Folks, through the years I have lost a ton of lead, leaders, and hooks in the Big Pee Dee. Being poor folks like we are, we had to come up with something to end this dilemma and save some money. My fishin' partner, Peglegreb came up with a solution. We use a 3 ounce lead weight minimum. Naturally when reeling in correctly, you hold the rod tip up, pick the weight up off the bottom and start reeling. Frequently your line will cross an underwater obstruction and get hung. First and foremost DON'T snatch hard trying to free it. This will only result in the hook setting deeply into the snag thus resulting in a lost rig. The idea is to drift back to the opposite side of the snag. Then, pick the line up tight. This gets the lead over the top of the hook. Then, let slack in the line in short jigging motions. The lead dropping past the hook will pull the hook out of the snag. I calculate that at least 7 or 8 times out of 10, you will get your rig back, bait and all. I had heard the oldtimers say to take a spark plug and run it down your line to free up snags, and this is the same principle. Bill in SC
Sometimes we will have three or four hung at the same time. It can be a challenge in the river current. After drifting past them, you have to keep the boat running and stationary long enough to free them up. Sure works good! BB in SC
Fished 5 rods again tonight in structure. Lost only one rig out of about 10 hang ups. Unfortunately, not a single hit all night. BB in SC
As a follow up to this post, and having used this technique for several fishing trips, I will reiterate that it works GREAT. I had my reservations about whether it would work with circle hooks, but indeed, it works just as well with them. It has reduced equipment costs immensely! Not only does it save hooks, line and sinkers, it also keeps you from having to stretch your line to break it off, thus reducing abrasions and weak lines from stretching. Bill in SC
