[Darren Edwards]

Guys i was lying in bed last night wondering how many lures ive lost in the last couple of years which must run over £200 quids worth.Ive had them snagged tight and lures parted company, gone back the next day and no sign of it at all.Then last night i thought why have i just pulled at the lure until something gives......from now on im going to carry a couple of 3oz leads,cut the braid as close to the lure as possible,tie the loose end to the lead and throw it in.Collect the lure later.Does anybody else do this?

 

[Ben Pratt]

I try a few things

1. ) Wade out if possible
2.) Don't pull and wait for the sea to loosen it if it is a floating lure.
3.) Try pulling from different angles which can involve walking quite a distance along the shore then pulling from the right or left.
4.) Get ready to put on another and try and forget how much I just lost.

 

[Alex Jordan]

meh! make a prayer to Psoiden as you sacrifice the lure to the sea and make sure you have a second copy to continue catching on ... in reality I turn the air blue, shrug shoulders and carry on ...

 

[Glen Rolland]

I tend to follow Ben's approach, but funnily enough after I'd lost 2 new ima lures last week caught fast on rocks down in the South Hams one of my fishing buddies piped up to say that he had been told to cut the line and tie it off to nearest convenient point so that it can be retrieved later, sadly his advice was a little bit too late.

The only other point I would add is that having repeatedly attempted to retrieve lost lures at low tide without much success, unless you are fishing a mark you know very well I think it's imperative that you take some photo's of your location, the snag and a reference point behind you to help you identify the correct location as I find it almost impossible to work out exactly where I was when I go back at low tide as everything looks so different. :---(

 

[Gary Evans]

What I have done over the years while fishing a bad area for snags is use a finer wire gauge of treble hook and use 30ib braid. If I get snagged I just apply enough pressure on the line without braking it and after a while the lure should break free as the trebles bend out.

Now I replace any trebles on a lure I buy that has a fine wire hook but they can come in handy when fishing a snagy mark so I never throw them away the only problem is that if you do connect with a decent fish it could bend them strait.

One other thing I must point out is that when lures get snagged you only have a short period of time to recover it as the electrolysis will eat away at the hooks and the lure will eventually float or drift off.

 

[John Orrells]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]After loosing over £80 of lures between myself and my son at the Weymouth comp recently I have also been giving this some thought. Most of the loses we have experienced have been fairly close in and occur within the last third of the retrieve, mainly to exposed weed and shallower rocks. Unfortunately wading has not always been an option, all of the lures we lost in Weymouth were to stray Lobster Pot ropes that had drifted inshore. After doing a bit of online research it appears that this is also a very common problem for our fresh water cousins where lures get caught on all sorts of submerged structure (Trees, Roots etc.). One solution I have come across is the use of Lure Retriever's which attach to your main line and slide down to the snagged lure and the attached wire loops or chains get caught up with the trebles on the lure allowing you to bull the whole lot free with a much stronger cord. As most of the lures I have lost have been fairly close in this could be the solution I've been looking for and could easily pay for itself within a couple of Months.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]I would be very interested if anyone has had any experience of these devices, are they practical and useful or simply tackle company gimmicks. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]This video gives an idea of the sort of device used[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLPHbjg9WUE&feature=related[/FONT]



[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]This is also an interesting video which could certainly work for lures snagged on rocks but I'm not sure about weed though.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SI9aMpZX22w[/FONT]



Some links to Lure retriever's
www.tacklebargains.co.uk/acatalog/Quantum-Specialist---Lure-Retriever.html

www.cabelas.com/lure-retrievers.shtml

 

[Guest]

Hi John,

I was on to those lure retrievers as well. They use them in the Netherlands on sweet water a quite a lot. They even pull out those metal shoppping carts used in supermarkets. I am not sure wether they are saltwater proof and i know there is some versions that do not work well.

I have also heard of home made versions built out of a weight and some large split rings as used for keys.

I will ask around on one of our Dutch forums to see wich are known to be the best.

 

[Toby Harnett]

John - I'm with you brother on the agony of losing lures at Weymouth. The pain of seeing my almost brand new patchinko 2 flying off towards the horizon after I snapped off (wind knot, doh!) & then snagging on a patch of weed just on the surface of the water about 40 yards out is still fresh. I was contemplating swimming for it however with the tide rising, the light drawing in & the treacherous currents around Portland I thought the better of it.

I'd never heard or thought of lure retrievers before. Certainly something worth trying I reckon. I was thinking that you could combine the spark plug idea on You Tube with the ring retriever on the Cabela site & make something home made for a couple of quid, maybe less. Get a 6oz weight, tie on a suitable length of mono (80lb?), attach a snap swivel & a treble hook (with the pointy bits cut off) via a split ring to the eye of the weight.

What do you think?

 

[Ivan]

I will be in Cabelas next month and there will be one of them coming back to the UK.

 

[Mick Ward]

I personally give a snagged lure the first couple of pulls and jerks to see if its just weed, then if its not initially moving I will give it slack line for a good 10 seconds or longer. Alow enough tim for a few swells or waves to pull the lure forward and back, it will often float out or your line will be at a new angle to give it another jerk or pull. I once did cut my line off and tie it to a rock and returned at low tide to retrive my lure.

I was amazed how my lure was litterally only a mil or two away from the edge of the rock and being freed, but no matter how I tugged at it it wouldnt free. Cutting your line can work out expensive with braid though, I would try your best and learn to rise your rod there on the next retrieve.

 

[Mike Hayes]

Hmm, well having actually losing a lure this evening on a pot rope. Ive decided to avoid ropes the YGK gave its best and even managed to pull the rope a little, but in the end the leader gave in and the lure was safely released to the rope. I was gonna leave a note near the rope and warn the owner that there maybe a threat to his little fingies when he hauls that one in!

