Tips for getting big pollock out of snags

[robbiekennedy]

Hi all, am getting a few good pollock at the moment , biggest I landed was 6lb, but am after hooking some absolute monsters , can do nothing with them , go straight for snag , I’ve tried keeping rod high and wind as hard as I can but fish so big can’t wind much , I’ve let them in snag for up to 20 minutes hoping they come out and no good , I’ve gone to 25 pound line with beach casting reel to see can I just winch them up and no good either , am I doing something wrong or is this the way with big fish ,

[corkconian]

What type of rod are you using , A rod with some better backbone might help you keep the fish up. Sometimes you can be lucky when they get into a snag that letting off some line can sometimes get them moving again but unfortunately thats fishing for you

[shortcircuit]

My only advice would be to play them like you would a big fish from the boat, by "pumping" the rod and only reeling as you lower the rod for the next "pump". That way you are not reeling against the weight of the fish and the leverage of the rod is doing all the work

[cd07]

Lots and lots of bad language and persistence usually works for me!!

[robbiekennedy]

Thanks for the replies guys, ya the rod is only a cheap spinning rod 10 foot , i always thought it was stout enough but something a bit tougher could do the job , am thinking if I could run backwards onto a higher rock and pump like hell , will keep trying anyway , it’s great fishing really , do any of ye try float fishing for big pollock , I tried last year and had smaller fish and heap of wrasse , was using big lugworm as bait , am thinking now maybe mackerel fillet or sandeel might be a better job

[cd07]

Float fishing a sandeel or belly of a mackerel 6" in length will definitely produce big Pollack. A float fished ragworm is also killer for Pollack