Why do I get hung up all the time?

[JG233]

23 hours ago, Catt said:

I'll go 3 or 4 days & not lose a single lure, then lose several in a day.

 

I be like, ya sure ya cast there again! ?

THIS

[DINK WHISPERER]

I use mainly braid so don't lose many. But when I do I make it count! ?

[geo g]

A couple of things may be happening. 

 

1).You need to have properly rigged weedless lures.

 

2).You may be making less then accurate casts.

 

3).You may need a more tough, durable, line.

 

4).Stop using treble hooks in risky areas.

 

5).Fishing should be fun, losing baits is not.

[JustJames]

Another reason I don't fish crankbait and I have a handful of them. This year alone I lost 3 hudds 2 of which back to back day and 1 keitech 7.8".

Most of my rig if I can would be weedless doesn't matter dropshot, wacky rig, jika rig or paddle tail swimbait.

[WRB]

The OP hasn't answered my simple question regarding tackle type.

Heavy lures on light or small diameter line typically sinks very fast making it difficult to control the rate of sink or amount of bottom contact, you snag before having a chance to control lures path.

Baitcasting give you more control by using heavier line then a fresh water size spinning reel handles. 

When you start to feel bottom contact you don't want to let a lure to fall into snags on slack line, keep in moving. When you snag a lure the first thing to do is get it a little slack line and slowly tighten it back up with light pressure, do not force it. If the lure doesn't come free then raise your rod tip as high as possible and shake the tip into slightly slack line to jiggle it free, do not force it! Repeat by changing angles, difficult to do without a boat! When the lure is solidly snagged and it will not release you either retrieve it using a knocker etc, or break it off using force.

Somedays we lose lots of lures other days none, depends on the structure, focus and lure types. Sh&it happens!

Tom

[Bucky205]

I love my plug knocker.  At 4.99 it pays for itself several times over every time I fish.  Especially with deep crankbaits, there is normaly plenty of water to get over them to get them free.

[Sharkicane]

On 6/19/2018 at 8:50 AM, Rpratt said:

Very common. Get yourself some large swivels, a 3 to 4 oz sinker that you can attach to your line, and drop it down.  Bounce a few times and your lure should pop free. Learned that one from Hank Parker ?  Or just buy a lure retriever for about 10 bucks. I have seen people take those off the rope it comes with and attach them to retractable dog leashes. Although not totally fool proof but saves you alot of money that's for sure.

 

I assume this is a kayak/boat solution? Id love for someone to have a solution for getting unsnagged when fishing from the bank. 

[islandbass]

On 6/19/2018 at 4:57 PM, Rahlow said:

Reading threads like this make me sooo glad I am a T-rig  worm fisherman

Ha! You think that would stop me from snagging lures to cover, lol? I can snag a lure with expertise. Single hook? No problem. Treble hook? With my eyes closed and no hands.

 

On the serious side. T-rigging for me seems less susceptible to snags but they still happen.

 

Rip rap, which is what I face most of the time for smallies, is a snag magnet.  I now make my own drop shot weights (not from a mold) from pencil lead to save money. I can snag up multiple times in a 10 minute span on the rip rap. ?

 

I've just accepted snags a part of the game and doing business with our passion to fish. 

 

I usually make mental note where I snag up and when I get close to those areas, I will steer my presentation clear of it.

Also, sometimes you can sense a snag and if you're quick and lucky enough you can, for lack of a better way to describe it, "pop" or snap up your lure before it gets snagged up for plastics and jigs.

 

If I have a floating crankbait. Sometimes a moment of inaction is enough for it to float up and out of the way.

 

These things don't always work, but sometimes it saves a lure.

 

Lastly, when I attempt to free a snag, I totally remove the rod/reel from the equation if I realize it's really stuck badly and work only with the line.  Also, if and when I pull on the line attempting to free it, I make sure I am not in direct line with the trajectory of the recoil. I will sometimes try to find a smooth twig when I don't have a wooden dowel with me and wrap some of my line around it to ensure I don't cut my hands, which braid can easily do.  That way, if I am like a deer in the headlights and paralyzed to move, it won't hit me because I wasn't in the way to begin with. This only has one weakness on downside. Picture the days of playing baseball or dodgeball... You see the ball coming and you know you need to avoid it, but what do you do? You step into the ball's path in your attempt to avoid getting hit, lol.

