Keep From Snagging??

[TUMBLEWEED]

Alright, I was fishing the Minnesota this past weekend.

(from shore)We were snagging up very often. Is there a trick to

help reduce this hassle factor??

We were using fairly heavy weights, but the current was very strong

in that area, and pushed the line into shore were there was

plenty of rocks under the water to snag a retrieve.

[JBMasterAngler]

Well, definitely not fish in such fast water. Otherwise you can try not casting as far out...sometimes I have better luck just plopping my bait out 10 to 15 ft from shore rather than heaving it as far as I can.

Are you using a 3 way rig system? I tie about a 2 foot leader for my bait, then on the bottom swivel tie a loop and pinch on the appropiate amount of split shots. 90% of the time it's the sinkers that get snagged, so you can just slowly pull the split shots off the line with this method and get unstuck without breaking your line.

[mplspug]

Don't cast straight out. Normally I make my first cast at a little angle downstream and see where my bait ends up. Then I make subsequent casts at that angle and that way your line is not bouncing down stream as much limiting the opportunities of getting snagged.

[TUMBLEWEED]

I was using fireline with weights tied directly to the line.

Next time, I plan on using a mono dropper on the sinker.

That way, I should be able to break off a little easier.

I'll try the angle approach as well. Thanks!!

We had to fish tat particular area to allow access for a handicap.

With all that rain, there wasn't any slow water either.

[Acemac]

shorefishing = lots of snags

I hate it too but I no longer dread tying on new lures. just part of the deal you will get super fast at tying on tackle and then it wont seem like such a big deal.

I have seen lots of good ideas like the ones posted above about weight systems in the catfish sections.

[NaturesRespect]

fast current what you do when you snag is not PULL!!!!!!! if snaged in a rock or any snag what you do is open bait or spool let current take line downstream until you have a good amount out past the snag to the left or right and then do a power hook set with the slac line what this does is use the water resistance to pull the snag to the left or right rather than to you which makes the snag dig in deeper. works for me 60% of the time better than anything else i guess or what you can do is raise the rod as high as you can and twitch it softly to try to hop the rocks. if snagged in weeds just grab line and pull firmly.

[MN Shutterbug]

fast current what you do when you snag is not PULL!!!!!!! if snaged in a rock or any snag what you do is open bait or spool let current take line downstream until you have a good amount out past the snag to the left or right and then do a power hook set with the slac line what this does is use the water resistance to pull the snag to the left or right rather than to you which makes the snag dig in deeper. works for me 60% of the time better than anything else i guess or what you can do is raise the rod as high as you can and twitch it softly to try to hop the rocks. if snagged in weeds just grab line and pull firmly.

Cool tips.

[pureinsanity]

1. Dont fish by snags if you dont want to snag!

2. keep in mind when shore fishing your line picks up tons of current where from a boat you can set up to fish with the current reducing the drag on the line. Bottom line heavy weights in strong currents, or fish the current seams and eddy's.

[MinnesnowtaWild]

That is the best way to do...try to find some slower water. Fish a creek mouth, current seam, eddy, backwater mouth, or whatever you can find.

When I get snagged up it's important not to get upset about it. Always make sure you bring lots of extra tackle with you to the river and accept that you will probably lose some stuff if you're fishing rock or timber.

What I do is with a spinner reel I hold the spool with my hand and walk backwards until either it breaks or it pops loose. I would say about 80% of the time it will come loose and I will get all my stuff back. Very rarely do I lose my hook, swivel, and sinker. Don't EVER cut your line! Creates a huge mess in the river. For a baitcaster, find a thick stick or branch and wrap the line around it and walk backwards...same thing happens as with a spinner.

Some people are very surprised how effective I am at getting out of a snag.

[MNcz]

only 1 spoon lost this whole summer and i've gone out a ton of times. boat rental is cool but costs some money and i don't do it much. if it's weeds, i put the rod behind me and very very very very carefully tug the line. i can sure tug in a lot of weeds with my line doing that! only 1 of the many times i did this did i have a poor little yearling largemouth who i untangled from the weeds and performed hook removal surgery. the rocks are a whole different story to get loose from the weeds. rocks: i walk one way and see if it'll come a little lose, then the other way. early this year in the rainy river i just swam in. heh it wasn't that far in. even if you're using super thin mono line if you snag the weeds though, you should be able to pull it in with the grab the line trick and patiently inch by inch pull it all in. hope this is some help and not all blabber.

[shamus]

bringing up an old topic with a question.

I was out yesterday on the Mississippi from shore. I only lost 3 jigs, but I was pretty good about getting unsnagged as I was snagging up on rock on almost every cast, which was bothersome. Does the shape of the jig head make much of a difference? I was using the old standard round heads. I know I'm supposed to go as light as possible while still maintaining contact with the bottom when casting jigs.

[shamus]

fast current what you do when you snag is not PULL!!!!!!! if snaged in a rock or any snag what you do is open bait or spool let current take line downstream until you have a good amount out past the snag to the left or right and then do a power hook set with the slac line what this does is use the water resistance to pull the snag to the left or right rather than to you which makes the snag dig in deeper. works for me 60% of the time better than anything else i guess or what you can do is raise the rod as high as you can and twitch it softly to try to hop the rocks. if snagged in weeds just grab line and pull firmly.

btw, this technique is gold. thanks!

