My lot is located about a mile from the mouth of Craddock creek and my dock sits on a secondary point. For reasons best known to the dock builder he positioned the dock parallel   rather than perpendicular to the shore. When the lake level drops 2 to 3 feet, I can’t get my boat off the hoist and I’m stuck. We have been in this situation for awhile, so I don’t need much of an excuse to go anywhere else in pursuit of a fishing trip. My excuse came when my lovely spouse informed me we were heading back to northeast NC, near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay to celebrate our granddaughter’s 1st birthday. While we were there my son in law suggested we hit the Bay Bridge Tunnel again before the flounder run ended. Of course I would say, “I’m all in”.

We headed for the Lynnhaven ramp on a Sunday morning in mid September. The weather was perfect, no rain and very little wind forecast. Surprisingly there wasn’t a lot of activity around the ramp. We weren’t sure if that was a good sign or not. No waiting in line to launch the boat and plenty of parking places, but was the flounder run over?

After launching the boat we tried throwing cast nets inside Lynnhaven inlet for bait. Usually we catch finger mullet and bunker (a small specie of shad). We didn’t catch any bait, another bad sign? Just outside of the inlet we decided to drop a couple of bottom rigs with small hooks to catch some small croakers and spots for flounder bait. We caught plenty of the small fish. We kept most of them in the live well, the rest we cut up as bait.

Unfortunately for us the flounder run was indeed over. We caught several that were under the legal limit. What was running in great numbers were oyster toadfish. We managed to catch about 30 of the ugly creatures. If there is an uglier fish that swims I don’t know about it. By early afternoon we decided we had enough. We reeled in our lines and turned the boat towards the ramp. We were cruising along the Bay Bridge pilings when one of our members yelled, “Stop the boat”. He spotted 4 large cobia swimming around a pilling. My son in law quickly climbed up the tower on top of the boat and flipped a large gaudy jig next to the piling. One of the fish turned and swirled on the jig, but did not take it. The son in law yelled down, “That fish’s mouth was as big as your head, it was at least 70 lbs.”. Then he asked one of us to send up a rod baited with a small spot. He flipped the live spot next to the piling and one of the cobia took the bait. He passed the rod down to me and it was all I could do to hold on, line was flying off the reel. My son in law yelled to the boat driver, “Get the boat in open water”. About 30 seconds later and a few cranks on the reel the line went slack. Most of you know that is a real sick feeling. We returned to the ramp with mixed feelings. Dejected because we lost the big fish, but excited because the fish were there. My son in law begged me to stay another day and go search for the cobia. Too bad we had to come back here for an appointment. 

Good luck and keep the lines tight, Paul

Image Credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:OysterToadfish.jpeg

I mentioned in my last article that I haven’t done much striper fishing this year, although we have a little ways to go before years end. In fact the times I have been striper fishing have not been all that successful. I enjoy night fishing, casting plugs over hot spots, but my regular spots weren’t all that hot. For me, the prime season is early spring to early summer. I’m sorry to report that my diary is full of zeros, punctuated by only a few nights of success during that period. I am almost ashamed to turn in a diary with such a dismal record, but of course I will in the interest of scientific research.

I was in attendance at the Striper Club’s August general meeting with guest speakers Capt. Kathy Franceschini and Mike Bendzus. Kathy is a pro guide, Mike is an experienced striper fisherman and the Club’s tournament director. As I listened to the speakers explain their techniques and the success they were having, I began to feel inspired. It almost felt like a pep rally. I really needed to go out and catch a fish. I needed to feel something pulsating at the end of my line. It’s a thrill I’ve enjoyed all my life and I hope it never ends.

I wasn’t able to satisfy my addiction here because of commitments we had already made to family members in northeast NC, not too far from the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. Upon arrival in NC, my son in law proposed a trip in the Bay for sheepshead. I told him, “Of course I’m interested, but I’ve never caught a sheepshead in my life”. He told me he had been doing some research on sheepshead and he had a DVD we could watch on the subject. The DVD was informative indeed. It showed in detail just how to catch sheepshead.

Sheepshead are so named because their front teeth protrude out, similar to a sheep. They hang around bridge and dock pilings and are well equipped to chisel barnacles off the pilings. They feed off of the crustaceans on and around the pilings. The best baits are fiddler crabs, mole crabs and pieces of blue crabs. Sheepshead range in size from 2 to 8 lbs. Their mouth is relatively small, but extremely powerful. Experienced sheepshead  fisherman claim they can bite through a flimsily hook. A size #4, 4X is about right. The DVD suggested taking along a flat bladed shovel to scrape barnacles off the pilings and that in effect acts as chum for the sheepshead.