[rtwvumtneer6]

Short story that might make you feel better, laugh or just flat out feel sorry for me...

 

Went out bank fishing shortly after first thaw.  Muddy water.  Hands almost  numb.  Tied on a black and blue chatterbait hoping they could find it (zman original so luckily only $5).  First cast into a tree.  1 lure gone without getting into the water.  Second cast, wedged it in what must have been a rock pile that I couldn't see. 2 lures gone.  Get in my box, tie on the last bladed jig I'm carrying, snip my main line instead of the tag end, and watch it fall into the water.  Lost 3 lures, and only one of them ever had a chance to get in front of a fish (while connected to my line).

 

I always like to try and learn something everytime I go out.  I no longer tie any knots over the water.  ?

 

[timothy_spain]

If using cranks, once it bumps something give it a pause to deflect.  I used to crank it and drive the hooks in deeper.  Surprised you're not able to get it off when fishing on a kayak.  You should be able to get it out using other angles.  

[papajoe222]

River fishing presents more possibilities of getting hung up, mainly because you're dealing with current pushing your offering and you pulling it. Kind of like braking through a curve. If you power through the curve you maintain control over the other forces working to break your traction.  Quarter casting while river fishing kind of works the same. If you're casting up or down river, you loose control of the lure to the current. You're still going to loose lures, but knowing how your lure feels as it's working and how the current is going to move it, give you a better chance of not only getting snagged less, but adding to your catches.

[Paul Roberts]

On 6/19/2018 at 7:53 PM, LionHeart said:

The other day I lost 3 jigs in under 4 hours.  I can't tell you how many 10XD's I've lost.  I refuse to even use them now.

 

It happens.  I probably get snagged 10 times per trip.

Ouch! Man... Please! Get a lure retriever! Seriously. I'm feeling the pain from here! ?I love my lures. Many are old friends, going back to the 80s.

 

Rock and wood are the toughest. My waters are mostly vegetation, so I lose precious few. And, I'm sentimental... OK, I'm darn cheap too! I get them back!

 

I actually find more lures than I lose, by far. I joke, although it's true, that I find at least one lure every outing. What's hot in the catalogs is what I find: squarebills have been big, and I've nabbed a few LiveTargets too. And Senko's, of course, are the most frequent find. I'll even take em home and mend them. Or recover an end for a Ned grub. The last 4lber I caught was on a found Senko. Still have it too. Yep, I'm a cheapskate. 

 

Most lures I find are hung in trees. And usually with too light a line attached. With my video poles, I can easily pluck them out. A few weeks ago, I pulled up to a pond and three guys were looking up in a tree. I hopped out, grabbed my pole, and said, "I just got a call. Someone's got a spinnerbait caught in a tree! Must be you guys." I extended the pole and pulled it down for them.

 

 

[BigAngus752]

On 6/19/2018 at 8:42 AM, Tackett1980 said:

It seems like I loose a minimum of a lure an outing.  Whether I’m in the kayak, on the shore, doesn’t matter.  Yesterday I stopped by the boat ramp after work and lost my good rebel crawdad...again.  Hung up out of the blue in the middle of the river.  Couldn’t get it unstuck so had to break my line.

 

It’s a common occurrence and it leads to me just quitting and going home.  Fishing is supposed to be relaxing!

 

ive got my rod and reel with me today and some bubble gum senkos.  I’m going to try my hand at wacky rigging, but part of me is convinced that I’ll just end up leaving half the bag on the bottom of the river along with about 100 yards of line.

 

what gives?  Is this normal?

I'd like to offer a personal thanks to you for starting this thread.  The only bodies of water withing reasonable distance of me all have a ton of wood on the bottom.  I'm constantly losing stuff.  This thread has restored some of my faith.  Obviously not everyone loses a lot of lures but clearly a large percentage of us do.  That makes me feel much better.  Plus I've taken away some great tips from this thread.  I appreciate you bringing it up.  Do what I do...stock up from the clearance rack and swing for the fence!

[Falkus]

Once, I lost over 10 jigs at a local tournament. I was stupidly throwing those at rocks with braid line attached to the jigs. I was asking for it but not intend to lose that much that day.  

 

but I got my money back that day

 

 

[Todd2]

5 hours ago, Burke said:

Once, I lost over 10 jigs at a local tournament. I was stupidly throwing those at rocks with braid line attached to the jigs.

 

 

I guess I'm confused. I haven't lost a jig this year since switching to braid. I've only lost one rig at all..a T-rig. Any chance your knots are slipping?

