Best Method for Snag and Drop

[kutztownwayne]

Looking for advise from the seasoned guys on here.

When snagging bunker for Stripers is it better to.........

Snag with your treble hook and allow the snagged bunker to drop down on that treble for the stripers?

or

Snag and retreive the bunker and switch them over to another rod with a fish finder type rig and drop that?

 

[Offshore Madness]

We use the second pole,this way i can still snag bunker and have a liveline to

[Fishin Dude]

Fishing from the shore, I'll snag and drop with the treble hook. On the boat, I like to fill up the livewell first, this way I have live bait for the rest of the day to use elsewhere. If there are fish working the bunker pod,often you will get hit while reeling in the snagged fish. If it comes in bitten in half by a Bluefish, drop it to the bottom, as often the Stripers are below or behind the Blues feeding on the scraps on the bottom. <'((((><

[Luna Sea 5]

 

[blynch]

You can definitely make a case for either, but I've caught more fish leaving the bait on the snag hook.  I find that the process of reeling in a bait and rehooking it drains much of the energy and struggle out of it.  A freshly spooked bait oozing with pheremones and fighting madly draws in stripers better than a tired one.  of course, this method operates on the assumption that there is no shortage of bunker to be snagged, and that you are expecting to catch a fish that you plan to keep.  If either of these is not the case, I'd definitely put some in the baitwell, at which point you may as well re-hook them on a j- or circle-hook.   

[kutztownwayne]

Great insight, this helps alot.  Thanks so much!

[IrishAyes]

I have used both methods and found they both work. I do prefer reeling them in and putting them on another outfit with a circle hook and sending them back out. There are times I will us a fishfinder rig to get them to/near the bottom. There are also times that they are sent back out with no weight at all and letting them find their own place in the water column. Every situation is different and you have to adapt to the situation.

If you are in a catch and release mode definitely go with the cranking the bunker in and put on another outfit, preferably with a circle hook. It is at times difficult unhooking a bass impaled on a large treble without doing much damage to the fish.

Good luck with whatever method you choose. 

[Bucktail]

 

[bossross]

One afternoon last spring my buddy Rick and I were on a huge pod of "boiling bunker" off of Mantoloking. We were snagging and letting the bunker drop on the treble.

These guys on a boat within shouting distance (imagine that on a Sunday afternoon during the spring run!!) were telling us to put the bunker on circle hooks that the bass "didn't like the trebles."

As they were reeling their bunkers up and rehooking them, Rick and I were landing fish.

I'm sure rehooking on traditional set ups has it's merits, but like everything else, it depends on the situation.

We have caught a lot of bass by just snagging and letting it drop.

[Hotrod]

The Snag and Leave worked well for us. Picture the bass following around the school of bunker.. just like any fish... they don't want to expend too much energy for a meal..  As soon as they see a weak link..  It becomes their meal..  

Now running and chasing them... you are left with retrieving your bunker and re hooking..  the livelier the better.  Use nothing smaller than a 10/0 Snag Hook.

Then.. there are the days, they want the bluefish waste... hanging under them and eating their scraps..

I was once told by a great fisherman that fishes Barnegat.. That "90% of the time there are always bass around bunker.. it's their food source and they stay with it, but what they want on any given day is the Million Dollar Question"