How to Retrieve a Snagged Fishing Lure Without Losing It

An expert snag-er shares his best proven tips and creative hacks to save your favorite baits from rocks, trees, stumps, and snags.

Snagged? Follow these tips to retrieve a snagged lure. / Joe Shead

Hooks catch more than just fish. Snags are an annoying reality offishing. Fish relate to rocks, logs, weeds, overhanging trees and other structure, so to get to them, it’s inevitable your cast will get a little too close to cover once in a while. Some snags are sure to steal your lures. However, with a little ingenuity, you can often retrieve your lure.

Start Here: Identify the Snag and Change Direction

The first thing to be aware of when you become snagged is which direction you were reeling when you became snagged. The easiest way to undo your snag is to go against the grain. Get on the opposite side of the snag and pull back the other way. A lot of times, that’s all it takes. This can work weather you’re in a boat or on shore. Sometimes walking up and down the shoreline and pulling from different angles will free the snag, even when it’s not practical to get on the other side of the lure.

If your fishing lure gets snagged on a rock, pull against the grain or put tension on it, then quickly release the tension to pop it free. / Joe Shead

Diagnose What You’re Caught On—Wood, Rock, Weeds?

If that doesn’t work, it’s time to analyze what you’re snagged on. Although you can’t always be certain, you can usually get a pretty good guess simply by knowing the cover you’re fishing, or by feel. A rock won’t give. Neither will tree trunks. However, underwater tree branches will be springy.

Sometimes a piece of wood, if it’s small enough and not attached to the bottom, will come up. We’ve probably all been fooled when a log would come in, and when you let up, it started sinking back down, giving the impression that maybe, just maybe, we’d hooked a really big fish.

You may be able to pump and reel a detached piece of wood. My brother once reeled in a 20-foot, arm-sized tree on just 8-pound test. We’ve even reeled in stumps. Heck, I’ve landed a few softball-sized rocks that the hook caught just right. Pumping and reeling will sometimes simply allow you to retrieve your lure, snag and all. It’s hard on your rod, though. Be especially careful of breaking the rod as the snag reaches the surface. Get ahold of the snag and take the weight off your rod.

Use the “Pop and Release” Method

If the snag is solid, don’t yank on it. That just makes it worse. Quite often you can “pop” a lure loose from a rock. Here’s what to do. Crank down tight on the reel, loading up the rod with a good bend. Assuming you’re using a spinning reel, open the bail and hold the line tight with your finger. Suddenly release the line and let the rod shoot back toward the snag. A lot of times this will slingshot the lure away from you, freeing the lure from the snag. Repeat several times. This works especially well when using monofilament line. The stretch factor helps shoot the line back at the snag.

You can do the same thing with a baitcaster, but don’t release the line in the same way or you’ll end up with a monster backlash. Rather, pull the line off the reel and hold it in your hand like a bass angler “flipping” under a dock and do the same thing. This technique is very effective with rocks, but again, it’s hard on your rod.

River Fishing Snags: Let the Current Work in Your Favor

If you’re fishing in a river and the snag is upstream of your position, your best bet to free it is to get upstream of it. If it’s downstream of you, that’s when the popping technique mentioned above really shines. If that doesn’t work, get downstream of it and tug again. If you’re on the bank and it’s not possible to get below your lure, you can try another trick. Let out a bunch of line. The current will pull it downstream. Make sure the U-shaped belly of your line gets well below the snag.  When you’ve let out a significant amount of line, jerk on it. The belly will then pull from downstream of the lure, without the need for you to physically walk or boat downstream of the snag. Repeat as needed. This will often pop the lure loose.

Dealing with Submerged Wood: Stay Calm and Calculated

It can be hard to retrieve a lure snagged in wood because the hooks sink in. Your best bet is to pull against the grain or poke it free with your rod or a forked stick. / Joe Shead

Getting unsnagged from solid wood can be a little more difficult because the hook buries in the wood, whereas it can’t penetrate the rock. You can try the same “pop” technique. If that fails, try to go back against the grain. That’s usually your best bet. Try sweeping your rod low to the water or even underwater and back away from the direction of the snag. Wood can be tough.

Use Your Rod Tip (Carefully!)

Of course, sometimes you can get close enough to the lure to poke it free with the rod tip. I dread the sound of gravel scratching across my porcelain tiptop, but the “rod tip poke” has saved a lot of lures. Sometimes, if the water is too deep, you can poke it with a long forked stick run along the line while keeping a tight line.

Try a Lure Retriever

Using a lure retriever is another option. There are a couple styles on the market. There’s a collapsible pole with some metal coils you wrap around your line and poke your lure free. The other basic style is a heavy weight on a rope. The weight also has metal coils, and it slides down your line. The impact of the weight may knock the lure free. Then you can pull on the rope and retrieve your lure.

There are several styles of commercially produced lure retrievers available to purchase. / tacklewarehouse.com

You can also make your own lure retriever using heavy sinkers if you don’t have an actual lure retriever handy. Use a snap swivel to slide them down your line. You can even use an old spark plug. Just pinch the gap closed over your line. The only problem is, if the impact of the sinkers or spark plug doesn’t knock the lure free, you’re going to lose everything.

Is It Worth Going Swimming?

Of course, there's always the option of swimming after your lure if you're really desperate! That’s sometimes a bit more justified when you’re dealing with muskie lures that can run up to $100 But be careful! If you get snagged on the hooks as you attempt to retrieve your lure, you could actually drown! Not even the most expensive lure justifies that risk.

When Your Lure Is Stuck Above the Water

If your fishing lure is looped over a tree branch, let it fall down and cut it off. Or swing it like a pendulum and jerk as the lure swings away from you. / Joe Shead

Shoreline Trees

Not all snags are underwater snags. It’s common to loop your line over an overhanging tree branch. With a little timing and luck, you can retrieve your lure and look cool doing it.

If your line goes over a branch without wrapping around it, you’re in business. The lure will swing like a pendulum. Wait until the lure swings away from you and yank. Your lure will usually come right back, pretty as can be. If you yank when the lure swings toward you, you’ll probably wrap it around the branch. Then you’ll need to break the branch or physically untangle it.

If the lure is entangled around the branch but falls down freely toward the water, get underneath it, cut it off and then reel in the rest of the line. Don’t try to reel the lure through the branches or you’ll make it worse.

Power Lines

The dreaded power line near a popular fishing spot will claim a lot of fishing tackle over the years. / Dreamstime | John Wijsman | 156521341

A power line is perhaps the worst scenario. If your line wraps around a power line, you can pretty much kiss your lure goodbye.

Your Last Chance

Sometimes, there’s no way around it: you’re going to lose your lure. One last-ditch effort is this: point the rod tip directly at the snag. You don’t want any bend in the rod so you don’t risk breaking it. All the force of the line should be coming directly from the reel. Then pull slow and steady, keeping your hand on the spool of a spinning reel or thumb on the spool of a baitcaster to prevent line from peeling out with the drag. Eventually, either the lure will come free or the line will break. I think that’s what they call catch and release.