A question and a tip.

[Alex from GA]

How do you break line when you get a snag?  Not that I need a comb but keep one in my pocket to pick out backlashes.  It works with fluorocarbon and mono and doesn't harm the line.

[NorthernBasser]

If I have no choice but to break the line, I'll point the rod in the direction of the snag and pull straight back (while thumbing the spool if the drag isn't cranked down). Usually it'll break at the knot. I hate when people clip the line at the rod/reel, leaving all this long line in the water, waiting for a prop to come along and pick it up. 

 

(edit-or did I read your question wrong...do you mean cutting a backlash out?)

[casts_by_fly]

I very rarely get hung up to the point where I can't get it out by moving the boat over to it.  But if I do I'll wrap the line around the handle of my pliers which are always just an arms length away and pull till it pops.  If I'm fishing braid that's usually a straightened hook or a broken tree branch.  Mono always breaks at the knot.  I agree that cutting and leaving a long line is awful.  More than a few times I've gotten hung up on some 50# braid that someone cut 30' from the snag and that wrapped up in more branches further down the bank.  I always go in and cut it out as best I can.

 

7 hours ago, NorthernBasser said:

If I have no choice but to break the line, I'll point the rod in the direction of the snag and pull straight back (while thumbing the spool if the drag isn't cranked down).

 

Don't do that.  It's hard on the internals of the reel, even if you are thumbing the spool.  I think DVT has posted about that here before and it's made me change my ways as I used to do that too.

[MediumMouthBass]

4 hours ago, casts_by_fly said:

Don't do that.  It's hard on the internals of the reel, even if you are thumbing the spool.  I think DVT has posted about that here before and it's made me change my ways as I used to do that too.

Adding on to this, get a wooden dowel and wrap the line around that. It will take all pressure off the reel and its internals.

[islandbass]

I eliminate the rod from the line breaking equation. 
 

This means pulling out enough line so that the rod is NOT involved in the process of breaking the line. This ensures that the rod has zero chance of breaking.*
 

The “hold the rod straight pull from the reel method?” Well it srill involves not only the rod but also reel. No thanks.

 

As a shore angler, I don’t have the luxury of getting close to snags. 
 

I will the wrap the line I’m working with around a dowel or pliers and pull back until the line snaps. Walking in the opposite direction if necessary. 
 

I try to minimize the amount of line the will be left behind. 

*unless my clumsy self steps on  it, falls on it (yes, I did this. I tripped while walking in a bridge and long story short, I landed in a way I managed to break my best of 3 rods. The other two cheap Walmart special rods? Of course they didn’t break.)

Edited Tuesday at 05:41 PM by islandbass
Added extra detail

[NorthernBasser]

2 hours ago, casts_by_fly said:

 

 

 

Don't do that.  It's hard on the internals of the reel, even if you are thumbing the spool.  I think DVT has posted about that here before and it's made me change my ways as I used to do that too.

Good to know. Not that I do it often but figured as long as the spool isn't turning it isn't putting any stress on the drag because my thumb is applying all the pressure. I mostly do it while punching pads and I get hug up. I just point at it, thumb my spool and give it a quick yank. 

[Tackleholic]

For many years I spooled with 15# fluorocarbon from one of the most recognized line brands.  Sometimes I would become hopelessly snagged, but when trying to break off, the line would stretch so much that I could not, even when wrapping the line around a dowel and walking the length of my 21 ft. boat.  I read an article on this site which compared line stretch tests and promptly switched brands;  problem solved.  My spools of the "stretchy stuff" are now used only for leaders when I'm spooled with braid.  

[Alex from GA]

I was fishing from the bank yesterday and couldn't break off.  I finally wrapped the line around a branch and walked backward.  With the boat I wrap around a cleat and move the boat.

[msgf91]

I know the recent trends are getting away from using traditional wallets.  But I still carry mine and use it to wrap around and break off. I used to use branches i could find on the ground. But I started worrying about line fray from the rough branches. So a sturdy wallet does the trick. It's currently decorated with little hashes on the edges from the line lol

[PBBrandon]

3 hours ago, NorthernBasser said:

Good to know. Not that I do it often but figured as long as the spool isn't turning it isn't putting any stress on the drag because my thumb is applying all the pressure. I mostly do it while punching pads and I get hug up. I just point at it, thumb my spool and give it a quick yank. 

Yeah I used to break off like that too. I still do on spinning reels. But I am 70% sure that’s how I bent a spool shaft on a Revo SX