losing fishing hooks

strangel00p

hi there,
I recently started pier fishing. One problem I'm facing is that I'm constantly losing my hooks on rocks. Is there a technique for freeing stuck hooks? Any tips or advice on pier fishing much appreciated.

Thanks

Irish_wolf

Try not getting stuck in the first place

Really though what kind of fishing are you doing. Is it with feathers or bait with a float or with a claw weight or what? Generally you just try and jig it free when it does snag, bring it in then give it some slack to make it move about on the rock, this could make it fall further so make sure if you feel it go to reel it in fast. Perhaps your weight is too heavy and it's bringing the bait down to quickly.


Also Is the pier tidal? If so just pull on the line til it snaps and then recover it, and other peoples lost lines and tackle, once the tide goes out. Lots of people lose their stuff and never bother to retrieve it, so finders keepers and all that :cool: you can find some really good stuff especially if it's a busy pier.

strangel00p

thanks guys. I mostly use spinners and it can get quite expensive. I did manage to retrieve some of my equipment on the rocks last week:D

shanemurphyboy

Good post and good question, ive often wondered is there a technique for this but there just simply isnt imo! best i try to do is snap the line as close to the hook that i can, tightening up and pointing rod tip to the water, hold your reel and pull slowly or walk backwards... sometimes it comes free.

plus i second collecting gear at the rocks, lots of my gear is made up from it, sometimes youd be suprised with what youd find... filleting knife, wallet

coolwings

Which costs more, the hook or the lead?

If the hooks are getting stuck, you need to use leaders to the hook which are 30% less strong than the line to the lead.

If the lead is getting stuck, there is less you can do, since a weak line to the lead can cause snapoffs during casting, and that can be very dangerous to passers by.
What most people do is to survey the place and cast on to a small patch of smooth ground in the general area of the rocky snags.

You can use disposeable weights. They are not so good as leads, but old sparkplugs with the tip closed into a loop with a hammer can be used in rough ground fishing.

skipz

There is a lure/hook un-snagger on sale here in Australia, and id say quite easy to make.
Was watching a fishing programe on tv and the lad got his lure snagged up. He the took out a 5/6 oz lead weight, maybe heavier, which had 2 steel clips and rope on one side.
He clipped the the lead onto his line at the rod tip and held onto the rope and let the lead slide all the way down until it stopped and the lure.
He then pulled the rope up and down, making the lead slide up the the line and then slide back down hitting the lure and releasing the the lure from the snag.
Quite a good investment for lure fishing, but with rigs with swivels and hooks dont think it would work to well.