A day before we decided to go we collected fiddler crabs and mole crabs at VA Beach. We also remembered to put the shovel in the boat. The next day we headed for Lynnhaven Inlet, a ramp at the mouth of the Bay. While we were readying the boat for launch, we were overhearing a lot of talk about a tremendous flounder run. It seemed everybody was catching their limits. We just couldn’t ignore all the chatter. What to do? As most sensible fisherman would we decided to heck with the sheepshead, we need to get in on the flounder run.

At the end of the day, we all had our limits of flounder. There were four of on the boat, the limit is four legal size fish per person and we had our 16 fish. We caught many more that were undersized and had to be thrown back. I got the fix I needed. By the way I still haven’t caught a sheepshead, but we’ll keep the shovel handy.

Good Luck and Keep the Lines Tight, Paul

For me, the best fishing on the lake is at night from April to mid June. 

I know this is a striper club, but during that period I’ve caught a lot of big bass, both largemouth and smallmouth. I’ve also caught a lot of white perch and some channel cats. This year I missed most of the spring night fishing season here at the lake. I did have a few good nights, but nothing like in past years. One reason was because of the weather. It seemed like the nights I wanted to go, a thunderstorm was threatening or it was very windy. That’s not to say I didn’t go fishing all that much. The reason I missed so much of the season here was because I spent so much time in southeast Virginia, on the Chesapeake Bay, fishing with my son-in-law and friends. We caught everything from tautogs to stripers to spadefish. We did manage to catch one cobia, about 60 lbs. I must admit though that the pound for pound strongest fish I ever fought was the spadefish. The pound for pound phrase is probably overused, but in the case of the spadefish, I think it’s true.

Spadefish look a little like an oversized angelfish, with black vertical stripes. In the Chesapeake Bay, spring is the prime season for spadefish. (Seems like all the good fishing happens at once.) During this period they like to hang around structure in large schools. The usual method when fishing for them is to use a float with a small hook and a split shot on the business end. The float is placed about 5 ft. above the hook. Just like bobber fishing in fresh water. 

The preferred bait is a small piece of clam. Almost any type of tackle can be used except ultra light. I wouldn’t use light gear either, it’s hard enough to get them in with medium to heavy tackle. 

When jellyfish arrive in the Bay, that usually signals the end of spadefish season. The spadefish spread out and gorge themselves on the jellyfish. 

If you ever get the opportunity to go spadefishing, take it, you will not be disappointed. As one angler put it, “Spadefish are like bluegills on steroids”. 

Good luck and keep the lines tight, Paul 

I have been a Striper Club member for almost 15 years. I joined the Club for reasons most people do, to learn about striper fishing. I have enjoyed fishing practically all my life, hence I know many of the basics, but anytime you go to a new fishing area you need to acquire some local knowledge. The best way to learn about local techniques is to employ a guide, join an organization such as the Striper Club or both. 

The club divides striper fishing methods into three categories: bait fishing, trolling and casting. Bait fishing is done with live shad, cut shad and live panfish in a pinch. Trollers can use artificial or live baits with down riggers, plainer boards, lead core line and weighted lures. Casting is done with crank baits or a type of jig. 

Shortly after I joined the Club I had the opportunity to fish with some established members. We did bait fishing and trolling and were reasonably successful in both cases. For me, if there is ever a chance to catch fish casting, I much prefer that. 

At one of the early general meetings I attended, a gentleman gave a presentation on casting for stripers at night. I don’t remember his name and I’m not sure if he was a member or not. After that night I never seen the speaker again. During his presentation he discussed the usual course of action: begin fishing around 11:00 pm, the fishing would probably end around 2:00 am, cast the lures as close to the shoreline as possible and use a slow retrieve. He mentioned some of the lures he would use, like: Bomber Long A’s, floating Repalas, Rebels, Redfins and Thundersticks. All of this is pretty much universal among our Club members. Then as he was about to end his presentation he added one last piece of advice, “If the paint on your bait starts to peel, go ahead and scrape off the rest of the paint. For some reason stripers like the bone color under the paint.” 

