Cheers Ron

Snag fishing is probably one of the hardest forms of carp fishing in that you have to be alert all the while and ready to ‘strike at the first bleep’.

Although all the rigs mentioned are safe, if the fish reaches the snags and a breakage occurs it will still be left with at the very least a length of line attached to it.

So as Tim points out if you are not 100 % confident that you land a fish safely from a snag (or if you fish it and lose one) then it is sensible and ‘carp friendly’ to fish another area.

Cheers,
Pat

In my opinion fishing any ‘unknown snag’ is potentially putting the fish in danger. I say ‘unknown’ snag because lots of people tend to cast to a carpy looking snag without doing at least one test cast to see if the lead can be retrieved safely.

In an ideal world, snag fishing should be left to those that have obtained a decent level of angling competence and understand and are prepared for the possible and likely eventualities when they hook a fish. Again this is just my opinion.

Jamie, Pat, Lee and Samantha all have valid and sound points but if I were to blanket the discussion with one overriding message it would be, the more we can do to lessen the chances of the fish being snagged up the better. All reasonable precautions should be taken, from sitting on your rods, locking bait runners up, though to safe end tackle and if there isn’t a safe method to free a snagged fish then it’s probably best to fish another spot.

Tim

Cheers

Jamie

The selection of rigs is one that is very often over looked, and to deny the use of a heli rig next to a snag is not in all cases to me justified, the problem some rigs is not the rig it self but the manner in which it is deployed.

For example I will happily use a heli rig close to a snag as long as there is no shock leader in use, as to me a short length on lead core 6-8 inchs attached with a needle knot to a main line is perfectly safe, my reasoning for this is in the event of a break off the line will inevitably part at the lead core main line interface, this will then allow the lead and 6 to 8 inch of lead core to drop away leaving the fish with only a small hook link that will not snag, the problem comes with some anglers liking to use long lengths of lead core which is in snag fishing dangerous.

The same rig can be used substituting lead core for rig tubing I use this to good effect on the many waters that now ban the use of lead core but to me its not the lead core itself that is the problem but the inexperienced and uneducated using it incorrectly, the big one for me in all this is the no use of shock leader while snag fishing I do regularly use shock leaders but there is a time and place and snags and heavy weed are not two of them.

I have to agree with Jamie to that Barbless hooks should be used in and around snags so the fish can free itself with out thrashing about until it opens gaping wound in its mouth while trying to free itself.

I do use lead clips myself but again its they way in which they are used that makes them safe or not, again for the snag no leader must be used with a lead clip set up, but the down side for the clip set up for me is although it may drop the lead the hook link is physically attached to the main line via the swivel so in the event of a break off the fish “should” drop the lead but may still trail line clip and hook link leaving a fair chance of a snag.

The other safety feature I like to employ here is to lower the breaking strain of my hook link, the trouble with modern angling is hook link material is in general somewhat of a higher breaking strain than that of main lines, so in the event of a break it breaks at the main line not the hook link. To me it is worth taking a look at this while fishing amongst snags as it would be better should the line part to be at the hook link and not trail clip tubing and line.

If the lake bed allows in and around snags the use of something like drennan double strength could be employed as if it gets caught up or snags once it is kinked or knotted it breaks easily, although the use of high breaking strain braided and coated hook links may give you an edge on the fish they are highly difficult to break.

My last points are really for the angler to stand back and asses the situation before applying a rig because there is not one rig that suits all situations, whether that be snags, weed or open water it is a case of finding that balance of a rig suitable to entrap our quarry but safe enough to allow him to escape should the worst happen, and also the experienced amongst us should take a little time out in some situations on the bank to educate others as some of the younger generation can and do educate themselves with the carp press and get taken in and confused by the monthly “the new greatest rig articles” again a lot of these young guys have not served “The Apprenticeship” on canals and park ponds and are taken in by shiny mags and through no fault of their own lack some vital experience.

Thanks

Keith

Most fish are lost in snags on the initial run so doing the above will stop this. I see so many anglers walking away from their rods whilst snag fishing (something which the use of remote recievers seems to ‘encourage’) that if they get a run they will have no chance of stopping it from snagging up.

It doesn’t matter what rig or set up you use if you aren’t in place to stop that initial run.

Cheers,
Pat

Hi All
Saw this interesting article over on the Quest Baits site by Samantha on Snag fishing….
By Samantha

When fishing snags, tree lines or next to awkward features you will generally have more success if you place the rig tight under the tree…