This is worth mentioning

[carolina-rig-01]

It's that time of year again when we start fishing deeper and deeper, and as a result start losing more and more baits. A thread on here that talked about the fear of losing high dollar baits prompted me to post this little tip for those who may not know about making a lure retriever, this is the easiest I have found to get back a bait that is hung up and they are so cheap to make that if you save one bait with it, then it paid for itself.

Take a bank sinker or canonball sinker ( to an extent heavier is better, I prefer them in the 2-3oz. range). Now in the metal loop that is comming off of the sinker add a snap (like comes on a snap swivel) by fastening the smaller end of the snap to the loop on the sinker. Now when you get hung up get your lure retriever out and close the bigger end of the snap around your line and send it down to your bait keeping your line taught. You will usually be able to feel a thump when the retriever gets to the bait and try and drop some slack in your line right as the retriever hits the bait. If it doens't pop loose then as your working your way to get directly over the bait keep raising and lowering your rod tip making the retriever swing back and forth, usually the leverage that the retriever has over the hung bait will pop it free. There are times when you may need to send more than one retriever down if the first one doesn't get your bait loose but this technique is as high percentage as any of the methods for retrieving hung baits, not to mention it's a lot less akward to use than the pole type which is only good to a certain depth or the heavy retrievers that you have to keep on a seperate line.

Also another tip, I powdercoat my retrievers a bright color that will stand out in my box that has my weights and sinkers in it so I can grab them quickly if I forget to put them in my pocket at the begining of the morning. Hope this helps a few members save some baits and some money as well.

[WaffleJaw]

Great tip Korndog! Sounds much better than the $30 telescopic stick I wasted $ on.

I sale it to you for $15

[MississippiBoy]

Good tip. Also, I know of some people that tie a spool of some cheap, heavy mono line onto the sinker so they can bounce it up and down on its own once it gets down to the lure.

[Bob Smith]

I have one of the original David Fritz Lure retrievers tied to 1/4" braided nylon rope. I have had it for like 10 years and in that time I lost two lures, bot belonging to backseaters that didn't tell me until I was well past the the snag they were hooked up on. If you can get this retriever to the bait there is a 99% chance the bait is coming back to the boat!

[Bassboss]

Sounds like it might come in handy for tubes in the river (or anything on the bottom with an exposed hook, lol). I the idea that Bob gave of tying some rope to it, in case it dons't get it loose. I'd hate to have to break the whole thing off.

[carolina-rig-01]

A couple other things I thought I might mention.

If you have any old spark plugs laying around they can be used in place of the lead weights. Just close the gap on the spark plug over a paper clip and you can put the paper clip on your line to send the spark plug down for some search and rescue missions. This brings me to another point, you can use a paper clip in place of the snap if you choose, some people find it easier to thread the line into the paper clip than to mess with a snap, either way will work. And also for the heavier lead lure retrievers like the Jewel Hound Dog you can use a retractable dog leash to get your retriever to the bottom and then back to the boat.

[bcklash]

Here's the ones I make

[carolina-rig-01]

Originally Posted by bcklash

Here's the ones I make

Attachment 6972

Yep that'll do it. What size is that weight?