I was fishing near Seeds of Peace Camp where youngsters from Isreal and surrounding Arab countries go to meet and spend time together. Several of them were children of Royal Families who had sent bodyguards to prevent terrorist attacks at the camp! I grabbed my kayak and swam away as fast as I could with the tow rope in my teeth. Glad they didn't get my name.....
She wins the thread.
TBendBassin reply :
Not the worst but I did have a 5-6lber snag me the other day lol
Rich 20152 reply :
When I was around 7 or 8 my dad and his friend took me fishing to the local lake. My dad is not a fisherman but it was just that thing to do to with a young boy. So we were fishing from the bank with minnows and dobbers. I had my float out about five feet from from shore like every little kid likes to do.
So after a few minutes I go and try to reel in and I'm stuck. I fussed with it for 5 mins or so and I feel the log moving a bit. So, I was just about to walk in the water and pull out the line and the line starts to move a little closer. So, I start to reel my little zebco closed face push button and I am getting it in. I am excited. Next thing I know a giant head comes out of the water hissing at us. It came right out and up on the bank.
That ugly effer was not afraid of anything. It's claws / paws were 2x the size of my dad's hands. Then a random kid came from across the street picked up the turtle by its tail and said who wants turtle soup. And that turtle was snapping away.
In all my years of fishing I have never seen a freshwater snapping turtle that big.
CDMeyer reply :
My first 24 cast of the state tournament this year I had a terrible birds nest, sat down cut some line of and then she was casting like a gem
Choporoz reply :
No truly memorable stories, but I did have my most expensive snag just last weekend. Brand new A-rig w/5 Yum jigheads and Money's on board is now at the bottom of Smith Mountain Lake.
Master Bait'r reply :
My best snag STORY was actually last week.
I miscast trying to get a t-rigged slug-go under a branch to a spot that looked perfect- it looped around the branch and dangled just touching the water. In the process of tugging on the bait in an attempt to free it, the tip of the tail kept bobbing into the water but there was no freeing it. I came to the realization I was going to have to ruin that spot by paddling into it and freeing it by hanBOOM! Larry fully breaches the water, slams the worm and takes off, snapping the branch and I was then able to reel him in.
I went from fail to f*** yeah in 2 seconds haha
jtharris3 reply :
On 9/19/2013 at 7:33 AM, coryn h. fishowl said:does having had three treble hooks (Rapala original floater) make contact with a rather sensitive part of the male anatomy count. (Note to all: WEAR DENIM, NOT JERSEY SHORTS WHEN FISHING!)
OUCH!!!! Dam that hurts just thinking about it!!
My worst was hooking a buddy in the shoulder while casting a rat -l-trap. His fault as he walked behind me as I was casting. Worst part is he kept my bait! LOL!
jtharris3 reply :
On 9/21/2013 at 10:47 PM, CPBassFishing said:its a swimbait not a crankbait. Their cheapest bait is $90 and their most expensive is $400.
In other words, lures for people with more money than sense! 
Master Bait'r reply :
On 5/24/2014 at 12:56 AM, jtharris3 said:In other words, lures for people with more money than sense!
If you have money you don't need sense. For every decimal point in your bank account, you get to move the decimal over one in the gear price to adjust for "relevancy". 
I can't imagine tying on a $400 bait with open hooks and sending it to the bottom though. It seems like a recipe for disaster 
jdl2425 reply :
Mine happened this year. I got a husky jerk snagged on some roots. I was wearing rubber boots but of course the water was to deep where it had gotten hung up. The water was too cold for me to want to get wet and my lure was probably only two feet in front of me. I was so concerned with getting it free that I forgot how much strain I was putting on my rod. My rod (which I used for at least 4 years for all fishing applications) blew apart at the tip and the center and I never got my husky jerk back. On the plus side it gave me an excuse to buy a new rod.
Hattrick7 reply :
Went to fish a private local lake. It's a bout a good mile hike. Super excited to try out some new baits. The last outing pulled in about 12 with the last one a nice 4lber on a jig.
This one spot has two trees close to shore so the backswing is minimal. No problem I tested the angle of the rod like hitting a golf ball with branches hanging.
I take the backswing and I must have raised the rod slightly and bam on the cast my t rig gets hung up in the branch and my line looks like a hampster used it as his personal treadmill. There was no way to salvage the line and I only brought down one setup. I only fished for about 15 minutes and it was time to go.
I believe to this day that tree had hands 
Catch and Grease reply :
One day while I was fishing with my grandpa he leaned over too get something and I went to under hand cast and hooked him right in the face with both treble hooks on a lipless crank... I feel bad about doing it to this day...
SirSnookalot reply :
I was fishing about 4 am off a dock and my line tightens up, I then see a huge fin break water, don't know what to think. It wasn't a fin but a foot, a foot of a manatee about the size of VW. I had my lure buried in it's back, I'm sure the manatee had no idea it was there, starts to swim off slow. Even at a slow speed that animal has some power, my only regret the lure pulled out after about a minute, wished it would have lasted longer. I have snagged a sea turtle and a manta ray, incredible strength.
