Went snaggin this afternoon

[RUGER]

I had alot of pre-concieved notions about snagging.
I have never done it before today.

Always thought it was not very sporting, cruel etc.

I am sure with the way some people view bowfishing, I am sure snagging is well below that.

ANYWAY,
I had a BLAST !!!!!!!!

We were there 30 minutes and had 15 fish already.
I got to hot and had to take a little break but then we just HAMMERED them.
It was really ALOT of fun.

Never caught anything except for the asain carp.
Literally we were hooked up on seemingly every cast.
A few did get off and a couple broke off but not too many.

We ended up with 34 snagged between man and I.
We shot into a huge group of them with our bows before we started snagging on the count of 3.
Probably 100 fish in a group and we both shot the same fish. LOL
Man got another one on his own and then got 2 gar.

Man had his drag set too tight and broke his rod on the third fish he caught. I laughed till I nearly cried.
Funniest part was watching him catch fish with that big ole rod that was 2 feet long.

Gonna have to find some better braid too. We were using 50 pound spider wire and it pretty much sucked in my opinion.
It would break on the hook set or when the fish made a run, just didn't care for it at all.

I am already stiff so I am sure I will be SORE tomorrow.
Great afternoon for sure.

Some old man told man to leave his fish piled up on the bank when he comes down there. He comes early in the morning and picks them up for turtle bait????


Have I mentioned I hate photobucket lately?

 

[drrxnupe]

Nice. Keep killing those nasty things.

 

[BuckHunter511]

Get them all

 

[pressfit]

good job! looks like a pretty filthy place... where were you fishing??

 

[catman529]

I bet that smells like fresh baked apple pie down there. Looks like a lot of fun though. I wouldn't mind snagging a few of those myself.

 

[bigluresonly]

That's awesome. Did ya tell the old man that wanted them that you had a cooler for him also?

 

[RUGER]

pressfit, the old spillway at Reelfoot.

catman, more of an old spice / newport smell.

bigluresonly, honestly that cooler smelled worse than where we were fishing.

 

[Mudbone]

Nice job! I didn't know they were that thick down there.

 

[Unicam]

Check your eyelets on the rods that are breaking the spider wire. Be they have ceramic linings that are worn down from the spider wire causing a groove and sharp edges. Had the same issue on a couple rods and every time I set the hook or got alot of pressure on the rod it would pop the spider wire. I went back to my trusted ugly stick poles and forgot about the more expensive rods. THe ones I had problems with were KVD signature series. That was the only time I ever had trouble out of my braid and I have been using it since the 90's when it was 40.00 for 150 yards!

 

[dovahkiin]

Check your eyelets on the rods that are breaking the spider wire. Be they have ceramic linings that are worn down from the spider wire causing a groove and sharp edges. Had the same issue on a couple rods and every time I set the hook or got alot of pressure on the rod it would pop the spider wire. I went back to my trusted ugly stick poles and forgot about the more expensive rods. THe ones I had problems with were KVD signature series. That was the only time I ever had trouble out of my braid and I have been using it since the 90's when it was 40.00 for 150 yards!

this, or your knot, palomar is the only one that will work

 

[rukiddin]

IMO, its a tad expensive, but POWER PRO is the ONLY braid that will go on my reels.

 

[easy45]

awesome

 

[Crosshairy]

For shock resistance, I wonder if fluoro or mono would be a better choice.

Berkley big game or something?

I have no experience with snagging big carp, but in general braid can be pretty annoying for break-offs if you are dealing with sudden hard runs. I think a lot of folks keep their drag tight to help with the hook-set, but then that contributes to break-offs.

As someone else pointed out about the knots - could you tell where your line breaks were? That would certainly help with the troubleshooting.

 

[BuckHunter511]

Use palamar knot if you use braid.

 

[Dodge Man]

we used 200 lb braid to snag at the spillway this year, never had a fish break the line

 

[RUGER]

Crosshairy,
Judging from the amount of line I reeled in after the break I would say "about" 5 to 10 feet from the knot towards the pole.

Dodge Man,
I guess you didn't !!!

Limited in choices due to there not being a sporting goods store within an hour of here.

 

[chunkandwind]

If you can find it get some 30 pound Pline CXX. The stuff
is cheap and unreal strong.

 

[Headhunter]

Uniknot is what I use and what many braided lines recommend. I double my line before I tie it.

 

[Headhunter]

I only use power pro super slick now.

 

[Dodge Man]

Dodge Man,
I guess you didn't !!!

Well when the current is rocking you got to have some tough gear! They catch 60, 70, 80 and even 90lb carp there in the spillway when it is right. We caught some 50 and 60lb fish this year and with the current you think you hooked the back of a boat at first! lol

 

[RUGER]

Wow, didn't know they got that big.

I told man the other day I wanted to catch a 60 pounder.

 

[Dodge Man]

Wow, didn't know they got that big.

I told man the other day I wanted to catch a 60 pounder.

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2009/may/1 ... foot-lake/


The fish ranged in size from two feet and 15 or 20 pounds to several feet and 80 or 90 pounds.

 

[Dodge Man]

If you want to catch the big ones you need to go when the lake lvl is up and the ditch is full so the fish can swim up the ditch and into the lake. Usually only happens in the spring.

 

[RUGER]

Holy CRAP !!!!!!!!

So ya'll were on the lake side of the spillway then?

 

[Dodge Man]

Holy CRAP !!!!!!!!

So ya'll were on the lake side of the spillway then?

Yes on the lake side of the spillway is where you want to be when the water is up like that.

 

[Headhunter]

wow, how much damage can those do to a fishery?

 

[RUGER]

The way I understand it, ALOT headhunter.

 

[pressfit]

Wow, didn't know they got that big.

I told man the other day I wanted to catch a 60 pounder.

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2009/may/1 ... foot-lake/


The fish ranged in size from two feet and 15 or 20 pounds to several feet and 80 or 90 pounds.

when these jokers get this big... do they still try to jump in the boat and knock you out when you drive by??

 

[ROUGH COUNTRY HUNTER]

nice job

 

[GreyGoose]

i am amazed at the size of these fish and now concerned at the damage that these predators do to the echo system...kill them all