anyone use a lure retriever? Either bought or made? I was just thinking it would be a good idea as much as crankbaits cost these days.

if so, which one do you use and does it work well?

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Hmmmmmmm....

Nitro Shirt, and a big lead weight......

The retriever is part of it I use one from bass pro,its the one with the chains on the end.The key is I have a autotreve mounted in the nose of the boat so when it pops off the line comes in automatic. You have no coiled line laying on your deck to flip rods in the water with. Now if your fishing trees its hard to beae a 3 oz lead sinker sliding down your line

The big sinker does work well

I have THIS spooled up on an old reel. It works great and has saved MANY Lucky Craft lures from being lost.

No way a sinker like that is going in my boat.

How heavy is that lead sinker? Just curious as to how much weight would work best. I've always used the sotre bought retriever but wrestling with the cord gets old, plus it takes a little longer to attach and the one I have can damage your fishing line when you attach it. Looking for alternatives. thanks

Robby uses the 16 0z model

I use the one that looks like a big lead crankbait, just slip it over your line and let fall to your lure, I spooled one of my old wornout 5500 c3's with nylon trotline, just release the reel let the retriever fall to the lure and reel it in. think I paid $2.99 for the retriever

Watch out I've heard about those 16 oz weights slipping into the fishes mouth upon retrieval if your not careful.
I've always wondered if the retractable ones with the coiled wire at the end work?

The retractable ones with the wire work good for things like shallower fishing of rocks. I use the weight one for deeper cranking. Keep it on a fish marker bouy.

I rode with Edwin Evers in the PAA. He did a real neat thing letting the rod go down the line and used it like a lure retriever. I had never seen that before. Worked every time for him. I asked him if he ever lost a rod. He said no but he broke the ceramic out of a eye or two.

Old Spark Plugs work well too.

+1 The old spark plugs with a snap seems like it works better than a sinker for some reason... All I know is I have had an old spark plug save me somewhere near $100 worth of lures in a day fishing around rocks and rebar.

A telescoping Golf Ball retriever from WalMart is what I use. It telescopes to 12'. Any deeper I go with a heavy retriever on a string. Any thing is better than loosing a $15 Lucky Craft!

HAHAHAHAHHAHA!

I wanted to be the one to say it!

I use this one from Bass Pro: BPS Lure Retriever

I got tired of losing crankbaits and spinnerbaits and saw it one time while I was there. The chains dangling off the bottom have worked wonders. My is now beat up with most of the paint of the bottom. To use it, I spun all the line around an empty spool I had lying around and just hold it between my forefinger and thumb. Works like a champ.

Do all Notro guys carry those big weights in their boats?

do spark plugs, or the big weight on a paper clip normally knock the bait lose on the initial fall? Or do you normally have to rattle it around a bit?

i carry a 16 oz with a key-ring through it, no rope to mess with. Works really well, and have not had an instance of dropping it down a fish's throat, but i may have knocked a couple out over the years.

I carry one of the telescope pole type retrievers AND one of the heavy weight with dangling chains in the boat.
But yet I normally dont take the time to dig them out when i snag a lure.
Mostly i just drop the entire rod down in the water while holding the line and the rod acts as a heavy knocker.