How to avoid snags on Delta?

[bassinhopeful]

I've started fishing various spots on the Delta from the banks. As most of you know, the shores are all covered with that rip-rap rock. It seems whatever I toss out there, I get snagged by the rocks under the water.

I've lost a lot of rigs: weightless t-rigged senkos, drop shot robos, t-rigged creature bait with worm sinker and a speed trap. (Almost lost a bomber, but was able to reach into the water and pull it out from the rocks.)

Are there tricks to avoiding these rock snags or is this just the price of fishing the Delta?

[Takedown]

Buy yourself a few colors of the top selling frogs. You won`t have any trouble catching fish.

[opie]

With plastics, use less weight, and move your lure a little faster. Keep it bumping the bottom but don't give it a chance to settle down into the crevices in the rocks. Same goes for weightless Senkos. With Speed Traps and Bombers, if you let off pressure when you bump something, sometimes they will float free of the obstruction. Let it float up a bit then continue the retrieve. The trick is to not set the hook into whatever you bumped. When you know it is getting shallower, you can raise your rod tip to help pull the lure higher in the water column.
You will find that you'll get hung up less and less as you get a feel for it.
Good luck!

[Marty]

I would start using a bobber and float your bait over the rocks.

[WackySenko]

When the lure gets snagged (and you did NOT set the hook) try using the bow and arrow technique to pop it loss. Let out about 3' of line and engage reel, if using a baitcaster put your thumb on the spool so that there is no overrun. Pull the line between the reel and the first line guide with the hand that is NOT holding the rod until there is a bow at the rod. Let the line go and the lure will usually pop free.

[Caudawg]

You might want to try Salamander Sinkers. They glide over rocks and snags nicely!
You can see their ad here:
http://westernbass.com/shared/mag_wb/wb ... index.html

Also, here is a good article on Bank Fishing in the Aug. issue of WesternBass Magazine
http://westernbass.com/shared/mag_wb/wb ... index.html

[Austen]

That means yer fishin em correctly ... slow and on the bottom

[bassinhopeful]

Thanks, takedow, opie, marty, wacky, caudawg, austen for all the tips, links and encouragement!

[ScottyJ]

If the bite is hot fish frogs and/or spinner baits. You can throw either of them from the bank and not get snagged. Otherwise try drop shotting so if u get snagged u just lose the weight. Or as others said weightless senkos Texas rigged should work good cuz it's light and harder to get the senko and hook buried in the rocks. Tight lines!

[Stratos278]

Try some Lindy "No-Snagg" sinkers from Bass Pro Shops...Gene at the Hook might have them, he's a BPS dealer..

[salsinkers]

3/8 oz inline sinker

threeEightOz.jpg (4.23 KiB) Viewed 3261 times

Try Salamander Sinkers Inline. They are lead free, snag resistant and designed for sliding over rocks.
http://www.salamandersinkers.com

[Cooch]

Hey Hopeful, you are truely caught between a rock and hard spot here. Unfortunately, it's the nature of the beast when bank fishing here on the Delta since the only places any more that are accessable seem to be from levee rock riparian banks. Fishing uphill on these rocks, will indeed induce snags. Do know though, yer not alone, cause those of us that fish from a boat, also have the same problem fishing down hill on the rocks.

There's no single or ready made solution, yet many of the tips here will help you to break free or avoid them. I'm not sure what kind of gear yer using, but I would suggest ya go to a longer heavy action rod, one with a fast tip that's kinda stiff. Then spool up with a 20# fluoro carbon line. This will help you in several ways. First and foremost, it's gonna improve yer sensativity a lot. As yer fishing uphill and get inside that weedline leading to the rocky trough, start fishing you baits a little more faster. Don't let them touchdown and have a cance to settle into a crack. Keep it moving towards you, let that line tell ya the instant it touches something and lift it a little. I infact prefer heavier weighted baits for this as you can feel em a lot better than lighter weights. Lighter weights are a night mare in the rocks as they don't telegraph the contact near as well as heavier ones do. Hence they will slip into a crack and ya never know it was even close.

Once you get into that trough, the only fish that are gonna be there, are shallow, active, aggressive feeding fish. They will clock anything that moves fast through that zone. So pick up the pace with yer bottom baits and force that reaction strike. With crankbaits however, your better off slowing it way down. It keeps the crank in the strike zone longer. If you're fishing parallel to the bank, use a shallow square bill. If you're fishing deeper rocks with no weeds, use an enlongated semi pointed bill like a Bomber or Bandit. They'll git down, yet deflect very nicely off the rocks. Fishing these parallel, can be a challenge as they are designed to dive deeper and will dig into those rocks a lot easier than a square bill.