[masoct3]

As far as adding weights to the topic, I do not get snagged anymore using no-roll weighhts. They are very good. But yes, you are talking about a jig, so I met you half way on snagging

[slipperybob]

Stiff mono will help to prevent snagging. Braids and superlines will snag more easily. Another thing I often do is keep a high tightline to sinkerweight. That helps to keep line from getting cuaght into structures or zebra mussels. Another trick is to tie a small pencil bobber and bobber stop onto line. Won't be enough to float sinker but this will help to keep line from sinking and getting dragged by currents into structure.

[shamus]

Been using B Fish N Tackles draggin jigs and they're a pretty great, snag free jig for shore fishing the Mississippi. Much better than the standard round jig.

[nofishfisherman]

I fish the river alot from shore and have gotten pretty good with snags.

The area I fish most often is mostly rocks and I rarely get snagged on them any more. My trick is more in the retrieve than anything. I cast out and let the jig hit bottom. On the retrieve I bounce it along the bottom back to me but when I feel the jig hit something hard like a rock I give it an extra high bounce up by popping the rod tip up quickly and reeling in a little at the same time. Usually that will bounce over the snag without hooking up. The trick is learning to feel the bottom and knowing what you are hitting and when you are in a snag zone. After MANY hours of bouncing jigs in the river I've gotten very good feeling the bottom and knowing what I'm hitting. If I feel I am actually snagged the first thing I do is DO NOT PULL, usually when just bouncing the jig its just a light snag and not stuck very good, trying to pull on it usually just gets it stuck worse. When I feel the snag I open the bail and let out a little line and then either give the rod a pop to the side (perpendicular) to the snag or I'll walk down the shore perpendicular to the snag. Most often you'll pull your jig to the side of the snag and its free and you can continue your retrieve.

If I do get hooked up pretty good and can't finesse it loose then I rely on my jigs and line. I actually buy cheaper quality jigs because the hook will bend if pulled on hard enough. I pair the cheaper jigs with a 10 pound mono and 90% of the time I can pull hard enough to straighten out the hook just enough for it to pop loose. I keep a plyers in my pocket to unhook fish and straighten hooks. The hook doesn't bend much, just a small amount that is easily straightened.

If that doesn't work just break the line and retie. When fishing the river you have to expect some lost jigs. Its just part of the game. Thats partly why I usually throw cheaper jigs, besides the hooking bending easier I also don't care if I lose 10 in a day. I've seen guys spend 15+ minutes trying to save a 25 cent jig. To me 10-15 minutes of fishing time is more valuable than a 25 cent jig so if i can't get unsnagged in under a minute I just break the line and retie and I'm back fishing in in less than 90 seconds.

[MaxGoldman]

I have a trick that gets me unsnagged a lot more often than not, however it'll be hard to explain without showing, but I'll give it a try.

First of all, like others have said anytime you feel you're snagged stop pulling the instant you know it's snagged so it doesn't dig any deeper. Then what I do is take my thumb and pull some line from in between the spool and first guide, keeping it taught with very minimal tension (spool is closed for this obviously). With your other hand on the rod keeping the line taught, release your thumb so the hand on your rod pulls the line tight again, once your thumb is released pull a little harder on the rod hand, and make sure you pull it as straight up as you can. And at this point my jig usually pops out from under any rocks with ease. You may have to try it a few times, since the timing has to be just right in a sense. I don't know how this works so many times but it is magical. My theory is that at first you are holding it taught with your thumb holding a loop of line, then when you release your thumb and pull upwards, there's a brief second where the jig goes from having tension to being slack, and in that brief second it falls to a new position and then once the rod eliminates that loop you were holding and tightens the line it jerks the jig free. This would be more for rock snags since if a barb is in a weed I'm not sure this would help, just pull it out.

It's a hard one to explain and it was awkward at first when I was first taught it but once you get the hang of it man does it WORK!

[TruthWalleyes]

I spend quite a bit of time on the river with Humminbird side imaging...you wouldn't believe the amount of wood down there.

Jigs in rocks, the above method does work well. Buy cheap jigs and plan on losing a lot of them!

[JeremyCampbell]

I'm on the river most of the time too,and I been useing a bottom bouncer for faster waters and a floater jig usually neon for more of a slow and almost still approach.I still get snagged though. LOL

But I agree with the buying cheap jigs

[Nhamm]

I find the bigger round head of a fireball jig gets snagged quite a bit less. Also putting some type of plastic trailer on a jig to make it glide more in the water rather sink right to the bottom helps the most. you put a 1/2oz jig on with a half crawler that sucker is going to get wedged instantly, now take same jig and put a paddletail or mister twister and now the thing will just helicopter or swim right above the rocks and snags. But like mentioned as well it is the river so no matter how good you get at it you will still lose some, and if you aren't getting snagged up that means you are too far off bottom where the fish are.

[dave12341234]

While using a drift rig setup, I been trying the slinker setup (hollowed out paracord filled with bb shot). These things work great! You got your leader, swivel, the weight just slides anywhere above the swivel. Put some air in your crawler to get that nice tick...tick... tick on the bottom every two seconds or so. The great thing about these is that you can custom make them to whatever weight you need. Ive got about twenty ranging from 1-15 grams. Spending more time with your line IN the water is key :-)