What Do You Do When You Snag A Good Piece Of Cover?

[papajoe222]

If it's a good piece of cover, I keep it.  You never know when it will come in handy.

[BassAssassin726]

Agree on the bow and arrow trick. Now that I'm off the bank in my yak I haven't lost nearly as many lures but when I do snag the bow and arrow usually gets me free.

[Heron]

I'll try a bowstring pop or two, moving to the other side if the  cover if possible, then I try the hound dawg.  its a weight that will slid down the line and hammer out the lure (usually).  If none of that works, I back the boat off the snag, point the rod at the snag, and hold the spool.  Either the lure pops free or the  line breaks.  Sometimes the snag comes in with the lure. I never, ever cut the line!  Cutting the line is a totally F#*# up thing to do on too many levels.  I curse the inconsiderate @$$#*!!$  who do that and leave their line  in the water to kill wildlife, snag other lines, get caught in props, etc. I just spent $300 to reapir a trolling motor that was damaged by cut line. People who leave line in the water give fishermen a bad name among non anglers and property owners too.  Not to mention, if you cut your  line every time you get snagged, how long will it be until you have to respool with $20 worth of braid?  Do whatever you have to do to recover your lure and line.  If you cant catch a fish there after that, move on!  There are going to be more fish on more spots.

 

If you cant afford to lose that lure, you cant afford to use it!

Agreed...

 

Where I fish, I am always finding cut line in the water, on the ground, in the trees, etc.  Ive certainly gotten snagged on the discarded line of others plenty of times.  This practice of cutting line, is disgraceful, and quite frankly, its another form of littering.  I get the hunch that this is done by folks who lack experience.

[Driftb]

Very simple- cut your line and you lose that line! You are not only littering, but you have just cut off however many feet of line you have out.  Do it a couple times and you won't  be  casting as far.  If you just pull, 99 times out of 100, if the lure doesn't pull off the snag, the line will break at the knot. You recover the line and you can keep on fishing.  If the fish moves off the cover when you snap off your lure, wait a few minutes.  A big  fish will usually come right back to the same piece of cover. Big bass cant resist watching a dumb @$$ lose two lures on the same snag in two minutes!

[Choporoz]

Very simple- cut your line and you lose that line! You are not only littering, but you have just cut off however many feet of line you have out.  Do it a couple times and you won't  be  casting as far.  If you just pull, 99 times out of 100, if the lure doesn't pull off the snag, the line will break at the knot. You recover the line and you can keep on fishing.  If the fish moves off the cover when you snap off your lure, wait a few minutes.  A big  fish will usually come right back to the same piece of cover. Big bass cant resist watching a dumb @$$ lose two lures on the same snag in two minutes!

spying on me?

 

From a boat, most typically, I'll bowstring it once or twice, let some slack out.  I will then pick up a second rod and usually on the first cast - sometimes the second, I'll promptly stick another lure into the same cover.   Maybe just the tree above it.  I'll usually cry uncle after two.....but, I'm fairly certain I've had to get three at once.  That's when the Big Ugly Plug Knocker starts really paying for itself.

[hatrix]

I have not tried this but so I hear. You can put a snap on your line and then attach a heavy weight to it and let it slide down and hit the bait. I guess it works really well. If not you only lost a snap and a weight trying. Probably need a good sized weight or just anything heavy I would assume. I am sure it does not have to be a fishing weight like a eqq sinker. Even something like a heavy nut or a bunch of big washers could work I would think.