There’s nothing worse than getting your favorite fishing lure snagged while you’re out on the water. First, you could lose your snagged lure, but even if you don’t, you can ruin a drift while you try to retrieve it! Your best best is to avoid or reduce snags when fishing if possible, but there are some ways you can retrieve lures that get stuck despite your best efforts.
In this post, I’ll first help you understand what sort of cover can result in snagged fishing lures. Then, I’ll help you understand what to do about getting unsnagged if your fishing lure gets stuck. Finally, I’ll review a few products that can save you time and money by helping you retrieve all or some of your rig.
Types of Fishing Cover That Often Result in Snags or Stuck Lures
While you can get your fishing lures stuck in many things, the following types of cover are the main culprits. Let’s take a look at them and what to do about them.
Weeds (ESPECIALLY Reeds)
While your fishing lures can get stuck in all sorts of weeds, the ones that will probably cost you your lure are reeds. These spongy plants stick above the water and are a great place to catch fish. Unfortunately, early in the season I’ve certainly lost my share of crankbaits near them. They can have very dense fibers that are nearly impossible to tear a hook from once it is stuck. Early in the season, they may be submerged so you wouldn’t even know they’re there unless you’re familiar with the area.
The best way to avoid getting snagged while fishing in reeds is to use lures designed for them. Many types of lures have a “weedless” option that is meant to help lures glide through them without getting stuck. For example, these hooks for wacky wigging have a wire weed guard that is claimed to prevent snags. While you’re still going to get a weed or two on them, the guard should prevent the hook from jabbing into reeds and getting your lure stuck.
You can also use lures like Spinnerbaits or Swim Jigs, both of which have a guard of sorts that will reduce the number of snags you get while fishing reeds. A spinnerbait’s bent wire frame will deflect most cover, while the brush weed guard on a jig will also serve this purpose.
I once wrote an article about keeping weeds off your fishing lures, if you want some more ideas on how to do this.
Rocks
Fishing around rocks is a great way to catch fish, but it’s also the perfect place to snag and lose your fishing lures. Jigs, crankbaits, and especially drop shots seem to just get eaten by rocks if you aren’t careful. This is because they have so many nooks and crannies to catch every last corner of your lures.
If you fish around the same areas for long enough, you’ll figure out where the worst culprits are. I deliberately avoid casting in a few 2×2′ sections of Lake Champlain when I can, but accidents happen. Sometimes you can retrieve your lure by lifting your rod tip way up and giving it a few quick flicks. If you’re lucky, your lure will jiggle free. Another option that often works is to change your angle. Rocks snag fishing lures by wedging them in place. If you change your angle, on occasion you can get them free. Unfortunately, this will mess with your drift or presentation.
Good Lures to Avoid Snags When Fishing Rocks
As with weeds, sometimes the best way to avoid snags while rock fishing is to use lures specifically designed for the area. For example, a football head jig is designed in such a way that (hopefully) it won’t get “as” snagged as jigs that have a narrower head. The idea is the wide sides of the football head may prevent the jig from winding up in the crevice.
It’s also a good idea to use specific drop shot sinkers when fishing around rocks to reduce your snags. First, I would certainly prefer a cylindrical-shaped sinker as opposed to a ball, as this (hopefully) can be retrieved from rocky areas easier.
I’d also purchase the type of drop shot sinker that has a pinched tie off rather than an open style one. What I mean by this is there’s going to be a piece of metal that attaches to the lead, steel, or tungsten of your sinker. You’re meant to tie your line to this metal. Basic sinkers just have a metallic circle that you tie a knot around. Dedicated drop shot sinkers often have basically a piece of pinched metal that you slide your line up into, without needing to tie a knot. This way, if your sinker gets stuck, a little tug will release at least your hook and bait so you don’t lose the entire rig.
Wood
Wood is a real heartbreaker to snag on when you’re fishing because it does a good job of imitating a bite. Sometimes, you’ll set the hook and find you’re stuck in a laydown. Further, sometimes you’ll snag wood after a fish bites and runs you into it! Because laydowns are often tangled messes, it can be very challenging to retrieve your lure without a good hook retriever. If you snagged on a cast, there’s also the chance that your line has wrapped hopelessly around the wood making your challenge even more dire.
Again, your best bet is going to be to use lures that are designed for fishing around wood if you want to avoid snags. Most weedless lures will also do well around wood given the idea is to keep the hook point out of the weed fibers, but another lure that you might not think is good is actually pretty decent at avoiding snags in wood: the square bill crankbait. The design of these lures tilts the bill at such an angle that it deflects off of wood and other cover before it can snag your hooks.
Trees
Trees are self explanatory. If you cast into them, chances are you’re going to get snagged. Most of the time the issue isn’t that you catch them with your hook. Instead, it’s that your line wraps hopelessly around their branches just like it can in lay downs. To avoid snagging trees while fishing, practice discipline while casting. If you do cast into the trees, stay calm. Observe what happened and how your lure is dangling. Sometimes, a quick pop can retrieve your snagged lure so long as it is done at an appropriate angle.
