A carrier assembly having at least one sealing cup, a fluid bypass and adjustable wash nozzles, as well as a spear assembly having a central through bore, are attached to the distal end of a length of continuous tubing and inserted in to the flow bore of a pipeline. Fluid is pumped through the annular space between the carrier assembly and the pipeline, providing motive force for advancing the carrier assembly within the pipeline. Fluid can bypass the carrier assembly, enter the central bore of the spear assembly, and return to the surface through the central bore of the continuous tubing. A stuck pig or other obstruction is speared, and thereafter retrieved from the pipeline on the continuous tubing.