reducing snags in the river??

I’ve been doing a ton of river fishing lately, but one thing that has me really frustrated is the amount of snags i’m getting, and the lures i’m losing because of it. I like to troll cranks, but it seems like more often then not, i get my lure to the depth i want, then i’m snagged and have to manuver the boat over to the snag and attempt to get my lure off.

I can usually stay snag free with a jig an minnow, but it’s a challange at times.

Does anyone have any good tips for reducing my number of snags in the river? Thanks!

Start fishing lakes

Snags will happen a LOT in a river. Just use tough line and check it frequently. Also, trolling upriver and using floating cranks will often allow the current to free them with a few seconds of slack line. If you are getting snagged in wood, then there isnt much you can do.

If your trolling cranks you can bend or cut the down-facing hook on the treble and you will snag up less in wood.. unfortunately, this wont stop the nose of the lure getting wedged into debris.

Snags will happen lost a lot of lures until I started using Fire line. Cut my losses by 99%.

Did you consider purchasing one of those commercially made lure retrievers or making one? I personally don’t own one but if you do a lot of crank trolling on the river it will probably pay for itself the first trip out.

My friend Roger over in Sweden had a good suggestion that I modified a bit. He said take a very strong line like max fire wire and attach a two foot piece of welded chain links. Not too big but big enough loops. Then put a snap on the other end so you can snap it over the line. When you get snagged, put the snap over the line and send it down to the lure on a taunt line and giggle it trying to get it in the hooks. Then rip it out. My part, very small part, was I ran out and dug up a level wind reel and an old ice fishing pole in the garage that is heavier than all get out.

The other thing is some thing I saw in one of the sport warehouses the other day. A telescoping 15′ pole with a cork screw wire on the end. Get the line inside the loops and reach down and try to dislodge the lure either by again by snagging a hook or maybe just pushing it backwards till it frees. Check down about half way on this page to get an idea

http://www.frabill.com/accessories.html

or here are some other ideas you might like to try some time. http://kingfishseries.flwoutdoors.com/article.cfm?id=137003

WarrenMN

Yes, fishing rivers means losing gear. The tips here will help cut the losses to some extent, but snags just go with the territory. If you are fishing the Mississippi for walleye, that means wing dams, and to get your crankbait down where the fish want it means bouncing it along the rocks, line tangles, timber snags, and whatever else is down there.

In smaller rivers such as the Cedar or the Wapsi try casting cranks rather than trolling them. If you do troll then let out just enough line so that your crank is hitting the bottom every once and a while instead of constantly. Using braided line will also cut down on the number of lost crankbaits. Speed that you are trolling in rivers is also key to the number of snags you will get. Troll too-fast and you’ll hook into every possible snag there is. Try using a crankbait that only dives as deep as the water you are fishing. Deep diving cranksbaits do not work well trolling in shallow rivers. You can use deep diving cranks for casting but you have to slow down your retrieve so that it is hitting bottom occasionally instead of constantly. If you feel a snag then stop retrieving and give the crank some slack and many times it will float itself out of the snag (unless it is hooked into wood).

When fishing live bait rigs or jigs you have to choose the weight of the sinker or jig head carefully. Use only as heavy a weight or jig head as you need to be in control. Too-light of a weight and you will get snagged. Too-heavy a weight and you will get snagged. Being in control has a great deal to do with the weight of your jig or sinker. Never let out any more line than you absolutely have to. When fishing live bait rigs I almost never cast but instead let out the line until it hits the bottom so that there is no more line out than needed. Then I never drag my live bait rig but instead jig it up and down lifting it off of the bottom as soon as I feel it hit the bottom. I have a friend who is notorious at dragging his rigs across the bottom. He has earned his nickname of Snagman.

Eyehunter