1 hour ago, jbsoonerfan said:

You won't break your reel, it's just not good for it. It's especially not great on light weight spools.

I don’t just palm the reel and yank. One hand hold the rod and line another hand thumb the spool firm to not let the line slip but not tight to the point of bending the shaft. If shimano and Daiwa shaft cannot handle this type of pressure every once in a while to brake 10-15lb FC I would buy something else. 

11 minutes ago, Bass_Fishing_Socal said:

I don’t just palm the reel and yank. One hand hold the rod and line another hand thumb the spool firm to not let the line slip but not tight to the point of bending the shaft. If shimano and Daiwa shaft cannot handle this type of pressure every once in a while to brake 10-15lb FC I would buy something else. 

Did that statement come out both sides of your mouth? The point I was making is it might not be good for the spool. You literally just said you "not let the line slip" and then don't hold it "tight to the point of bending the shaft" then said if Shimano and Daiwa can't handle it you would buy something else. I guess not every one is as keen on knowing the precise amount of pressure it might take to bend the shaft, that is simply why I said it probably wasn't great to make a habit of it.

2 hours ago, jbsoonerfan said:

That's a good way to ruin a reel. I have a buddy who does it that way and he can't for the life of him figure out why his drag slips.

 

OP, I usually pull out some extra line and lay my rod and reel to the side. Then I find something to wrap the line around (90% of the time I use the handle of my net) and I pull till it breaks. I use braid a lot so I will usually straighten a hook before I break the braid.

 

This is the way. Pull out line, wrap around something (I usually use my folding knife) and walk backwards. 

Any line too strong to break by hand gets wrapped around a dowel or the fancy-boy equivalent:

 

https://www.daiichiseiko.com/products/13/index?lang=en

 

 

I have been using one of these for a few years now and it’s holding up like a champ, even 50lb braid is easy to break with it.  

4 hours ago, Tackleholic said:

Let's say your jig is hopelessly snagged 20 feet deep, using 15# fluorocarbon line.  You have to break off, not wanting to cut the line and leave 20 feet of line in the water.  How do you break that line at or near the jig?

 

I wrap my body in the line. I can create a heck of a lot more resistance using my full body weight than I can pulling on line with my hand. Just make slow quarter turns until it pops. 

If you're just going to thumb the real and yank, my method is a little different, especially with spinning gear.

 

I grab the thick part of the rod and the line in one hand, holding the line against the rod so it doesn't slip, then pull and break. If I can't keep the line from moving this way I will grab something to wrap the line around. Stick, whatever. I don't ever rely on the strength of the reel, drag or rod to do the job.

This is a major reason I still use a normal clinch knot for most mono (maybe not so much with fluoro? I don’t use fluoro). It returns ALMOST 100% of your line’s strength but there’s just enough there to break off at the knot if you need to. 
 

I fish around a ton of wood and you’ll usually get your bait back when it hangs up but sometimes it’s just hopeless. The last thing I ever wanna leave in the water is any length of line so if things are obviously hopeless, I grab my line (never putting any excess shock or pressure on my rod/reel) and pull til it breaks.  As an added bonus, sometimes you’ll actually force your bait free...

That how I do mine, as I mentioned firm hold rod and line in one hand, with another hand on the reel. The hand on the rod is the one yanking/jerking while the hand on the reel just help prevent line slipping. If it doesn’t brake in one quick yank, then replete again. Been doing that for years and all my reels still working just fine. I don’t do this to all the line just the one I think I can brake off with just pull, this case 15lb FC.

I even use bottle of water to help me pulling bigger line before but don’t need with just 15lb FC.

Put a thick pair of gloves on, and wrap the line around gloved hands, pull with a quick jerk.  Be careful not to pull lure back at you, or fall out of boat.  It always amazes me how hard it is to break a snagged line, but how easy it is to snap off a fish.

15lb fluoro I'll wrap around my hand and pull. Heavier line or braid I'll wrap around my body and turn until it pops. 

Any and all line gets wrapped around my closed Leatherman...then HEAVE.

22 hours ago, jbsoonerfan said:

That's a good way to ruin a reel. I have a buddy who does it that way and he can't for the life of him figure out why his drag slips.

 

OP, I usually pull out some extra line and lay my rod and reel to the side. Then I find something to wrap the line around (90% of the time I use the handle of my net) and I pull till it breaks. I use braid a lot so I will usually straighten a hook before I break the braid.

