Fish-Hawk.Net

Hi,

Since I moved to Ottawa a year ago I've been hearing that Victoria Island behind parliament is a great place to fish cats, walleye etc. I've fished down there a lot and have done ok. However it seems like every other cast is a snag and lost tackle. Im fishing with a weight on the bottom for cats and I realize the bottom of the river in that area is 200 years of sunk logs. I see people fishing down there a lot so I'm wondering if there is a good way to avoid the snags or is that the reality for everyone down there. This has been on my mind since the last 2 times down there I spent more time tying lines than fishing.

You get better...

I used to lose lots of gear, now I might lose at most one per outing. I can only attribute this to getting a feel for what works and what doesn't work when avoiding snags.

Some key tips:

1) Never ever ever let your line go slack as the current will drag the line under rocks and then when you reel in, you think you are OK, but in reality it is pulling your weight/hooks under a big-ole-rock.
2) When you have your setup in place with the rod tip pointing up and you decide to reel in (to check bait or whatever), keep the line tight, reel in until your rod is horizontal, then with a smooth fluid motion rapidly raise the rod tip vertically while reeling in rapidly, you want to launch your weight up off the bottom and then get it as high as possible.
3) When you have a bite, you want to do almost the same thing as 2 above. Cats will go deep and roll when hooked, I have lost many fish that managed to wedge themselves under a rock or got the line tangled. What is most frustrating is when you can feel the fish is on, but as you pull it in, you feel it "wedge" against a rock, you let you line, feel the fish swimming away, but when you reel it it, it hits on the same rock. Eventually you break the line or it just cuts it off.
4) Use 50lb braid so you can literally move rocks with it...

I have tried all kinds of weights including expensive walkers, weird shapes, floating weights, etc. I even made long snake weights out of sling-shot balls. None of them really helped because (I think) the snags are more often due to the hooks catching or due to the line going under a rock... so save your money! I now just use bell sinkers.

I have also found that pickerel rigs (or Canadian Tire "Jackfish Rig" is even better) seem to be slightly better at not hanging up. I put a weight on the bottom position and hook/leaders on the top two positions. If a hook snags it will break off at the arm, allowing you to recover most of the jig. Don't put a hook on the bottom position (or use a light line on it) as it snags up the most.

Hope this helps!

My favourite trick is to use a heavy braid mainline (40 lb), a 50lb flouro leader about 2.5 feet long attached to the main by a 70+ lb rated snap swivel. I have one hook attached at the main/fluoro connection with a short 25lb flouro leader. Terminal end is the heavy weight (I use the bell weights preferably with the plastic eyelet as opposed to brass) connected onto the main leader by another heavy snap swivel and another hook again with a short 25lb flouro leader.

I keep tension on the whole line which means I have a bait on the bottom and one just above. When I snag I usually only lose a hook or the weight but my line doesn't snap and I can quickly pop a new hook/leader or weight back on the snap swivel.

BTW that location is definitely snaggy and as scarkner mentioned, you really have to horse the fish in or they WILL go under a rock. Also a good reason for the heavy braid.

Oh yes... I was out last night and the cats are biting heavy.

Rod

The previous advice is good. Also useing the lightest weight possible helps.

Thanks! I really appreciate the tips and knowing I'm not the only one having trouble in that spot.

I hope to see you guys down there one day.

scarkner wrote:You get better...

I used to lose lots of gear, now I might lose at most one per outing. I can only attribute this to getting a feel for what works and what doesn't work when avoiding snags.

Some key tips:

1) Never ever ever let your line go slack as the current will drag the line under rocks and then when you reel in, you think you are OK, but in reality it is pulling your weight/hooks under a big-ole-rock.
2) When you have your setup in place with the rod tip pointing up and you decide to reel in (to check bait or whatever), keep the line tight, reel in until your rod is horizontal, then with a smooth fluid motion rapidly raise the rod tip vertically while reeling in rapidly, you want to launch your weight up off the bottom and then get it as high as possible.
3) When you have a bite, you want to do almost the same thing as 2 above. Cats will go deep and roll when hooked, I have lost many fish that managed to wedge themselves under a rock or got the line tangled. What is most frustrating is when you can feel the fish is on, but as you pull it in, you feel it "wedge" against a rock, you let you line, feel the fish swimming away, but when you reel it it, it hits on the same rock. Eventually you break the line or it just cuts it off.
4) Use 50lb braid so you can literally move rocks with it...

I have tried all kinds of weights including expensive walkers, weird shapes, floating weights, etc. I even made long snake weights out of sling-shot balls. None of them really helped because (I think) the snags are more often due to the hooks catching or due to the line going under a rock... so save your money! I now just use bell sinkers.

I have also found that pickerel rigs (or Canadian Tire "Jackfish Rig" is even better) seem to be slightly better at not hanging up. I put a weight on the bottom position and hook/leaders on the top two positions. If a hook snags it will break off at the arm, allowing you to recover most of the jig. Don't put a hook on the bottom position (or use a light line on it) as it snags up the most.

Hope this helps!

Very good tips, i learned them over the years and it has made catfishing around snags a lot less frustrating! Victoria island is known for snags, the cats are starting to move into shallow bays with muddy or sandy bottom this time of year so if you want to get snagged less i'd stick to the bays!