Tarps and Other Submerged Objects
These are the real buggers that’ll get you. Forget rocks, weeds, wood or trees – it’s TARPS and other junk landowners put in the water that will give you the worst snags of your life. These can be almost impossible to retrieve your snagged fishing lure from even if you can see it and access it because of the dense fibers.
The most common place I’ve seen these are underneath rip rap on lake shores. Landowners will place a tarp or mill felt of some sort underneath their rocks to prevent vegetation from growing through. If you get stuck on one of these you can pretty much forget it.
How to Get Your Fishing Lure Unstuck
If you get snagged while fishing, there are a few different tricks you can use to try and get yourself unstuck. Here’s a few different ways you can try it to retrieve your lost fishing lure.
Pause and Think
First thing’s first – use your head. If you just start jerking your fishing rod back and forth wildly the second you find yourself snagging cover, you’re all but certain to make it worse. Instead, try and be sensible, stay calm, and attempt to think of how the lure is snagging, so that you can come up with the best way to unsnag it.
For example, some lures are designed to float. Sometimes, if you give it a little time and sway your rod from side to side, you can loosen whatever your fishing lure is stuck on and get it clear. You want to be pretty gentle with this in case the hook is simply lodged weird. A little twitch or two might free it.
Change the Angle
Sometimes the best way to get a fishing lure unstuck is to change the angle your approaching the snag from. You have to figure, your lure is wedged in something like a rock, right? Well, maybe at another angle you aren’t pulling against the rock and it will work free.
Use the “Bow and Arrow Method”
There’s a technique you can use to try and retrieve a snagged fishing lure called “the bow and arrow method.” In it, you’re basically introducing slack suddenly and with force to a lure to come off an obstruction. Here are the steps:
- Grab your line with one hand.
- With your other hand, pull your rod back until it loads up and bends like a bow.
- Pull the line off to the side, as though you’re pulling back on a bow and arrow.
- Release the line with one hand while twitching your rod with the other, like you’re releasing “the angle.”
If you are more of a visual learner, Angler West TV has a great video demonstrating the technique. Consider subscribing to their channel for more impressive tips and tricks:
Lure Retrievers
One product that can quickly pay for itself is a lure retriever. This is a tool designed to, well, retrieve a snagged fishing lure from its watery trap. They make different types of lure retrievers. Some are small devices that attach to your line and are designed to slide down it to the snag and pop your lure free. These may be your only option if you’re fishing in deep water and catch a snag on a reef or submerged cover.
If you’re fishing shallower, I prefer the type of lure retriever that is basically a long pole with a metal coil at the end. You wrap the coil around the line to guide it down to your lure and then slide the coil down while holding onto the pole. The Frabill 9865 Lure Retriever has a telescoping handle that can reach as far as 15′. While this obviously presents a limit to how far you can go, this design also can be used for freeing fishing lures that get snagged in trees. As I don’t typically fish much deeper than 15′, this suits my purposes fine. Finally, I have the ability to give it a few whacks, with as much strength as I want with this product whereas the sliding weight versions rely on gravity.
Which Lure Retriever Is Best?
Lure retrievers are one of the few fishing accessories you can buy that actually save you money in the long run. When you consider how much crankbaits and other plugs cost these days, you only need to retrieve a few of them to make the purchase worth it. The only question is, which one is best for you?
Again, if you’re fishing relatively shallow water, it’s hard to beat a pole version such as the Frabill. If you’re in deeper water, you’re going to want to use one of the weighted versions such as this Davison Snag Buster.
If All Else Fails: Break Your Line the Right Way When Snagged
When you can’t retrieve your snagged fishing lure, you’re going to need to break the line. There is a right way and a wrong way to do this, and the wrong way has severe consequences. First, you could break your rod if you aren’t careful. More importantly, you could severely injure wildlife if you leave a long strand of line dangling somewhere.
What you want to do is try and break the line as close to its weakest part (the knot) as possible without breaking your rod. Some people suggest pointing your rod tip straight at the snag, reeling up all your slack, and grasping your reel spool while you pull directly away from the snag until it snaps. The issue with this (especially with braid) is that it can end up burying your line into the spool which will cause backlashes and other issues later on.
A far better option is to take off enough slack in your line that you can wrap it around a paddle or a piece of sturdy wood well ahead of your rod tip. You want to make sure you give yourself enough slack so you don’t hit the rod tip, but pulling back this way will make sure you don’t bury the line in your spool and cause yourself other problems.
Under no circumstances should you ever pull back on the line with your rod, or grab the line directly with your hand. The first can lead to a catastrophic failure of your rod potentially leading to injury. The second can deeply cut you, especially with braid.
Good Luck Out There!
It’s never fun to encounter snags while fishing, but at least now you have some options for how to get your lures unstuck. Remember, keep your head. Assess the situation. Do something sensible, and consider carrying a lure retriever with you–it could save you thousands over the years.
I hope this article was helpful!
John Paxton
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