The Nale Brothers

[Brown71]

CRB, for the record, the last thing I wanted to do was “stir the pot.” I’ve been fishing 4 out of 7 days this week. I don’t waste time with bs like that, I’m usually fishing with any free time I have. I thought it possibly may interest some folks. That’s it.

 

[mt_flyfisher]

Franktroutangler recently posted on the PA Hunting Forum “... on a lifetime basis I have now caught 279,247 trout on spinners since 1979 when I began spin fishing.” He claims he has caught an average of 13.3 trout per hour over the past 22 years.

He also says he only uses barbed treble hooks on his spinners to minimize the number of hooked fish that get away, and he measures and records every trout in his log. Pictures that he has posted online show that he is not adverse to holding trout out of the water, or sliding them onto rocks, in order to take nicely posed photos.

IF one is to believe his reported catch statistics, then one must question how many of these 279,000+ trout have not lived after being caught, handled, and released. Or at a minimum, how many of those trout were forever scarred from the removal of those barbed treble hooks.

Pick a number. 5%? 10%? Whatever number it is, this man has probably killed and/or disfigured more PA trout than almost any other angler has even thought about catching in their entire lifetime.

 

[bingsbaits]

He stated in a post once "he only carries the net for photo ops"...Would slow him down to much to use it properly..

 

[krayfish2]

5 pages regarding a spin fishing guy....on a fly fishing forum. Go figure. I look forward to the thread on scrapbooking or the one on how to replace the differential on a 1968 Land cruiser.

 

[steliejim]

A unique individual, to say the least. Had a discussion with him last year on the HPA forums about the virtues of my single barbless hook lures vs his treble hooks. I was in the wrong, of course, mortally wounding all the trout I caught on single hooks.

Yet, his pics clearly show many 4 inch trout swallowing a treble. I am sure under his care, all the fish were unhurt.

 

[afishinado]

ryansheehan wrote:

Haven't fished bait since I was a child, not that there's anything wrong with that but that doesn't mean it isn't very effective. Not really sure how I got roaped into a conversation about bait and spinfishing two things I have little interest in, oh well.

You took the bait!!!.....

Just funnin' with you Ryan.

You're one of the best fly guys on here.

(Fly) fish on!

 

[Zak]

mt_flyfisher would you care to dig up the research on your 5-10% kill rate? You love piling on with comments like your sliding trout on rocks comment just to try and make someone look bad when reality couldn't be further from the truth. You have zero evidence to back up a poor handling comment. I see absolutely nothing wrong with that picture you posted as there is zero research to indicate that a trout will die if you quickly hold it out of water for a picture. In fact there are literally 1000s of photos like that of fly fisherman on this forum annually.

 

[wildtrout2]

Many of the opinions being voiced here remind me a lot of how crossbow hunters get jumped on for posting on a "bow hunting" site, and are referred to as "slob hunters" because they don't use a compound bow. As fisherman we all share a common interest, some just go about it differently and more intensely than others. Live and let live, Spring is coming.

 

[ryansheehan]

afishinado wrote:

ryansheehan wrote:

Haven't fished bait since I was a child, not that there's anything wrong with that but that doesn't mean it isn't very effective. Not really sure how I got roaped into a conversation about bait and spinfishing two things I have little interest in, oh well.

You took the bait!!!.....

Just funnin' with you Ryan.

You're one of the best fly guys on here.

(Fly) fish on!

I sure did, hook line and sinker, I couldn't resist, you must have used a night crawler!

 

[Swattie87]

wildtrout2 wrote:
Many of the opinions being voiced here remind me a lot of how crossbow hunters get jumped on for posting on a "bow hunting" site, and are referred to as "slob hunters" because they don't use a compound bow. As fisherman we all share a common interest, some just go about it differently and more intensely than others. Live and let live, Spring is coming.

At its foundation, it reminds me a lot of a classic political debate. “My way is right and better, your way is inherently wrong and inferior.” Just classic intolerance of the world viewed through another’s eyes, manifesting itself through something as trivial as the method by which you impale fish by the mouth and retrieve them to you for enjoyment. If someone else enjoys using different legal tackle to do this than you, really, who gives a shot.

