Snagged Fish

[bigugly]

I'm in a dilemma, I love fishing the creeks for anything steelhead are my favourite but man when you get a chinook in the mouth it is a fight to the finish! My issue is with snagging the salmon, I hate reeling in snagged fish and been trying hard to tell the difference between a legit hit or a bump against line. I got five today in the mouth and I sure can tell the difference on hook set. In the mouth just feels more sharp or hard set, kind hard to describe. As for a real hit or not I'm struggling and not sure if there really is a way to tell the difference, all I know is I gave a lot of fish jewelry today, I won't fight the fish if it's snagged just pull back and hope my leader breaks instead of mainline. I did loose two floats today but I know I'll soon be finding then all over. I noticed on a few I actually caught the float went straight down, no sideways movement at all. Maybe this is what I have to key in on?? Anyway I got my fix in today and will only be going out now when I have my boys, waiting now for chrome. Oh it sure was a treat to have the creek all to myself, not another soul around, I'm sure this weekend it will be a zoo.

 

[tossing iron]

When float fishing all you can do is like any other time.
Float stops; goes under, moves towards, upstream ,down stream, towards you .Set the hook.
I find when in the mouth fish comes straight up out of the water head shaking.
Fouled.
Seems they run upstream.
Find can't control them.
Sometimes when runs are thick there's no preventing it..
If fouled simply hold rod horizontal to fish and pull.
90% of time I save my float and fish is off.

 

[bigugly]

That's what I do to tossing ron, guess it's just part of the game.

 

[tossing iron]

For sure.
You sound like me big.
Even when not my fault , I'm totally ashamed to have a fouled fish on. lol
Too much pride and conscience . ha ha
If only others would catch this disease.

 

[rich_ace_G]

Foul hook / snagged. fish don't normally go for the run until they feel your pull.
Legit strikes,right from the get go to the finish is a constant tug of war....just my observation.

I accidentally snagged steel this spring and it was just holding spot even with my fly on it's tail....no tug, as soon as it slowly moves upstream and felt a slight resistance from me, it bolted (thank god for barbless).

 

[fisgfreek]

Usually on a take they go ballistic trying to spit that hook, and they do leap really high out of the water. On a snag though just as mentioned above the stay down until they realize some things wrong and they take off like a runaway train.

 

[tossing iron]

Foul hook / snagged. fish don't normally go for the run until they feel your pull.
Legit strikes,right from the get go to the finish is a constant tug of war....just my observation.

I accidentally snagged steel this spring and it was just holding spot even with my fly on it's tail....no tug, as soon as it slowly moves upstream and felt a slight resistance from me, it bolted (thank god for barbless).

This is where it gets confusing.
Last fall mid November.
I was drifting a black fly around a boulder .
Float stopped.
Slowly went under.
I quickly set the hook.
Nothing happened?
Reeled in to fully load the rod.
All hell broke loose.
This crazy bastard went literally up the far bank straight across between my legs.
Down stream 50 ft back and forth like 3 times.
I finally sensed some sort of control only after it exhausted itself.
Landed my steel and saluted her on release.
lol

 

[HomeGrownChrome]

General rule of thumb (imo)

If the float drags its a snag, not always the case with chinooks but 9/10 if the float doesnt drop quick its a foul hook

 

[tossing iron]

General rule of thumb (imo)

If the float drags its a snag, not always the case with chinooks but 9/10 if the float doesnt drop quick its a foul hook

Sorry . Been walking water over 3 decades.
Stick with the basics is my advice.
Drifting a float ?
Use your instincts.
ANY change on the drift.
Hit it hard.

 

[HomeGrownChrome]

Sorry . Been walking water over 3 decades.
Stick with the basics is my advice.
Drifting a float ?
Use your instincts.
ANY change on the drift.
Hit it hard.

Not telling anyone how to fish.
Never said dont set the hook.
Your years of experience were never in question.
Let your rig get hung up on a submerged log, tell me what your float does; explain to me how a resting fish is different.

 

[tossing iron]

Your not seriously challenging that comment ?
No one knows why the drift changes.
That's why you Hit it Hard.
Your right.
Could be a log.
Could be an eddy change
Could be snagged on bottom.
But.
Could be a fish.
HIT IT HARD

 

[fisgfreek]

That would be a snag. We all do it and it happens. You need to realize that when that float goes down if you don't set the hook that fish can be lost in a hurry.

 

[tossing iron]

hey .
Tight lines.
I'm not trying to put you down.
You're telling me 9 of 10 times if the float drags it's a snag?
I'm telling you.
Yes.
Might be a snag.
But more often than not it's a fish.
HIT IT HARD
Sorry.
But yes.
Experience.

 

[rich_ace_G]

This is where it gets confusing.
Last fall mid November.
I was drifting a black fly around a boulder .
Float stopped.
Slowly went under.
I quickly set the hook.
Nothing happened?
Reeled in to fully load the rod.
All hell broke loose.
This crazy bastard went literally up the far bank straight across between my legs.
Down stream 50 ft back and forth like 3 times.
I finally sensed some sort of control only after it exhausted itself.
Landed my steel and saluted her on release.
lol

that also makes sense...but for float fishing that's what i've observed. but with fly fishing, i've had legit strikes without feeling any pull but i can see the fish took it and just shakes it's head trying to spit it. as soon as i set the hook then it's on...

 

[rick james]

It can be hard at times, especially with salmon, to know whether it's a legit take. How the float goes down and where in the drift it goes down can give a clue. Knowing a drift well, different depths, where the snags are and where the fish are holding can also help. There are some drifts where I can almost predict to the split second where the float is going to go down if the fish are biting. However, I still often confuse a snag for a fish, and occasionally a fish for a snag, so I say when in doubt set the hook. When I do accidentally foul hook a fish, and it happens, I break it off ASAP because I don't want to fatigue the fish or prevent others from fishing the pool.

 

[fishermandan420]

Try running your bait just above the pod of fish. The eaters will tip up and bite and your bait won't run through the fish and foul

 

[IR4Jflyfishing]

Try running your bait just above the pod of fish. The eaters will tip up and bite and your bait won't run through the fish and foul

Golf ball chunk of skein, youll know when they eat

 

[[email protected]]

fact is, you really won't know until you set the hook, unless you actually see the take. if its just holding, and you don't feel headshakes, chances are high its fouled, if you feel the rod bouncing on regular intervals, its a tail hook and your only chance is to break off lol when you set the hook, take a second to just feel the response through the rod

 

[instapump416]

Golf ball chunk of skein, youll know when they eat

I can't wait to start drifting skein in slow pools... the way your float shoots down... wooooooooooo

 

[KingoftheRiver]

Usually you can tell if you snagged the fish if they start swimming upstream and you can't turn them then more often then not they are snagged. I even had one chinny this year get my line caught in his teeth. He never got hooked and I almost landed him.