5/16/2008

Tips and Advice

Un-Snagging Hook and Line

This tip works very well at getting back most of your line

Timothy Kusherets

The aggravation is understandable when you’re combat fishing and the people around you are waiting for you to break off your line so the other’s can continue to fish. I feel for the frustration that must be going through them as they watch the fish in front of them frolic and tease them while they jump and play, but the lure on the end of your line cost you good hard money, even if it is a pittance it adds up over time.
Most of the time you can get your gear un-snagged if you know what to do, and god forbid, do it quickly so the guy next to you doesn’t go into cardiac arrest.
When you set your hook do it just once. You don’t need to set and reset your hook just because some guy on television told you to. I have seen more fish lost to setting the hook more than once more often than any other way. It is the created slack as the fisherman prepares to reset that gives the fish just enough space to throw the hook, this is called Pumping-the-rod. If your line does not move after you hold your line tight for ten to fifteen seconds that chances are you’re snagged pretty solidly. Consider the position that you’re at in comparison to your leader or lure and then take action.
If your leader is at the top of the drift pull hard back one more time and see if your line comes loose. Free-bailing your line will create a belly that can free your snag too, but you should get above the snag before you flip the bail over. Let it pay out for a few seconds and then flip it back. The slack will pull in the opposite direction, and sometimes that’s enough to free it. Sometimes the lure is caught in rocks as it goes through the drift and getting above or below it and giving a mighty yank can do the trick.
Anglers that are fishing waters waist high usually find that it takes a considerable amount of time to wade out and get into a good fishing position; consequently, getting completely out of the water is even a bigger waste of time than the snag. This technique will help in alleviating both inconveniences. Tuck the rod under an arm. Gather up all the slack line and wrap it around a hand; it will be a lot easier on the hand with a glove or some kind of a wrap. Once the line is tight and wrapped around the hand, directly point the rod in the direction of the snag; this will take all the stresses of the guides of the rod. Take two or three steps backward. The line should snap free; if it doesn’t, go back to your original position and take up any slack that was created by the stretching line and repeat the process.
A good friend of mine, John Blair, told me about the necessity to turn your head as you tug on the snagged line. It can happen, occasionally, that the "terminal gear" could snap back far enough to threaten hitting anglers in the face, however, it should be pointed out that it is not the norm for gear to wing back at anglers, rather, a precautionary measure to ensure safety.
This tip works very well at getting back most of your line. Anglers that find they have lost a great deal of line should not toss out the remaining line. Save what is left and tie it to another spool of line; the best kind of line-joining knot is the blood-knot.