Have you every lost your favorite fishing lure because it got snagged up on something?

No doubt, this has happened to you at one point or another. This can be really frustrating. Instead of being able to spend our time fishing, we spend our time trying to figure out how to get our lure out of the snag. In some cases, after spending hours trying to get our lure back we decide there is no hope of ever seeing it again.

Not only can this be frustrating, but this can be very costly as some lures costs as much as $20-$30 a piece. Some of my friends have even spend several hundreds of dollars on a single lure.

An easy solution to this common problem is to always carry a lure retriever with you. They work very effectively and best of all they can save you money.

In this post, we will discuss some of the best lure retrievers and how to use them.

What is the best lure retriever?

Here is a quick preview of our top 6 options:

• The Hound Dog Lure Retriever
• Daiwa Lure Catcher
• Sunny&Shining ® Fishing Lure Retriever
• SNAGBUSTER
• Lew’s Get Back Lure Retriever
• Frabill Lure Retriever

The Hound Dog

Many have said that The Hound Dog Lure Retriever is the best lure retriever on the market and for good reason. It works!

It is basically an 8 ounce weight used to knock out jigs, crankbaits and any other lures that might be snagged up. Keep in mind while most lure retrievers come attached to a line or nylon cord, this one does not. Before you can put the Hound Dog to work, you will need to attach it. Some have used nylon cord and attached it to the boat or a buoy like the Eagle Claw Marker Buoy (75 feet of line). While others have used 60-100lb test line with an old fishing pole. This approach works great because once you are done using the Retriever you can just reel it up and store it.

How to use it: First, you want to position the boat directly above your snagged lure. Once you are in position you want to attach the line of the snagged lure to the Hound Dog by passing it through the metal coil on top. While keeping the line tight you want to slowly lower The Hound Dog Lure Retriever. When you get about 2 feet away from the snag you want to release the Hound Dog so it drops down faster.

Just before the Hound Dog hits your lure you want to put slack in the line. Hopefully if you have done it correctly, the combination of the weight, the momentum of the lure retriever, and the slack in the line will push your lure free. If it doesn’t work the first time you may have to try again, or possibly change your angle of approach.

Daiwa Lure Catcher

The next one on our list is the Daiwa Lure Catcher . This device works in a very similar way to the Hound dog. As you see in the picture above this one comes already attached to 45 feet of cord. It also comes with a reel making it very easy to store.

The biggest difference between the two are the chains that are attached to the weight. These chains work very well in rescuing lures with treble hooks. Sometimes when the lure retriever drops down to your lure the initial knock or initial knocks aren’t enough to free your lure.  With chains in place, when the lure retriever drops down the chains will get caught in the hooks giving you more leverage to pull your lure out.

Sunny & Shining Retriever

Another to add to our list is the Sunny&Shining Retriever . This is a 5 ounce lure retriever that comes already attached to 100 feet of rope. This works the same way as the two already mentioned. The biggest difference you will see is the metal forks in front. These forks will act very similar to the chains on Tournament Choice. The idea is to get your lure hooks tangled in the forks or to get the metal forks to go under the lure. This will hopefully allow you to have more leverage and be able to pull the lure out.

Snagbuster

The device pictured above is the SNAGBUSTER which is another great lure retriever to add to our list. I can say with confidence it is called a “snagbuster” for a reason. This lure retriever is a beast. It is available in two different sizes. The large one (pictured above) weighs just over two pounds . It is designed to free heavy fishing lures. The smaller one weighs 1 pound and it is designed for smaller/lighter fishing lures.
Once again like the lure retrievers we already talked about this tool is designed to be used from the boat. You won’t have any success using it from the shore.

Besides using the weight to “bust” your lure free, it is also equipped with chains that can be leveraged to get your lure out of the toughest snags. It comes already attached to 40 foot nylon cord.

Lew’s Get Back Lure Retriever

Let’s face it crankbaits are expensive. Not only are they expensive, but they also catch fish. How disappointing it would be to lose one on a snag.

A lure retriever specifically designed for crankbaits is the Lew’s Get Back Lure Retriever.

This is an 8.9 ounce lure retriever with a unique triangle shape specifically designed to free most crankbaits.

It comes with 28 feet of cord and it works very similar to the Hound Dog mentioned earlier. Simply put coils around your fishing line. Drop the fishing lure retriever at the same time tightening up your line. Just as the retriever is about the hit the lure allow slack. This should free your lure. If not, try again.

Frabill Lure Retriever

What do I do if I snag a lure and I am fishing from the shore?

The Frabill Lure Retriever is the answer!

It is a strong lightweight pole that extends 15 foot. At the end of the pole is a metal coil. This lure retriever is a must-have when working shallow waters and it is simply the option out there.

How to use it: Spiral the metal coil around your line and follow the line down to the lure. As the lure retriever reaches your lure continue to spiral, this will work the hooks out of the snag. If the initial attempt doesn’t work you may need to use a combination of spiralling and pushing to get your lure out.

How to use a lure retriever?

As you can see most of the devices mentioned in the post work pretty much in the same way. Once you understand how one works, you can use just about any design. It now is up to your personally preference and the type of fishing you will be doing.

Final Thoughts…

There is no doubt about it, lure retrievers work! The best part is they can save you money. So make sure the next time you go fishing to always make sure that you have one on you or in your tackle bag.

What do you think is the best lure retriever? Please share with us your thoughts in the comments below.