Do I agree fundamentally with every word Frank Nale types, or the tone at times in which he chooses to type them? No. Do I acknowledge that the methods he practices and is clearly very skilled at are effective? Yes. Do I care how he (or anyone else) chooses to fish? No. Do I enjoy reading about it? Generally, yes...I like fishing for wild Trout in PA...it seems we have that in common.

Though I don’t normally keep track of it and still won’t, since the 2018 fishing season is relatively young I can accurately report the following:

In 2018 I’ve fished for Trout 3 times. 2 times with fly tackle, catching 12 Trout. Once with spinning tackle, catching 3. So far in 2018, I guess I’m a FFer and FFing is more effective. But subject to change. Sometimes I’m a spincaster too. Hope ya’ll still want to fish with me...I’ll agree to use a fly rod that day if it will make you feel better about it. ;-)

 

[Brown71]

Swattie, great post. I like wild trout/big trout fishing. Period. However ya do it. It’s all good. Couldn’t have said it better.

 

[jifigz]

Swattie,

You're right. It makes no difference how someone catches fish and how they enjoy the past time. We have certainly chatted about this for a while. I did read through his posts on the other sites and he is thorough for sure. Almost insanely thorough in his record keeping.

Strangely enough, I kind of feel like slaughtering some fresh stockies with some spinning gear just because I haven't done it in so many years. Watch out Rainbow Trout! The jigging spoons and my Weber Kettle are coming for you!

 

[Zak]

Excellent post Swattie. Who cares how others fish as long as it's legal. In the end.......it's just trout fishing.

 

[DriftingDunn]

I’ve been reading Frank’s stories on HuntingPA for a couple years now. I must say, some of his stories are better written and illustrated with better photos than anything I’ve read on this site. He’s a gifted photographer in my opinion and pretty good at telling a story.

I also don’t recall seeing any photos of 4” trout with treble hooks swallowed down their throats. Is that even possible or was it written just to incite people on here? I’ve never seen a picture of his with a trout on dry rocks either. From his photos I would conclude that he takes great care of the trout he catches and photographs.

 

[Canoetripper]

I agree with the above post. I know that FN is a C&R spin fisherman and makes his own spinners. I always thought that he would be a proponent of single hook barbless spinners.

I am not trying to be negative in any way, but I do read what he posts and pay attention.

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

5 pages regarding a spin fishing guy....on a fly fishing forum. Go figure. I look forward to the thread on scrapbooking or the one on how to replace the differential on a 1968 Land cruiser.

I was hoping for Indonesian basket weaving in other news I caught a large trout today on a fly rod :-o
Sorry I had a fight in the middle of your Panther Martin party.
So I was using a shooting head with an 11' 7wt on big spring today.....I'm told it isn't the most effective way to fish that creek :lol:

In all honesty you can learn a ton from Frank as a streamer fisherman. A lot.

 

[DriftingDunn]

Canoetripper wrote:
I agree with the above post. I know that FN is a C&R spin fisherman and makes his own spinners. I always thought that he would be a proponent of single hook barbless spinners.

The topic of hooking mortality when using treble hooks versus single hooks on spinners has been discussed on here a few times before. Mike Kaufmann, Area 6 Fisheries Manager with the PFBC, who goes by "Mike" on here, has stated, and I apologize to him if I don't have this perfectly straight, that single hooks on spinners cause significantly greater delayed mortality due to the deep hooking in vital areas of the mouth and esophagus than treble hooks. He said that this has been tested scientifically.

Maybe this is why Frank uses trebles? He's doing what's best for the trout.

 

I wonder what make model of rod frank uses, reel size, number of ball bearings it has etc. and a recipe for one of his spinners.
real important information for spin guys. I am kind of sure he has a following somewhere.

 

[troutbert]

salvelinusfontinalis wrote:
In all honesty you can learn a ton from Frank as a streamer fisherman. A lot.

Such as?

 

[ryansheehan]

You'd have to ask Frank :-D