Ultimate Lure Savers

[HookedinNY]

http://www.ultimateluresaver.com/

Has anyone tried these lure savers? Feedback would be appreciated. Thanks!

[Raul]

You fish from shore or from a boat ?

I tell you this cuz when I hang up a lure which occurs several times during a trip there ain 't no magic solution to getting back my lure other than the old reliable plug knocker.

[Tokyo Tony]

I wouldn't trust those things.  They're split rings designed to unravel at a certain pressure point.

Even if you were able to get the correct size ring (getting the size that would unbend at a pound test less than your line pound test, but greater than the pound test at which your drag is set), you are putting a lot of trust in the fact that the ring would not unbend at a pound test less than its rating.

I'd stick with regular split rings and a lure retriever.

[Tokyo Tony]

Oh, and another thing: with a regular lure retriever, usually you'll get the hooks back intact.  With that unraveling split ring, you lose the hook AND the split ring, which can become expensive.  Plus, you'll have to retie or rehook after you unravel a hook.

Sounds like a terrible idea when you think of all the factors  

[maxke01]

If you get a nice size fish on the line wouldnt that thing snap?

[HookedinNY]

MaxKe:

According to the review on www.tackletour.com big fish do not put enough pressure on the lure saver to make it open. It has something to do with the "shock absorber" effect of the bend in the rod as you fight the fish. In order to make the split ring release you must point your rod at the snag, reel in the slack, thumb the spool and pull back slow and steady as if trying to break your line. Evidently this exerts much more pressure than is involved with a normal fish retrieval.

If I fished from a boat it would be different but I do not have the ability to use a boat to get close to the snag and use a plug retriever. I would rather lose a treble hook than an expensive crank.

As Tokyo Tony points out the key seems to be matching the right size saver to the pound test of the line you use.

[Tokyo Tony]

The key is getting the size that will unravel below the pound test of your line, but above the pound test at which your drag is set.  That way a fish won't unravel it during the fight, but would pull drag out.

This all just seems like a big hassle to me, especially considering the fact that there are lure retrievers out there that you can slide down your line so you don't have to get close to the bait.