Technique is everything when trout fishing with a spinning rod
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
When Lefty Kreh died recently, the fishing world acknowledged the loss of a great fly fisherman who helped to popularize the sport. Joe Humphreys, the author of fly fishing books and Penn State trout fishing mentor, is recognized as a world-class fly angler.
Why aren’t there any famous spin-fishing fishermen?
“I’m not sure the answer to that one,” said Mark Nale of Port Matilda, Centre County. “Stats from the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission say 15 percent of anglers call themselves fly anglers. The other 85 percent are bait anglers, and just a few percent identify themselves as spin anglers who use artificial lures.”
That group includes Nale and his brother Frank Nale, who for decades have spoken, written, demonstrated, guided and lobbied in support of fishing with spinners.
“The spinning rod lets you into places that fly anglers have very great difficulty fishing,” said Nale.
For some conservationist trout anglers, the mono line and spinner blade are fine but the treble hook at the end seems too lethal for the catch-and-release ethic. Nale disagrees.
Beginning in 2013, he collaborated on a three-year study of hooking mortality conducted by Bob Carline, who until his retirement in 2007 was an adjunct professor of fisheries at Penn State University and former leader of the U.S. Geological Survey’s Pennsylvania Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit. With Mark Jackson, one of the founders of the Bald Eagle Creek Trout Tournament, they documented damage done to treble-hooked trout.
“The literature said that 25 percent of bait-hooked fish die,” he said. “Our study included more than 1,000 fish caught [on Bald Eagle Creek]. We found that very few died, less than 6 percent after being released from treble hooks. The only thing we found contrary was that by swallowing the hook they could die if the angler tries to pull it out. We just cut the line and the fish usually lived.”
The study confirms previous research and has been presented for publication.
Nale uses one rod for all of his fishing, a 4 ½-foot light-action graphite.
“Give [the rod] a little jerk. I want to feel the tip move up, down and then stop. On a cheap rod the tip moves back and forth a lot and it’s hard to set the hook,” he said.
Four-pound test is his goto line — on Lake Erie tributaries he sometimes jumps up to 6-pound monofilament for steelhead. He’s tried fluorocarbon and braided line, he says, but prefers mono.
“When I started spin fishing with a spinning lure we used a swivel,” he said. “As I got totally into spin fishing I started experimenting with swivels. A lot of people say a swivel prevents line twist. I tie directly to the lure and if the lure is working correctly there is no line twist. Plus, using a swivel means there are three knots. The knot is the weakest part of your line — you’re making it twothirds weaker using a swivel.”
Nale said he re-ties his improved clinch knot directly to the lure about every half hour.
Fishing shops are flooded with hundreds of spinning lures. Nale said the type of spinner isn’t “critical.” What’s important, he said, is technique.
“When it starts retrieving the blade spins around,” he said. “That’s all it’s supposed to do. The angler has to read the water, cast to the right spot in the current, feel the hit, set the hook and keep the line tight on the retrieve. Like anything else it takes practice. I’m 67 and have been doing this a long time.”
With that 4-pound line he uses a one-eighth-ounce spinner and retrieves it with a 5:1 spinning reel — one crank and the bail goes around five times. His drag is set loose enough to pull out line with his hand.
Lure color, he said, is more important than the spinner model. Nale wants to see his lure moving in the water. He likes white or flashy gold blades.
On small streams less than 30 feet wide, Nale casts directly upstream like a dry-fly angler. On bigger waters he casts at a 45 degree angle upstream.
“People think there are no fish there when it’s just that the fish can see them,” he said. “Trout face upstream. I’m directly behind them wearing camo. They don’t see me.”