That little piece of advice was inculcated somewhere in my head, but I never thought to use it until years later. About a year after I joined the Club, I agreed to help recruit members to assist with the 4H fishing class. Each call I made usually ended with fish talk. To one member in particular, I mentioned that I enjoyed casting baits at night for stripers. He asked if I had ever tried a Thunderstick in the rainbow trout pattern. I answered that I had not. Then he told me I should because the pattern was deadly. 

I promptly bought 10 of the Thundersticks in the rainbow trout pattern. They certainly worked well enough. I went so far as to encourage other people to use the pattern. After some years of use the paint started to peel on some of the Thundersticks. I thought about repainting the lures, then I remembered the gentleman and his presentation. It would be so much easier to scrape off the paint rather than repaint the lure. I did and I can tell you it works and works well. 

Good luck and keep the lines tight, Paul

By Paul Craven

In the last bulletin, I did mention at the beginning of my fishing life, in the 1950’s, the only fishing line available was braided line. For leader material anglers used “cat gut”. The braids at that time were made from linen, nylon or Dacron fibers. It is hard to imagine, but Dacron line is still on the market after all these years.

Fly line is a type of braid and has been around for many years. The making of early fly line was an interesting process. First, the line was braided from silk, and then coated with enamel or a mixture of boiled linseed oil and kauri gum. The line was placed in closed tank with the coating mixture. Air was pumped out of the tank, which forced the mixture to penetrate the line. The process was repeated several times to build up the finish. The final step was to rub the line down with a gritty substance for a smooth finish.

If you are familiar with fly fishing, you know that a leader must be attached to the end of the line. I have read that in Isaac Walton’s day, hair from a horse’s tail was used as leader material. I have no idea how it would work, it seems it would be very fragile. From the 1800’s until monofilament came on the scene “cat gut” was attached to the fly line.

My father taught my brother and I how to fly fish when we were around eleven or twelve years old. Along with the fishing lessons, we were required to learn how to attach leader to the line, splice the leader and tie on the flies. We were told the leader material we used was “cat gut”. I never questioned where it came from. I had always thought it was a type of animal sinew, but that is not the case at all. It is gut alright, not from a cat, but from a silkworm. Curiously, the silkworms that produced the best leaders came from a province in Spain. To make the leaders, the silkworms were dumped in a mixture of vinegar and water. The mixture would solidify the liquid silk. Then the strands of silk gut would be drawn from the worm, stretched and dried in the sun. The final step was to scrape away the residue from the leaders. The leader material would be graded for size and quality before being shipped.

At times it would be impossible to get shipments of silk gut leaders. In the early part of the twentieth century when supplies were short, the suppliers came up with a substitute. They would twist strands of silk fibers together and coat with a type of gum. The substitute would work well until the gum would wash out, then the leader would fall apart. At the time, anglers would lament, “There’s no substitute for good gut”.

I sure glad we have fluorocarbon and monofilament. Good luck and keep the lines tight.
Paul 

So far in discussions about tackle evolution, we’ve talked about rods, reels and lures. The only part of a complete system we haven’t talked about is the line. At our general meetings, whenever one o f our guest speakers explains a fishing technique, he displays the tackle he uses and questions always surface. Where, what bait and what type of line? The questions are indeed important. In case of the line, it is the only thing that connects you to the fish. Most of us have an opinion on fishing line, including the speakers and they always share theirs.

What is a little confusing about choosing a fishing line, especially to me, is the vast variety that is on the market. Adding to the confusion is some tackle suppliers and manufactures have put their names on fishing line. And they all make the same claim, their line if thinner, stronger, and cast further with less line abrasion. So how do you choose ?

There are many factors to consider when choosing a line. How will the line be used: trolling, casting, or still fishing? What is the targeted species? Certain fish are line shy, like trout in fresh and saltwater. Other fish are not, like bluefish, sharks and members of the pike family. They are all toothy critters and can cut through normal fishing line like butter. Other factors to consider: the clarity of the water, line type, monofilament or braid, color, brand preference and price.

About 15 years ago is what I call the second coming of braided line. Braided line has been around for a long time. As a matter of fact, before the late 1950’s braided line was all you could get. Cat gut leaders were available, but no one had ever heard of monofilament. Sometime around 2000, I bought a large spool of the new age braided line. The line was made from kevlar with no finish. The line was absolutely terrible. It would fray, cut through the guides and it certainly was not as strong as the manufacturer claimed. I threw the stuff away, and then respooled with Spiderwire Fusion. The Spiderwire Fusion was equally as bad as the kevlar braid. It had a coating, but the coating would crack and peel off the core. I threw that away as well and swore that I would never use braided line again. Now braided line is all I use. There is a world of difference between the braided stuff that was on the market 15 years ago and what we use today. Personally I like Power Pro braid with a fluorocarbon leader.

