Snagging

Snagging chinook salmon

Snagging, also known as snag fishing, snatching, snatch fishing, jagging (Australia), or foul hooking, is a fishing technique for catching fish that uses sharp grappling hooks tethered to a fishing line to externally pierce (i.e. "snag") into the flesh of nearby fish, without needing the fish to swallow any hook with its mouth like in angling. This is achieved by suddenly and vigorously pulling the line (either by handlining or with a rod) when movement is felt, causing the snag hook to "claw" into any fish grappled by the hook points. Weighted multi-hook rigs can be used to increase chances of success,[1] and modern technologies such as underwater video camera can also be used to visually aid and time the snagging.

Some herbivorous/algaevorous fish species, such as paddlefish, are not attracted to normal angling baits or lures as they primarily filter-feed on plankton. While these fish can be caught using nets, spears or pole hooks, snagging is also used as a less strenuous and more versatile technique.[2] However, for fish species that can be enticed easily by baits or lures, snagging techniques are often discouraged or prohibited as it causes more mutilating injuries to the fish (which diminishes the fish's chance of survival even after catch and release) and is viewed as violating the principle of fair chase,[3] and has been associated with overfishing (especially with multi-hook snag rigs) and other social controversies concerning animal cruelty.[4]

  1. ^ "Snagged". Fishbio. 28 November 2011. Retrieved July 27, 2015.
  2. ^ "Paddlefish - Questions and Answers". North Dakota Game and Fish Department. 2012. Archived from the original on June 24, 2015. Retrieved July 27, 2015.
  3. ^ Merwin, John (June 1994), "The Sportsman's Dollar, Part 3", Field & Stream, vol. 99, no. 2, New York, NY, pp. 64–65, retrieved July 27, 2015
  4. ^ Waldman, John (2004). "Snagging or Snatching: Subtle It's Not". 100 Weird Ways to Catch Fish. Stackpole Books. p. 152. ISBN 9780811731799. Retrieved July 27, 2015.