Snagless set up for rocks

Mort

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Whats the ticket to snagless rig for rocks from shore set up???

Thinking of something like a 3 way where the set is design just to lose the weight and not the whole set up.
 
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wjschmaltz

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Three way and split shot is easiest.

We use tube weight rigs with lead wire bullet weight for sockeye/steelhead and that is the ticket if you're drift fishing. Extremely easy to change weight. Retrieval fishing I would say keep it simple with split shot that will pull off the bottom of the line once stuck. Goes without saying, but use a lighter line for the weight than off your reel!
 

Obi-Wan

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SDMF

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Bobbers.

3-way w/light line on the dropper so that breaks rather than the main.
 


Mort

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Are you fishing riprap?

Well parts of the Missouri river over here have rock bottom plus the current, fish off bottom in that structure kinda snag city.
I don't have a fancy boat yet, so shore fishing is all I can do.
 

Lou63

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I used bottom bouncers in the irrigation canal inlets down in Nebraska. I used the snelled spinner thingys with a crawler or minnow and caught channel cats, flatheads, white bass, walleye etc with it. there is a quite of bit of current where the canals enter the reservoirs along the canal system.

I would throw it out to the middle and let the current bring it back to the edge of the rip rap
 

MSA

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I've cast bottom bouncers from shore, the wire hits first and works as an early warning to lift my rig up.

Fishing like that it really pays to know exactly where your bait is in the water column. Seasoned anglers can work a jig from shore within a foot of bottom and never snag up.
 


Mort

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I've cast bottom bouncers from shore, the wire hits first and works as an early warning to lift my rig up.

Fishing like that it really pays to know exactly where your bait is in the water column. Seasoned anglers can work a jig from shore within a foot of bottom and never snag up.

Thats one of the things I'd like to learn, jig on rocks better, I've done it at the trailrace once but also lost just bout all the jigs I had with me, so I had to quit, did catch one walleye tho.

- - - Updated - - -

I used bottom bouncers in the irrigation canal inlets down in Nebraska. I used the snelled spinner thingys with a crawler or minnow and caught channel cats, flatheads, white bass, walleye etc with it. there is a quite of bit of current where the canals enter the reservoirs along the canal system.

I would throw it out to the middle and let the current bring it back to the edge of the rip rap

Last night I had that bottom bouncer rig in my head, and said why can't a guy use these shore fishing rock shore line with current?? Hmmmm think I'm gonna try it, guess experimenting is the only way to go
 

shorthairsrus

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I luv Bank Ratting ---Shore fishing beats boat fishing 100 to 1 -- for fun and relaxing. I hate devils lake shores as they are buggy and to many rocks to climb on. I luiv the big MO to bank rat.

Anyway -- I have not used bottom bouncers --- my thought was always that the fish grabs the bait and it always helped to have slippage and the line has to be free so that the fish would not let go. Bottom bouncer unless if fished at the end of ones rod is going to lay down if you throw it out to far. My gpa was a total bank rat --- he tried every weight in the box --- pencil worked good along with those flat weights. Go as light as one can for the current --- pop the rod up when you reel in --- a nice strong hvy/med bass rod 7 foot plus --- a good tug to the sky and the weight seems to come loose no matter what were using. Yes some times I Get stuck.


Now going back to bottom bouncers -- i was in wade's the other day ago and he showed us the b bouncers that he has with floats on them --- he said they made for women to fish (my wifes eyes went to the ceiling) -- she didnt buy any -- but they would stay up in a lake situation. In the river used by a bank rat ---they would drift down stream. Wade (dakota tackle)has every weight known to man -- go see em - i bet he has the ticket for you.
 

KDM

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Thats one of the things I'd like to learn, jig on rocks better, I've done it at the trailrace once but also lost just bout all the jigs I had with me, so I had to quit, did catch one walleye tho.

If you are serious about learning to use jigs over rocks, get you happy butt over here for a weekend and I'll teach you how I learned to do it over the past 30 years. It's probably not the only way, but it's worked for me. I'll provide the jigs. By the end of the weekend, you'll be able to use the same techniques anywhere there is rocks, current, or both. You bring the beer.
 

Mort

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If you are serious about learning to use jigs over rocks, get you happy butt over here for a weekend and I'll teach you how I learned to do it over the past 30 years. It's probably not the only way, but it's worked for me. I'll provide the jigs. By the end of the weekend, you'll be able to use the same techniques anywhere there is rocks, current, or both. You bring the beer.

Damn, you a pretty enticing salesman there bud. You trying to get me out of town?? LOL...and it might just work, BUT--got get this truck fixed first.
 

SDMF

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Damn, you a pretty enticing salesman there bud. You trying to get me out of town?? LOL...and it might just work, BUT--got get this truck fixed first.

If you go fish w/KDM and somehow get the notion to introduce blue num-nums into the situation, you might not remember your name when you're done, let alone how to fish a jig in the rocks..................
 


Brian Renville

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Probably spent some time on the exact places you are talking about. I'm also assuming you are doing alot of lindy rig style dead stick fishing. Sometimes it's best to admit you are in a horrible spot and need to move a bit, many times 10 feet either direction works. Mostly though these things help the most: don't cast out more than 25 feet or so, it really isnt necessary to catch fish. Never cast upstream, all your do is catch everything in the river stuck in front of you. Cast straight out so the distance the line travels in the water is less. Its generally impossible to stop the bow in your line in the current out here unless you want to be out there fishing walleyes with paddlefish gear, don't let the bow get out of control try to use an angle more than more weight. If I have to use more than an ounce sinker it starts getting on my nerves. Also if you have a rocky and snaggy bottom don't slow retireve, you either have a bite or you don't and reel fast to keep your line from getting into the underwater ledge. Keep that rod high. If you are able to find a suitable spot with sand or mud then do whatever you'd like, I like to use the least weight I can get away with based on the current, even a slow roll with the sinker can be great. Good luck, exploring can definitely pay off!
 

MSA

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I use cranks, bait, plastics, even spoons behind bottom bouncers from shore. Cast up stream at 45 degrees, then reel up after it passes 45 degrees down stream. Keep rod tip high, and line tight as the current carries it by.
 

JayKay

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Damn, you a pretty enticing salesman there bud. You trying to get me out of town?? LOL...and it might just work, BUT--got get this truck fixed first.

If I was you, I'd take KDM up on it. If he or MSA can't teach you how to jig on rocks.. well, I guess there's always stamp collecting.
 

Allen

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If I was planning on fishing in the rocks, like a submerged section of riprap, I'd go with an in-line trolling sinker and an Aberdeen (wire) styly hook. I love those Aberdeen hooks for spinners and slow-death rigs. Rather than breaking off the line, it just straightens the hook and I keep my Leatherman handy for putting some curve back into the hook.

I don't recall where I ever found them, but I have a small collection of in-line weights that are essentially nothing more than lead-core on steroids. They work great in front of shallow diving cranks and given their slim design, they'd also be good for fishing around the rocks. Granted, they are considerably more expensive than standard trolling weights. I guess that since I still own them, they must work pretty good or I'd have lost them by now.
 


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