Fishing line basically is dived into two categories, braid and monofilament. Some might include fluorocarbon as a third category. I’m not convinced that it makes a good fishing line. A few years back, I tried fluorocarbon as a fishing line. It was very stiff and as soon as pressure was released from the reel the line would unravel creating a horrific tangle. However, fluorocarbon does make excellent leader material. Because it is stiff and nearly invisible, it is just perfect for fly fishing lines and conventional lines as well.

Monofilament is made from a nylon-copolymer process that has been in use since the later 1950’s. It is easy to tie knots with monofilament, easy to trim tag ends and it stretches. Some fishermen consider that an advantage because it is more forgiving. For me, the big problem monofilament has always been line memory. Monofilament has another problem and that is it weakens as it absorbs water. I have had monofilament lines break when wet. Of course not all monofilament lines weaken enough to break and most brands have been reliable for years. As stated above, I use a braided line and the principle reason is no line memory.

Braided line is thinner then monofilament per pound test and no there is no stretch. What I don’t like about
braded line, it is more difficult to tie and a special scissor is needed to cut it. Because of the slick coating on braided line, there have been cases when pressure put on the line caused it to slip through line already wound on the spool. Today braided line is made with a fiber called dyneema or spectra. Some braided lines have added another fiber called gore. They all have a gel type finish that permeates the line. I know absolutely nothing about the fibers, although I did call two product specialist and they could not tell me anything either.

Good luck and keep the lines tight, Paul

When discussing an evolution in fishing tackle, it’s not only the rods, reels, line and other terminal that has significantly changed, but much of our phraseology as well. Forty to fifty years ago, a log in the water which be called a log in the water. Weed beds and lily pads would be called exactly that. In today’s vernacular, it’s all referred to as structure. There are other terms that have changed as well. For example: all of the artificial lures that were used a half century ago were called jigs, spoons. But the term plug is seldom used anymore. Instead, we refer to plugs as crankbaits, (Makes you wonder what bait is a crankbait?), stickbaits, jerkbaits, spinnerbaits and on it goes.

We know artificial lures have been in use almost forever. Artificial fishing lures have been depicted on walls in Egyptian tombs, in Greek and Roman art work and even in a Prince Valiant comic strip. In the age of Arthur, about the fourth or fifth century AD, the comic strip showed the valiant Prince fishing in a salmon stream using flies made from animal hair and feathers.

Prior to the middle of the 20th century, more Americans were liv ing in rural areas than in cities. With the exception of a few of the larger cities, the sale of fishing tackle was a sideline of hardware stores. The source of fishing supplies for the hardware stores was from jobbers or wholesalers. One such jobber was William Mills and Sons Tackle Co. in New York City. In the early years they were the principle supplier to any business dealing in fishing tackle. Originally the founders of the Mills Tackle Co. owned and operated a hook and needle manufacturing company in England. They opened their business in New York in the 1820’s. Although they manufactured some tackle in New York, most of what they sold was imported from England. The company was still in business as late as 1970. I’m not sure of their status is now.

The reason I mention the Mills Tackle Co. is because I had an opportunity to read a reproduction of one of their early catalogs, dating back to the late 1800’s. In the catalog they advertize an artificial lure representing a minnow. It is the earliest such ad I know about. In fact there were several replicas of minnows with names like the Protean Minnow and the Caledonian Minnow. There were sold by the dozen, costing between $4 and $12. Apparently a very popular lure at the time was the Devon minnow. It came in a variety of sizes and colors. The claim was that it would catch bass, trout and pickerel. It is also interesting to note that the Mills Tackle Co. offered soft rubber baits at the time. They advertized a rubber crawfish, patented in 1878, for 40 cents each and a soft rubber frog for $3.60 per dozen. 

By my mid teen years I was completely addicted to fishing. Whenever I had any money, I would buy fishing lures: usually from a sporting goods store in Norfolk, VA. As best I can remember, I paid about $1.25 for each plug I bought. After a couple of years I had acquired quite a collection. Included in my collection were lures like: Heddon’s crazy Crawler, South Bend’s Bass Oreno, Arbogast’s Hula Popper and Jitterbug, the Dalton Special and many by Creek Chub. Many members of the Striper Club would remember these lures and probably use them because they still work.