[thinkingredneck]

On Wednesday, June 20, 2018 at 8:29 AM, DINK WHISPERER said:

I use mainly braid so don't lose many. But when I do I make it count! ?

I usually tie on a leader for this reason.  Don't like to cut line.

[scaleface]

I lost one of my favorite crankbaits to a  sunken brush-pile  I didnt know was there . I made a mental note and fish it with a Texas rig every-time I visit the lake . Its usually good for a fish or two .  Do not avoid the snags .

[papajoe222]

On 6/20/2018 at 10:06 AM, geo g said:

 

 

4).Stop using treble hooks in risky areas.

‘Risky’ areas like wood and rock are some of the best areas for fishing cranks. Heck, I even use lipless cranks in some situations and am rewarded with some nice catches. There is a learning curve as chucking and winding will get you hung up with regularity, but once you learn how to work one through the timber, you’ll be reaching for a crank before a spinnerbait. 

[RealtreeByGod]

I fish texas rigs through laydowns alot and occasionally get snags that I absolutely can't free. I'm assuming that my sinker is getting separated from the lure and causing it to wrap around or wedge in a branch or something. 

 

Would pegging or using a stop knot solve that? 

[papajoe222]

1 hour ago, RealtreeByGod said:

I fish texas rigs through laydowns alot and occasionally get snags that I absolutely can't free. I'm assuming that my sinker is getting separated from the lure and causing it to wrap around or wedge in a branch or something. 

 

Would pegging or using a stop knot solve that? 

For sure and not only when fishing timber.The benefit of a sliding sinker is to allow the fish to take your bait without feeling the weight of the sinker and rejecting it. The downside and why you peg the weight under conditions like timber, rip-rap, and many types of weeds, is that the weight will separate from your offering and the cover can get in between them. With vegetation, you'll often get weeds stuck between the weight and bait and with rocks and timber, the weight will pull the bait down at the most inopportune moment wedging it between the rocks, or exposing the hook to the wood as it's dragged over it.

[CrankFate]

On 6/24/2018 at 4:50 PM, Burke said:

Once, I lost over 10 jigs at a local tournament. I was stupidly throwing those at rocks with braid line attached to the jigs. I was asking for it but not intend to lose that much that day.  

 

but I got my money back that day

 

 

I have a feeling they never lose any lures in tournaments on TV because they cull those parts from the broadcast and it just looks like 15 minutes and 10 fish.

[Falkus]

On 6/24/2018 at 10:44 PM, Todd2 said:

I guess I'm confused. I haven't lost a jig this year since switching to braid. I've only lost one rig at all..a T-rig. Any chance your knots are slipping?

Nope, the knots were not slipping as I can remember that it was purely cut by the rocks or whatever it was down there. I asked my partner that day to see if it was me or the rocks. he was like "ROCKS love your jigs" 

 

However, I have switched to FC line and it has decreased 90% of my loss  

[crazyjoeclemens]

On 6/24/2018 at 12:26 AM, papajoe222 said:

River fishing presents more possibilities of getting hung up, mainly because you're dealing with current pushing your offering and you pulling it. Kind of like braking through a curve. If you power through the curve you maintain control over the other forces working to break your traction.  Quarter casting while river fishing kind of works the same. If you're casting up or down river, you loose control of the lure to the current. You're still going to loose lures, but knowing how your lure feels as it's working and how the current is going to move it, give you a better chance of not only getting snagged less, but adding to your catches.

^^^X2^^^

 

I just spent the weekend out on the Illinois River, chasing channel cats.  If the current doesn't push your bait right into the brush pile, those channel cats will wrap your line around a stump just for kicks and giggles.  Catfish tackle is a lot cheaper, but I think its the same concept - some of the structure that fish like to associate with tends to be a little snaggy.  That's why you hear people say you gotta get hung up now and then, if you're gonna catch some fish.

[Sifuedition]

My favorite lure:

 

https://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/h2o-xpress™-lcr-3-8-oz-lipless-crankbait#repChildCatSku=016565384

 

In the sexy shad color. This lure has worked for me when nothing else will. I have bought no less than 10 of these over the last 18 months since I found them and tend to have two in my tacklebox at any given time. This way, when I lose one, I still have one if it is the only thing working.

 

I have not lost one in a while, but, it is absolutely normal to lose baits from time to time.