We've all seen the thread about freeing your lures from a snag, but does anyone have any tips on how to free a fish from one? In the boat or from the bank, any tips would help. My last trip I lost 4 fish to snags, and I'd prefer that not happen both for my sake and the fish's.

May be give them some slack an see if they swim out of it?

When is fish is deep and buried up in a snag and obviously hung up and pulling/forcing him out is not working I give him some slack and see if the fish swims off and gets himself �unsnagged�. The fish are not wrapped several times around the limb. Usually just wrapped once or wedged in the fork of two limbs or limb and trunk. It�s a 50-50 proposition but somehow works over 50% of the time for me. If he�s too deep to reach then you have nothing to loose by trying!

Ease off on the tension, then bump the butt of your rod handle with a moderately forceful slap.

Sending down a quick vibration down to the fish may get the fish to alter course to free itself.

Big fish are usually wise and may have learned to swim around limbs multiple times--thus freeing a large, snagged fish often times involves lots of luck.

Yep, give them slack and time to figure out they have slack and let them run...away from the snag. It doesn�t always work, but it is your best option, most of the time.

Thanks for the tips, guys! The slap is an interesting one, I'm definitely going to give that a go. I've done the trick where you give them slack and have freed very few fish with it, but I guess it is one of the few options I've got.

Broke a net trying to get one last week that was wrapped up.after about 20 minutes i stripped down and jumped in and got her.

That's some dedication right there! Maybe when the water gets a bit warmer, it's still too cold for me.

I would love to see that pic!

If your in a boat, you might use some stout rope and a grappling hook. I've never tried this, but it sounds like it might work. This might even work from shore if the fish is not too far out.

I wouldn't!

Neat idea, just drag in the snag and the fish all in one.

Sadly, from the bank your recovery prospects are slim, at best, if you can�t wade to the snag. I used to catfish from the bank a lot in my younger days...I knew where every snag was around my bank fishing spots and did my best to fish so I could keep a big fish from reaching the snag. A lot of the time I would put a line 5 feet or so I front of the snag, so if a fish hit that rig, I had time to keep them from reaching it....otherwise, I would fish far enough to the side that I could get the fish turned before they could reach the snag...

In a boat, you have a better chance of freeing the fish, if you are fishing good stout line and are willing to mess with it for a while, although the chance of recovering the fish is, at best, a 50/50 proposition.

Here is what has worked for me.
- As soon as you know the fish is in a tree, stop trying to pull the fish out.
- Just hold fast with what you have.
- Try not to pull the fish up tight to the limbs.
- You want the fish to be able to pull line.
- Let the fish tire himself out; then slowly give line.
- The fish will float toward the surface giving you the opportunity to get the net under the fish.