So lesson learnt, the pot was there before me so next time..move along...move along.

 

[Bagpuss]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]After loosing over £80 of lures between myself and my son at the Weymouth comp recently I have also been giving this some thought. Most of the loses we have experienced have been fairly close in and occur within the last third of the retrieve, mainly to exposed weed and shallower rocks. Unfortunately wading has not always been an option, all of the lures we lost in Weymouth were to stray Lobster Pot ropes that had drifted inshore. After doing a bit of online research it appears that this is also a very common problem for our fresh water cousins where lures get caught on all sorts of submerged structure (Trees, Roots etc.). One solution I have come across is the use of Lure Retriever's which attach to your main line and slide down to the snagged lure and the attached wire loops or chains get caught up with the trebles on the lure allowing you to bull the whole lot free with a much stronger cord. As most of the lures I have lost have been fairly close in this could be the solution I've been looking for and could easily pay for itself within a couple of Months.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]I would be very interested if anyone has had any experience of these devices, are they practical and useful or simply tackle company gimmicks. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]This video gives an idea of the sort of device used[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLPHbjg9WUE&feature=related[/FONT]



[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]This is also an interesting video which could certainly work for lures snagged on rocks but I'm not sure about weed though.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SI9aMpZX22w[/FONT]



Some links to Lure retriever's
www.tacklebargains.co.uk/acatalog/Quantum-Specialist---Lure-Retriever.html

www.cabelas.com/lure-retrievers.shtml

John

I bought a lure retriever a couple of years ago, but luckily haven't needed to use it.

However these devices are good in theory but you need to be on a boat or on the rocks so you can drop them vertically. I really don't think it would have been much use to Mike & his pot rope especially if it was 30 yards offshore.
So shallow angled fishing lines may be difficult to get the lure retriever out to the snagged expensive lure, but it's worth a go.
I usually try the options that Ben has mentioned.

 

[Dave Fitzpatrick]

I picked up a lure retriever too when I was over in Australia but I haven't used it very much because you really need to use a bigger link swivel for the lure retriever I have to work properly.



Its called a 'Tackleback' and the idea is that you clip one of these devices onto your mainline letting it slide down the mainline to the snagged lure with a cord attached to it, it then either knocks the lure out of the snag or connects onto the lure allowing you to now use the stronger cord attached to the lure retriever to try to pull the lure out of the snag or at least that's the theory. There's a bit more info on different types of lure retrievers here.

 

[Dr.Thomas k]

jep, they sell them also on eXxx ...

I prefere to swim with the line in my hands (if I can not wade to the plug!) and rescue my plugs as long as the water is not too cold. Saved me a lot of €€€. And has given some nice laughs from spontaneous visitors seeing me in my underwear swimming for such a small piece of plastics in the past. Laughter makes us live longer, doesnt it?
^^
Cheers
Thomas

 

[Adrian]

I too think that lure retreivers are OK from a boat but not so good for the shore because of the shallower angle of the line. Also, i try my best to travel light and keep the weight of all my gear down and i really dont want to have to carry 1-2lb of lead around with me!

 

[Richard Bourne]

Hi all, I wouldn't bother with lure retrievers, just try to use a lure that dives shallow enough not to get snagged, I rarely loose lures at my usuall marks because I know where the snags are. Wouldn't use weak hooks either, just incase they were straightened by a big fish. Don't cut and tie your line to anything, you could well find a cormorant or other sea bird tangled when you return for your lure.

On getting snagged with a floating diver I usually give it 10 seconds to float free, if you pull you will just put the hooks in deeper. If not try pulling from different angles but sometimes you just have to pull for a break. I have however recovered a few at low tride, I you are lucky it will still be snagged or washed up un the shoreline.

 

[Toby Harnett]

For me, trying to save waving bye bye to 20 quids worth of lure for the sake of having a go with a lure retriever & carrying 6oz of lead I think that it's worth it. i made up my own retriever along the lines of what I described above & tested it in the garden last night. It worked :-o. It would not be suitable for all situations however. I'd try the things along the lines of what people have described above & then if they did not work try the lure retriever, as a last resort........

 

[Guest]

This is a link for the JAZA-M http://www.roofvisnet.nl/artikelen.php?id=330&page=show It is designed to grip the lure clip and it is supposed to work well from shore. It will be hard to use it at larger distance though as it weighs 120 grams.

I als found this:http://www.forum.metersnoeken.nl/viewtopic.php?t=5868 wich just might work and could be made when youre handy. I was thinking of one of those larger clips mountain climders use.

 

[trev]

The cutting your braid thing wouldnt be too bad if you have a spare spool to put on which will still be fully loaded re casting distance and then at home you can add extra backing to bring the level back up, alternatively if the location is ok, ie not much chance of anyone stumbling over it you could put the spool in a plastic bag and hide it under some stones/gravel ,make sure you know exactly where it is and use your spare spool to continue fishing, then return when the tide should be about to uncover your lure.Cant see the devices you slide down your line being much use unless as already stated you are in a boat or fishing quite deep water and have the right angle for gravity to take it all the way to your lure. A lure stuck 10 yards or more away on a shallow reef is not going to be reached by one of those things. What about a remote control model boat that you clip onto your braid and then send it at full speed out beyond your snagged lure lol...............only joking!!!

 

[Toby Harnett]

Cant see the devices you slide down your line being much use unless as already stated you are in a boat or fishing quite deep water and have the right angle for gravity to take it all the way to your lure. A lure stuck 10 yards or more away on a shallow reef is not going to be reached by one of those things

I'm going to test out my home made attempt this weekend (in a mock situation........I hope:-?) whilst fishing from the shore. I'll report back with how I get on:-D