Seems like everyone that ever went fishing always loses (at some point)
1) a big fish
2) favorite/expensive lures,jigs,hook,line and sinker

any suggestions on how to minimize loss of tackle when fishing rocky areas? (the places where Mr. Rockfish hang out).

Just how much stuff do you guys lose every year?

i've lost

fish (don't know the size)
few plugs about 2 or 3 maybe
bait...lol

Only lost two plugs last year. Prolly a hundred bucks worth of bucktails and other jazz. ITs worth every penny of it. A Fin-Nor reel was also a casuatly of the fall run. Its just got worn out, the handle became loose and the drag just isnt the same.

I would say that Smokey and I lose about 250 jigs with tails a year. We also lose about 10 plugs a year at various spots. Seldom lose anything falling out of the bag but it has happened. I estimate we damage one rod a year that requires a repair but only actually lose one do to breakage about once every 10 years.

I lost my stuffs at Canal and Rockport.

Canal: My Pager, poppers, terminal tackles, trash (the wind blew it away from me), kastmasters, and tins.

Rockport: pager, big fish, terminal tackles, baits, and my foods.

Jigs whenever I fish the canal, but thats ok

Poppers/Metal occassionally when the bail on the Penn 6500 closes :af:

Got to the point where in the warmer weather, I'd strip down to my boxers and swim out to get the poppers, except in the Canal of course.

Also always loose the floaters when the tide/wind is blowing in the exact opposite direction of where I'm casting from!

I end up spending a lot of money on braid.

A few years ago I took a long walk in RI and got to the end of my journey, sat & had a swig of h20, then went to put my Korkers on and saw they were missing and part of my backpack was open. I proceeded to walk the long walk at a fast pace retracing my steps along the edge of an incoming tide, climb over the dune and found one Korker and 2 plugs that had fallen out of my bag. Walked the next 1/4 mile to the truck and back twice but could not find my other Korker. Walked BACK to fishing spot and gingerly fished some more accomodating but less productive rocks while those I was with slammend them a bit more an extra 20' out torards the ledge. Still caught a bunch of bass but now one more left side only Korker to go with the other orphaned left foot korker from the last time I lost one :doh:

Had a new 7000 Big Game lost at the Thunderbird at a Tri-State tourney a few years back :af:

aside from losing some terminal tackle, and a bunch of fish last year, i did lose 1 yellow habs needlefish, 2.5 0z at the race one early morning :af:

Shimano makes this plier pair with a blue nylon sheath. There is no velcro of any sort, so when you bend over, your pliers go weeee. Ive lost mine 1st day out and a friend lost his first day out. Very strange why they make these sheaths like that.

Originally posted by PurpelNoon
Shimano makes this plier pair with a blue nylon sheath. There is no velcro of any sort, so when you bend over, your pliers go weeee. Ive lost mine 1st day out and a friend lost his first day out. Very strange why they make these sheaths like that.

As a wise man once said "To ask a question is to answer it"

Left a bag full of plugs and various other things next to my car while loading up, came back an hour later to find it gone. Broke my heart. First time I cried in twenty years.
someone fishing the outer cape that night has a fine collection of used plugs thanks to me.

I never loose anything. I know where it is at if I ever want to take a swim and get it that is.:laughs:

canal....fried a new abu 5000 on a fish that i never saw...or maybe a stray submarine..not sure about that one..couple very nice yo-zuri swimmers $$....the occasional plug..nuttin like that snap of the line and watching $10 bucks sailing off in the distance,..and for all of you chunkers out there,,ever turn around to see the albino dumpster buzzards h#^&#^&#^&#^&#^& back the last of you fresh poggies?:af: not kool. not going to try to estimate the terminal tackle that the local lobstermen must have "collected":confused:

I hate those flying dumpsters!!!!! I have found a way to float squid 5ft below the surface and at times the buggers will try to dive down and get it!! I think I need a wrist rocket and a load of 1oz egg sinkers:laughs:

I was fishing the State Pier in Gloucester one night throwing chunks of herring out there. They have these rats, the size of footballs that run up and try and take your bait when your not looking. You just stomp your foot and they run off for a few but come back every couple of minutes.

All of a sudden I see this guy pull up w/ his girl friend and get setup to fish. She gets her chair out and gets all cozy while the boyfriend starts cutting up bait and throwing chunks out there.

After a few minutes of watching me perform the Off-Broadway version of Stomp for about 15 minutes she says "Excuse me but why do you keep doing that?" So me being the type who's always looking to help says "Oh it keeps the Rats away, They like to steal your bait" She nervously says "Rats!!" I say "Yup and there pretty friggin big around here". I then proceed to watch her start talkin back and forth w/ her boyfriend, Five minutes later they're packed up and Gone.....Go Figure. :D :D

i have contributed about 500 #'s of jigs to the canal gods, but when im chunkin i started using old spark plugs for weights because 50 cents a piece adds up

Last summer I lost 4 lures in 4 casts to bluefish. I knew then and there that I was a slow learner!:rolleyes:

with all the lead I*ve seen lost and lost in the canal (weights-- eel skin rigs--and jigs I dont see how the fish aren*t dead from lead poisoning.Couple of years ago the first time I went of season I made three cast and had a bird on every time.Happens all the time Scusset beach or down on Berts beach in plymouth in spots cause its so shallow the flying rats dive in and grab you bait.They are a federally protected bird so don*t hurt them.down on Bell road back in the late 70*s there were so many rats they would run across your feet and scare the crap outta ya at night(that wakes ya right up) but now hardly any just the Scunks that stop by for free lunch the slobs leave all over when they are done and leave.

Lost a couple jigs to the rocks this year.

Lost a couple poppers last year to blues, I had a small mix of blues and stripers, blues all being under 5 pounds, no wire because of the bass, lost a couple homemade poppers too.

Originally posted by Saltheart
I estimate we damage one rod a year that requires a repair but only actually lose one do to breakage about once every 10 years.


But boy o boy, when he breaks one, he breaks one. Remember that 1088 that you broke at @*&^%$? Almost broke your back, too. :eek:

Oh yea, almost forgot...

Definately 20+ pounds of lead lost every year, some bucktails, some with rubber.

I remember....yeeeeoooww!!! Broke my finger that night tooo! :( Bad night


One night Smokey bought a big wooden plug for about $20 and cast it off first cast!

One night I cast off a polaris popper. I could see it floating away with the current though cause they float. I tied on another plug to try and snag it. cast that one off too. :)

A bad backlash with braid on a fully locked rod can spell trouble. The braid parts at the spool, and the lure goes clean out of sight. From beavertail when trying to hit the reef over Newton Rock, a steady south-west in my face, I've had casts that are comical and expensive, with the lure--always heavy wood---going halfway across Rhode Island Sound.

Originally posted by Saltheart
I remember....yeeeeoooww!!! Broke my finger that night tooo! :( Bad night


One night Smokey bought a big wooden plug for about $20 and cast it off first cast!

One night I cast off a polaris popper. I could see it floating away with the current though cause they float. I tied on another plug to try and snag it. cast that one off too. :)
Geeze, been there, done that. T-shirt didn't fit.

Of all the things i've ever lost, I miss my mind the most.:eek5: