Hi, can someone please advice how to avoid snags when rock fishing while the waves are hitting hard on the rocks.

Hi Hingol,

How are things going? I hope all is well with you.

I am a fan of using round or ball sinkers. Because they are round or ball shaped, any hole they go in they can also come out of.

I am also a big fan of "matching the hatch". I am sure you have seen me talk about matching the hatch on the Forum before.

You are fishing in big waters. Big heavy, rough waters. Water slamming into rocks and breaking things off the rocks...and that is what the fish expect...the fish expect the hatch to be broken off the rocks.

So try not using any sinkers. Time your cast with the waves...drop your bait in right on the out going surge. The fish expect things to be washed in. You might need to use some weight and even though the waves and wash are strong, don't be fooled by using heavy weights...If you have to, use just enough sinker weight to be able to cast to the target spot.

Unfortunately, snags are par for the course of rock fishing.

Thanks itsa Do you mean that my best bet would be to cast a bait without a sinker?

The fish were caught trolling near Churna Island by my friends a week back.

Hi itsa did you manage to watch the youtube video

Yes.

But if you need extra weight to be able to cast, then use a sinker to help with casting. Just use a small sinker.

If you do need to use a sinker, then a ball sinker will help avoid snags. But there is no way to completely avoid snags.

In rough water like you describe, the fish do not expect food to sink to the bottom. The fish expect food to be floating and washing back and forth with the waves.

An example might be the drummer we get here in Australia. They like to eat what we call cabbage weed. They also like to feed in rough choppy waters. The waves slam into the rocks and brake off the cabbage weed turning the water into "cabbage soup". So anything in the water that does not look like cabbage weed will be ignored. A big clump of cabbage weed on a hook looks natural, but if it had a sinker it would sink to the bottom and be ignored...and get snagged.

Those choppy waters also attract pelagics like tailor, kingfish, queenfish, barracuda, banito etc. The waves hitting the rocks wash all sorts of things into the water which attracts small bait fish...which attracts bigger fish. So casting some shiny metal lures with a fast retrieve is also worth a try.

Hi Itsaboat, I can see that your experience as an angler is matchless. I will go on Friday to cast with either little or no sinker between the rocks where there is a sandy beach. Will let you know thr result and will posf a picute of the spot...take care & thanks

nice catch!

Personally I fish freshwater and target small fish. When im getting hung up i switch to a dropshot rig with a slight modification. Instead of tying a hook directly to the main line (palomar method) i use a small dropper loop just big enough to get a 'handcuff' style connection to my hook as well as use a large bb split shot. That way if my weight gets hung up, i can pull and the splitshot slides off. Coupple that with a weedless hook and youre on your way to alot less hang ups. Again, i fish small game in freshwater but this idea could work the same for any fishing with larger tackle.

A knot is your weakest link. So tie a good one. Unless youre tying a bell sinker and want it to break off at the weight, such as in this case. A simple over hand knot weakens the line by roughly 50 percent. So if youre using 30# line, 15 pounds of force will drop your weight. This might hurt someone who cast a long distance such as surf casters, in which case they would need a heavier leader. 50# main line with good knots to an 80# leader (overhand right by the weight) would require about 40 pounds of force to break the weight loose...

In my case im targeting small catfish, bream, perch and crappie with 6# line. We have hooked 5# fish and not been broke off. One of our biggest carp was foul hooked (known to fight harder that way) and we still landed that fish on an ultralight and a #10 salmon egg hook.

It can be done.