At this time of year, we all get a plethora of fishing catalogs. Being the addicted fisherman that I am, I always review the catalogs just to see what’s new. I couldn’t help but notice some lures, particularly the type that has multiple joints, that sell for $25. The Mills Tackle Co. mentioned above, sold a multiple jointed Minnow imitation in the early 1900s’ for 75 cents. It seems as far as artificial lures are concerned, not much has changed except for the price.

Good luck and keep the lines tight Paul

At our January general membership meeting, an excellent presentation was given on night fishing during the winter months by Macky May and Mike Bendzus. New member,  Jared Key, also participated with his night fishing techniques on winter night fishing from a kayak. The presentations were thorough and included times, places, equipment and techniques. After they concluded thei r talks, Joel Janecek showed us a new type of lure. He began his talk by stating he was one angler that was a sucker for any new lures on the market. What he showed us was a lure he called the “Alabama rig”. We already have the “Texas rig”, the “Carolina rig”, now the “Alabama rig”. I’m not sure what is coming next – maybe the “Georgia rig”. (Actually Paul, we now have the “Crappie Rig”, a smaller Alabama Rig. - editor)

What I am sure of is that there is a little of Joel Janecek in all of us. Something new on the market, we just
have to have it. Most of us that have been fishing for any length of time have boxes upon boxes of lures and
many of them never used. On a fishing trip in Maine, during the early 1970’s, I was shown an attractor lure
called, “Cow Bells”. The lure consisted of a series of different size spinner blades, five in all, the largest about
the size of a hand, to the smallest about the size of a quarter attached to a wire. At the end, a spoon or crank
bait was attached. Of course I had to have it. I tried it there; never caught a fish with it and it has been i n one
of my boxes since. A sententious saying that I have heard all my li fe is, “Lures were made to catch fisherman,
not fish”. That is a terse truth if there ever was one.

Many lure fads come and go. Many have stood the test of time, for example: Rebels and Rapalas. Some like
the Big O’s lose favor about as fast as they come on the market. During the early 1970s’, it seemed that you
were not a complete angler unless you had a tackle box full of Big O’s. At that time, a contemporary at my
work place, named Jon, owned a cabin here at Smith Mountain Lake. He invited several of us to spend a
weekend at his cabin. We had just arrived when a stranger pulled up next to us and inquired about fishing.
Jim told the stranger he needed to get some Big O’s. He said, “You’re not going to catch any with it, but it
casts like a bullet. I will have to admit we did catch a few fish with the Big Os’. Similarly in the early 70’s, I
made a trip to SML from Northern VA. I happened to stop by Cedar Key Lodge. At that time it was still
operated as a fishing lodge and they had a tackle shop on the premises. I asked the proprietor what lure I
should be using. From under the counter he pulled out a “Hellbender” colored liked a Christmas tree
ornament. He said the lure may look funny, but catches more fish than any other on the lake. Of course I had
to have it. In fact I bought several. On one of my first several cast with the lure, I caught a largemouth bass
that weighed 6 pounds. I thought then that the “Hellbender” was the answer to my prayers. I fished the rest of
the day with the lure, never had another bite. On a few subsequent trips, using the lure, the days ended with no fish. Now the lures are stored somewhere in one of my boxes.

An antithesis of the two cases mention in the above paragraph was a day I spent fishing on the Shenandoah
River’s south fork during the late 60’s. I was having no success and tried just about every lure I had carried
with me. I bought along several original floating Rapalas. Until this trip I had never used them. Before
giving up, I decided I‘ve nothing else to loose, give the Rapalas a try. During the retrieve on the very first
cast, I watched a nice sized smallmouth bass follow the lure to a point about 15 feet from me. I stopped the
retrieve and the small ie hit the bait. I ended the day caching a lot more fish with the Rapalas. I believe I can
go anywhere in the world and catch fish on the original Rapalas, either the floater or countdown. I think the
same about the original Mepps in-line spinner.

More on lures next bulletin.
Paul

The last bulletin ended with a discussion on the pluses and minuses of spin fishing systems. Spin fishing has been a popular method in Europe dating back to the 19th century. Once accepted here and a demand created, spinning rods and reels started showing up in sporting goods and department stores. Some of the reels were made in the U.S., but most of them were imported from Western Europe: the Cardinal from Sweden, the Mitchell from France, the Quick from Germany and some reels were made in England. Rods and monofilament line were manufactured by companies in the U.S.