Good luck with it buddy.

[bassinhopeful]

ScottyJ, I've thrown a few frogs out there, but never got a nibble. they're supposed to be the summer thing out on the Delta, but not for me. How am I supposed to fish frogs on the Delta.

Salsinkers, ordered a few drop shot salmander sinkers. Hope they work and you'll come through the 4 for 3 deal.

Cooch, i heard that you're supposed to fish slow on the delta, especially with senkos and other plastic worms.

[Cooch]

Cooch, i heard that you're supposed to fish slow on the delta, especially with senkos and other plastic worms.

Many times under certain conditions, like in the spring when bass are spawning or when fishing grass beds, fishing a Senko or plastic worms slow is very productive. More often than not though, power fishing fast for reaction bites, is a far better option here on the Delta. It will bring you more bites and less hang ups. The top tactics here are not slow fishing tactics, flippen, topwater, crankin, punchin, & jigs, they are fished fast for reaction bites.

When yer bottom bouncin round the rocks and levee banks, if you fish slow, you're gonna git hung up as you've experienced. What do you trust more, your personal experiences, or that to which you have heard via the dock talk?

[bassinhopeful]

Hey Cooch, someone told me I should check out Wadda Jigs for my snagging problem, so I look em up and realize you designed them! Then I look around the web more and discover you're Delta bassing royalty! Thanks for taking all your time to answer my post. Truly an honor!

And since I'm wondering now which Wadda jig colors to get, I figure you're the perfect person to ask. You suggested in an article for jigs in general, brown and black, but that was written all the way in 1999 and before Wadda jigs I assume. From what you've experienced in the years since and now with Wadda jigs, what do you suggest?

[Vince Borges]

I think that the best way for you to avoid snags would be to save the money your loosing in lures and find a cheap used float tube. You can probably get one for around $50.00. That would put you on the other side of the grass and rocks with an even better advantage than a boat at times. You can go places other boats cant. Disadvantage, if fishing is slow, you cant fire up the motor and go somewhere else. But ya can fire up the car and try a different slough

[Cooch]

BH, I can't say for certain that the TNT Wadda's are gonna rid ya of yer snagging problem, but it is an Arkie head style jig like most flippen jigs used here and they indeed are better suited versus other head styles for fishing the kinds of rocks we have here on our levee banks.

As for colors, 75% of the time I use a straight brown jig and vary my trailer color patterns to get the strikes I'm looking for. There are times where I have used our Summer Craw or Gill, and they work just fine, maybe more so when the water is gin clear and we're attempting to match specific subtleties that will draw strikes. The other 25% of the time I'll use a straight black. There have been times when I've also used the black/blue and Dragon Fly with good results too. I'll go to the blacks when the water is colder and or dirtier than normal.

The only reason we have the wide color assortment in the line up, is due to customer demands from across the country. We would prefer that our customers don't reach for another jig just because we don't have a popular color pattern on our pegs. Personally, I fish jigs faster than most anglers. I don't wanna give that bass any time to register in his lil puny brain, that the forage that just blew by him is not a precise match for whats on his menu. Further more I can elliminate choices I have to make in a day full of other things I must think about to catch em, by sticking with black or brown. It's that KISS thing fer me and I have the utmost confidence in those two plain colors.

[salsinkers]

Bassinhopeful, For the type of conditions you described the Salamander Sinker Inline is better suited than the drop shot. We recommend 30 lb braid on the pole line which will allow anglers to apply force on the line. Use 6 to 20 lb a fluorocarbon or monofilament leader and make the hook as weedless as possible. Most snags are caused by the hook. When the hook becomes snag break off the hook and or leader. Tie on another hook and leader and continue fishing.

I need more information on the 3 for 4 drop shot promotion we ran a few months ago. We sent out sinkers last week to a customer and I hope that it is you.

[salsinkers]

Salamander Sinkers Inline can be used in many different conditions from heavy tackle in fast flowing rivers with high current to light weight tackle in small creeks and rivers with little current. Below is a link to a video demonstrating how to use the sinker in finesse conditions.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etCU_VXM ... ature=plcp

[bassinhopeful]

Vince, someone on another site said they'd send me their ole float boat, so we'll see.

Salsinkers, please see my Pm.

[salsinkers]

I responded to your PM. Please confirm.