Hang-ups
Shore fishing can pose some issues when fishing certain types of lures. The main ones are lures that are fished on the bottom or in the deeper part of the water column. Two examples would be jigs and jerkbaits.
Marabous
As you bring these lures in, you are fishing them “uphill”. If you are throwing a jig, like a marabou, you better bring a bunch of them. You are going to hang-up a lot more as you drag it uphill through the rocks.
In a lot of cases, if you’re not keeping that jig on the bottom you won’t catch fish with it. It’s a double edge sword. The best remedy here is to visualize the rocks and slope underwater as you retrieve your jig. Learn how to feel how long it takes for your jig to fall to the bottom after lifting it up. If you can visualize all of this and feel it with your rod, you can keep that jig just barely above the rocky bottom and close enough to the fish to still catch them.
Jerkbaits
With a jerkbait, as you bring it in, you will also hang it up on the bottom if you’re not careful. One tip here is to incorporate an “up” jerk of your rod tip as your lure approaches the shore. Typically we fish these lures with a rhythm of jerk, jerk, pause, with the jerks of the rod tip going down or sideways to give the lure the best action. This standard retrieve also gets the lure to dive deeper as you fish it. By using an “up” jerk of the lure with your rod tip, you will get that lure to rise in the water column and stay above the bottom, away from snags and hang-ups. – Andy Cochran
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