Balshy Fishing reply :
Just picked up a nice minnow crank bait today, cool colors - and looked at my girlfriend and said(like a moron).."look how far I can throw this". I said that because i had new line on my rod and I could finally cast farther than 10 feet off shore -- BUT, needless to say; I threw it across and completely cleared the creek about 4 rows up into the tree. Needless to say, I didn't get it back and I've never been so disappointed.
I'm aware, I'm an idiot.
mikey5string reply :
When I was a kid, we all used to go down the street and fish for snapper blues off the pier. My friend and I were pretty close together but fishing on opposite sides of the pier.
I swung my castmaster back for a big cast but when I went to throw it, it wouldnt budge.
I had snagged my friend right through his earlobe, one hook of the treble went all the way through. He said he didnt even feel it., just a tug on his ear.
I cut the line at the lure and we walked to the fire station with the castmaster dangling fron his ear like an ear ring. The firemen told him to go to the ER to get it removed and cleaned up. That castmaster was years old. It wasnt the most hygienic ear piercing.
His mom picked him up and they went to the hospital. I offered to go along but for some reason his mom thought it better that I didnt. Never fished with him after that.
I am very aware of my surroundings now before I cast.
Chris9999 reply :
Fishing a stump at Motts with a brand new jig head on my line. Perfect cast right over it, fish hits it and dives right down under the stump. Somehow it ended up being snagged and I had to cut the line out
geo g reply :
First thing in the morning I threw a Bill Dance Deep Diving Crankbait along a rock ledge in a canal in the heart of the Everglades. I was snagged, instead of trolling I give a huge crank on the bait, torqued the rod almost to breaking, and the big crankbait shot back at me like it was shot out of a cannon. It burried the hook on the crankbait all the way to the top of the bend, into my belly. My fishing partner swore he could get it out with the line technique. After the third try I was ready to throw him out of the boat. I cut off the crankbait and 4 hours later I was sitting in the ER with a big Crankbait hanging from my belly. I looked like Mr. T with a new piece of bling.
You would think I would have learned a lesson from it all, nooooooooooo! Two weeks later I was back in the ER with a #11 Rapala Stickbait hanging from my belly. (Lesson learned finally), I don't fish those baits any more, my ER deductable has gone up way too high!.
Chris186 reply :
I have a couple. One time I was fishing a crankbait, and it got hung up in some rocks. I couldnt get it out for the life of me. I was right on top of it trying to break the line, and I here the rod go "snap" ! Next thing I know, crankbait floats up to the surface. Another time was when I first started using braid. I threw a jig towards a downed tree, only it got caught up in the branches of a decomposing dead tree hanging over the water. It was wrapped around pretty good. Instead of going in and getting it like I should have,for some reason I decided to rip it out of the tree. What I ened up doing was ripping of a branch about 3 feet long and probably 2 inches thick. Like I said before, the tree was pretty dead so I guess it didnt take much to break. About 5 minutes later and 50 yards down the bank, we hear a loud splash. Looking back, the whole tree had fallen into the water.
Balshy Fishing reply :
This isn't really a snag story anymore but I caught a nice little smallie today on a bigger jig than usual for me and once I got it in-the fish swam pretty hard matched with my quick hookset. Needless to say, the hook was up through the top of his mouth poking into his left eye. I got my pliers out and got it outta' his mouth and felt awful. He was bleeding a tiny bit through the roof but he swam away really quick.
Hope he was okay!
sparky241 reply :
On 9/19/2013 at 7:33 AM, coryn h. fishowl said:does having had three treble hooks (Rapala original floater) make contact with a rather sensitive part of the male anatomy count. (Note to all: WEAR DENIM, NOT JERSEY SHORTS WHEN FISHING!)
ohh man that had to hurt
Hyrule Bass reply :
that thing about wearing denim, ive had hooks go right through the denim into my leg. its probably harder to rip the hook out of denim too
Robert Riley reply :
Like the few above me, I had a jig nailed to my upper inside thigh. It got snagged on a branch and I was hand pulling the line as a last resort. Crack, lure comes whizzing back, right into my crotch. Through my light shorts and into the thigh. It was just millimeters away from being past the barb. Needles to say, I was done for the day.
OntarioFishingGuy reply :
I had a steelhead about 10lbs on in a creek that was no more than 10 feet across, it ran right around a stump, the hook coming out of the other side of its mouth snagged the stump, and after a few minutes of trying the lure came out of the stump and i got the fish out of the snag. Then the line broke about 2 feet from shore. 
fishva reply :
You guys and your groin shots are making me consider wearing an athletic supporter when I fish.
everythingthatswims reply :
On 5/29/2014 at 7:57 AM, Robert Riley said:Like the few above me, I had a jig nailed to my upper inside thigh. It got snagged on a branch and I was hand pulling the line as a last resort. Crack, lure comes whizzing back, right into my crotch. Through my light shorts and into the thigh. It was just millimeters away from being past the barb. Needles to say, I was done for the day.
Why quit?
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