I like so many others have taken advantage of the daytime blitz fishing going on out east. While out there 2 weeks ago, I witnessed a “fisherman” up on a rock on the south side. He had a pick of fish as the rest of us did. All of a sudden I see this guy rear back like he’s pulling the Titanic up from the depths of the Atlantic. After a few seconds he finally realizes he’s snagged. I watch in utter amazement as he locks down the drag and starts snapping back over his head with all his might to free his bucktail which was hopelessly snagged. He kept this up for 2 – 3 minutes before his line finally parted. There was no visible damage to the rod on the outside but if I were a gambling man I would venture to say he might have done internal damage to that blank. He may have fractured some of the internal glues & epoxies used to create the blank. Nothing may ever happen or he will be Shocked as hell when he finally hooks a 50 and the rod folds in half. Worse yet, when he forgets all about this incident and makes a simple cast and the rod folds in half.
The first words out of his mouth will be: “it’s a defect in the blank”
If you snag up, hold the rod straight out towards the snag and pull back towards you holding the cup of your reel. Not at 180 degrees over your head. Either your lure will break free or your line will part.
Good luck out there this fall,
Lou Caruso
Sage advice on saving your rod. In addition consider the situation where it is pitch black New Moon overcast conditions and you get hung up not too far out.You don’t realize how close the lure is and you high stick to get free and are sucessful. The lure/Bucktail might just catch you in the head with disasterous results. A guy died at Jones Inlet last year trying too free his bait rig that was fouled just a short way out. The sinker flew back and killed him.
↓Marc
I give the rod a moderate bend, grip the line as it lays near the reel…load the rod and let go of the line. It doesn’t put any more strss on the rod then a schoolie and the snap of the line typically fres me up. If not…it isn’t worth going blind for my favorite darter.
↓Lou, your giving me nightmares with that story.
↓I do agre with Ron though…but on a jetty I don’t always have the fredom of movemnt I would like to behind me.
↓Good points there
↓Mark is completely right about that. I have been next to someone who sent the lure by me like a rocket getting out of a snag. That scared the crap out of me because of the total lack for safety around others. Lou is correct about damaging the rod internally. At my tackle shop, I have had to send in aleast 6 rods I sold this year because of broken suprises. Most rod companies have warranties so not everyone cares if they break a rod these days. For me, as most of the fellas here probably feel, to break a custom rod would be heart breaking because of the memories collected during days nights of fishing with close friends and big fish aside from other more pratical reasons.
↓How about the guys repeatedly reeling up fish in front of the lighthouse like they were on top of a bridge. Saw one snap in half yesterday! I’m sure reeling up to 12lbs. of dead weight 30 or so feet takes its toll.
↓It dosen’t matter if your snagged, hauling in a fish on the beach or jetty. You should never have that plug or lure in front of you or anyone else,always to the side.
↓When you compare the price of line to the price of a lure or a bottom set up, to even a moderatrly priced rod, the rod loses. Rods are like ants. Able to carry weights several times it’s own. But even the ant can get flattened. I too have seen the JERKers. Pulling straight back only stresses the hook, line or the sinker. You do the math. Just don’t let them see you laughing at them. And be ready to duck.
↓not sure if anyone remembers reading this, it could happen to anyone…
http://www.newsday.com/news/man-dies-in-freak-fishing-accident-1.561166
↓Let them snap the rod. It will only free up some fishing room.
↓I see guys that rather than cup the spool, they crank down the drag as hard as they possibly can… cant be good for the drag discs I assume
↓Yup i hear ya talking Lou.Last spring here in jersey during some of those blitz that we had with big blues i saw guys break there rods while trying to lift a 13 or 14lbs of crazy wild blue fish flopping around up from the water to the top of the jetty and the rod broke. A coulp of the rods were pretty expensive to.
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