Being able to get a lure or fly into structure, weed beds, lily pads or over rock bars without snagging up will definitely get you more bites, and there are a number of ways of achieving this.

For instance, there are a number of variations of weed guards that can be tied into flies, my own personal favourite is a double strand of mono, one strand either side of the hook.  Don’t use mono that is too heavy, 20lb is sufficient – if you go too heavy you may find it does affect your hook-up rate. With the weed guard you will have confidence to cast right into the strike zone where your percentage of bites will increase significantly, and you won’t be wasting valuable fishing time and spooking the fish by constantly de-snagging your fly.

If you’re into soft plastics, rigging with worm style hooks, either weighted or unweighted, is a very effective way to snag proof your lure.

Brush guards are now also being incorporated into jig heads which can be used with a skirt, or a combination of a skirt and plastic. This is a very effective lure combination – just how effective it is was recently shown to me while guiding a client from the US.

Spinnerbaits without stinger hooks are also relatively snag proof and can be thrown with confidence into and around structure, they are very effective for freshwater native species in particular.

So next time you go chasing species that live close to, or in structure – and we have plenty of them: Australian Bass, Murray Cod, Golden Perch, Sooty Grunter, Barramundi and Mangrove Jacks – try fishing snag proof lures. You may miss the occasional fish because of the snag-proofing, but you will get more bites and catch more fish!

[responsive][/responsive]