Shortly after the spinning system became ensconced in our fishing culture, the graphite rod was introduced in the late 1960s’. And they were expensive when compared to the glass rods we had been using for years, costing two to three times more. Since the introduction of graphite rods, so many improvements have been made, it’s almost as if the rods have been remade. State of the art epoxies thinner rods with more fibers per inch, nano technologies for guides, reel seats and other components that make up the rod. The price of a graphite rod has actually gone down, although you may not think that when you look at an Orvis or Sage rod costing in excess of $700. It is also interesting to note that glass rods have made a comeback, especially in saltwater situations. A relatively late development in rod blank technology is the composite blank, part graphite and part glass.

As labor cost increased exponentially in the western world, much of our fishing equipment came from Japan instead of Europe. The shift in economic activity gave the impetus for companies like Daiwa and Shimano to emerge.

During the mid 1970’s, an article appeared in the sports section of the Washington Post. Their sportswriter was excoriating another writer about his assessment of surf spinning reels. What targeted writer failed to include as a major development by Daiwa, the shirted spool which prevent line from being wrapped around the shaft. Until the skirted line wrapping around the shaft was a gig problem. Now all spinning reels have skirted spools.

Like the U.S. and Western Europe, as Japan experienced their economic growth, their labor cost increased. As a consequence, their manufacturing companies outsourced much of their production to other countries. Much of our fishing tackle was coming from either Korea or Taiwan and that included traditional American companies like Penn.

The exception to fishing tackle being imported from Asian counties is quality fly fishing rods and reels. Some reels like Hardy are still imported from England, but reels from Ross, Lamson and Abel are all machined from bar stock aluminum and made in the U.S. The same is true with high end rods by companies like: Sage, Lamiglas and G. Loomis.

Now it appears there has been another sift in labor and production. Recently I bought a spinning reel made by a company call the “USA Reel Company”. Guess where it is made? China!

Good luck and keep the lines tight. Paul 

In the last bulletin the discussion was about early tackle during the 1950’s, particularly about the rods and reels that were available then. Solid glass and tubular glass rods and simply engineered casting reels were about all the average person could get. For the fly fisherman, the choices were even less. There were tubular glass rods, but not much of a variety in fly reels. The only single action fly reels at local sporting goods stores were the Martin and Pfluger Medalist. There were two manufactures of automatic fly reels, Martin and
Shakespeare. All of the fly reels were made from cast aluminum. If you had the means, you could buy a
bamboo rod and a reel imported from England.

A major factor that contributed to the slow development of fishing tackle was a lack of public demand and
interest in sportfishing. It was not until a decade later that sportfishing gained any significant popularity. Outdoor TV shows, fishing clubs, fishing tournaments and organizations like Bass Pro, Trout Unlimited and
others all gave sportfishing a boost in status that it enjoys today.

Sometimes during the late 1950’s is when I first learned about spin fishing. The spin outfit consisted of a
tubular glass rod and the legendary Mitchell 300 reel, imported from France. Right from the beginning when
the spinning outfits hit the market, sportswriters everywhere lauded the spinning system with adulations that
were beyond reason. Maybe it was something new to write about. Maybe there was a little truth in their high
praise. The claims were that with a spinout outfit, one could cast further than with a bait casting outfit, there
were no backlashes and one could cast much smaller lures which fish preferred. Some of the arguments were
valid, but not for the reasons the writers were purporting. In the beginning, probably more fish were caught
with the spinning outfits simply because the lures presented were something the fish had never seen before,
like the tiny plugs and inl ine spinners. What the sportswriters failed to mention were the many flaws. They
either choose to ignore or were completely ignorant of the problems associated with the spin systems. The
biggest problem with a spinning reel was the line would get caught between the spool and frame and wind
itself around the shaft. There were other problems as well; line would slip off the spool causing nightmare
tangles. If the reel had a bail, some did not, the bail springs would either bend or break. The gear tolerances
were not all that close. Regardless of the problems, the spinning system caught on and has become a major
part of our fishing legacy.

It should be noted that about the same time, signif icant advances were made with casting reels. Free spooling, anti-reverse handles, disk and washer type drags had replaced the leather patches and your thumb.

More next bulletin.
Good luck and keep the lines tight.
Paul