Absolutely. Removing the rod and reel from the lure removing equation is what I do. If I can’t find my dowel or a stick, I will use the metal head of my pliers to wrap my line around and pull. Either the line breaks or the hook gives. 

I appreciate the discussion here. I have always kept my rod straight and pulled straight back while holding the spool with my thumb. But I also have thought this might not be good for the rod and or reel. I appreciate the idea to use a stick or dowel. I hadn't thought of it, oddly, but I do use a stick to wind line around when I run across others line that's been left.

I have one of these.  https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Frabill_15_Lure_Retriever/descpage-FRLR.html

 

If I can't get it loose, or it's too deep I wrap the line around the retriever pole.   I don't yank, I let my trolling motor do the pulling.   I fell out of the boat once yanking to break a line.   I just lead against my seat and let the trolling motor do the pulling.   

By the time you pull flourocarbon hard enough to break it the 20 feet has been stretched past the point of structural integrity. Just cut it.

13 hours ago, dodgeguy said:

By the time you pull flourocarbon hard enough to break it the 20 feet has been stretched past the point of structural integrity. Just cut it.

Break it at the knot, and strip off and discard the affected line.  That way you're not polluting the water with all that line.  That stuff stays there forever. 

44 minutes ago, J Francho said:

Break it at the knot, and strip off and discard the affected line.  That way you're not polluting the water with all that line.  That stuff stays there forever. 

^^^THIS^^^, until it gets caught in someone’s prop and cuts their lower seal… ask me how I know this

1 hour ago, J Francho said:

Break it at the knot, and strip off and discard the affected line.  That way you're not polluting the water with all that line.  That stuff stays there forever. 

yeah i should have said that..i use a wood dowel

i wear gloves when i fish, and i typically tape the hotspots.  i just wrap my line around my hand and yank.  

I try not break off to begin with by getting the boat over or past the bait, point the rod at it, and pop the line. If this doesn't work,  I go to a lure retriever next. If no luck with that, I try to use the lure retriever to beak the line. This works on braid as well. 

 

On a side note, please try not to cut the line, especially braid. I have had it happen so many times, it drives me crazy. The cut line ends up getting either stuck on my line when I fish or wrapped around the prop on the trolling motor, or worse in the paddling motor on my kayak.  

I've got a couple 6-7" pieces of 1" dowel rod in my line box that I use for seating my FG knots.  If I need to break off heavy line, I wrap it around the dowel several times and use that to pull.  Be careful not to wrap the line over itself anywhere on the dowel, especially with fluorocarbon, or it could damage the line.

If I find I'm stuck, I don't try to pull harder. It will only get me stuck harder. Instead, I jiggle the rod tip and hopefully the jiggle will travel down the line and get me loose.

 

When I had a boat, I would move the boat to the other side of the snag and pull from the opposite direction.

 

If I'm fishing the river, I let out a bunch of line and let the current take it downstream and then give the pole a good yank. I'll effectively be pulling the jig from a different direction.

 

Otherwise, it's everything previously mentioned.

 

 

 

Interesting thread and the method I use has not been listed. I fish exclusive from the bank but I don’t think it changes the approach. I fish braid to leader in most presentations. I also wear fishing gloves which seems to make it a bit easier. 
 

Here’s my approach…

1. Create some slack in the line…I want zero stress on my rod or reel when snapping the line. 
2. Take braid into my hand and anchor it to my hip…at this point, the line should be tight. 
3. Begin spinning in a circle wrapping the line around my body until it breaks. 

 

Using my body creates way more torque than otherwise and this approach doesn’t cut up my hands. It also allows me to manage how much energy I put into breaking the line. 
 

I'll sometimes wrap braid in a figure 8 around the handles of my pliers.  It's cut into the rubber coating, but that's a good way to break 50# braid.  Also, I buy cheap needle nose pliers so I don't worry about losing them, them rusting, or the rubber handles getting destroyed.  

 

For smaller diameter fluoro and mono, I'd just jam the spool with my thumb, point the rod at the snag, and back up until it breaks.  It won't hurt anything.  It's not until you get into the thicker lines that it starts to become an issue.  The downside to this is you'll dig your line in and can cause problems on the next cast or two.  

Lure retriever or wrap the line around a cleat and use the trolling motor.  Last week I hooked a fish that got in a brush pile in about 20' and I dropped the lure retriever and got the lure and the fish.  First time ever that happened.