Rigs and traces - limiting your losses

Losing tackle fishing over rough ground offshore is inevitable, but I’m still amazed at how many boat anglers make no effort at all to minimise their losses. Continually snapping gear off and having to reassemble is both costly on the pocket and wastes good fishing time. Here's what I use to keep my losses acceptable.

A short length of telephone wire wrapped around the bottom rig link or boom link and then attached to the eye of the lead with a few turns of wire means that when using line strengths of 20lb and above a good steady pull will unravel the turns of wire leaving the lead in the snag but releasing the trace, and if you make you own leads it’s the cheapest item to lose. You can also use freezer bag ties for the same.