It is the fishing technique that involves the continuous throwing and recovery of artificial bait in search of predators. Its etymology is not entirely clear; the term comes from the English “to spin”, and would refer to the continuous rotary movement of the reel, according to others to the continuous rotation of the scoop of the rotating spoons (among the first artificial to be used in this technique).
The particularity of spinning in the sea, compared to other fishing techniques from the ground, is in the continuous movement of both the arms (because you need to launch and relaunch it constantly), both legs (in fact, it is not productive to always launch from the same point, but it is necessary to continuously move in search of prey). Another peculiarity lies in the exclusive use of false baits, apart from some technical solution that provides for the use of natural or mixed baits, but generally this possibility is rejected by the purists of the discipline.
Spinning at sea is a very simple technique, which does not require expensive and complicated equipment, at least for starters, nor large organization for fishing trips. Just a rod with its reel (and thread, of course), a handful of Artificial, a belt (or waist bag or backpack) to contain them and a raffio or landing net (optional). All in a kilogram of stuff or a little more and at a price affordable for everyone.
There is no need to procure baits at every joke, quarrel with the spouse about the “crap” left in the fridge, get up before dawn or take damp all night. Spinning can be practiced productively at any time and throughout the year (in suitable places and moments).
The equipment
To deal with most Mediterranean situations it is enough a rod, in more or less pure carbon, varying in length between 2.40 and 3 meters with maximum throwing power of 40 or 50 grams, and a reel with a capacity of about 150-200 meters of 0.30-0.35 or braided by 16-20 pounds. This is the classic “average spinning " equipment, to be practiced on the cliff or from the beaches and aimed at the most typical preys of our coasts, which allows us to easily fight fish of considerable size, but may be inadequate in particular situations.
I am referring above all to fishing in ports in search of the big lecce, but also to those situations that require very long launches to reach distances unthinkable with medium equipment. These situations must certainly be faced with tools from "heavy spinning" , then rods capable of throwing heavy baits, up to 80 grams and more; the reel must be proportionate and contain at least 200 meters of 0.35-0.40 or, better, braided by 30-50 pounds.
The artificial ones are large teaspoons or metal jigs for throwing from the beaches, or heavy minnows and poppers from the rocks and Harbour dams. Conversely, if we want to practice a "light spinning" directed mainly to medium-small bass (but also to glances, small amberjack and lecce, needlewomen, horse mackerel), it is appropriate to rely on short and light rods, from 2.10-2.40, with power from 5 to 25 grams and light reels and little capacious. Baits will need to be small in size, small minnows and poppers, jig, teaspoons.
The prey of spinning at sea
With this technique it is obviously possible to catch Only those species that suffer the attraction of artificial baits, therefore all marine predators, but some variants of spinning at sea involve the use of special artificial or mixed baits (natural + fake) for the capture of species not properly predatory but that on some occasions take bait in motion (MorMor, mullet, etc.).
Very schematically, the most used artificial bait for spinning at sea can ideally be divided into 4 large categories:
- Teaspoons (rotating and wavy)
- Fake minnow (minnow, popper, WTD) China manufacturer)
- Jigs (silicone and no)
- Various artificial (IE that multitude of baits that do not fall into the three previous categories)
We leave out instead the duvets that need a ballast for the launch (bonnand or floating lead) and are now part of a spinning of other times. The rotating spoons, normally used in fresh water, are mentioned in some texts of spinning for having given some interesting results with various species but in practice they are usable only in particular occasions. Certainly effective with almost all predators are, on the contrary, the undulating teaspoons: to different extent, all species insidious to spinning can attack the undulating. Recommended in all situations where you need long throws (for example from the beach) or where the shallow depth makes the minnows unusable.
Fake minnows are certainly the artificial most used in spinning at sea for their effectiveness against all predators. The minnows (often improperly called rapala, from the name of the most famous manufacturer) have a plastic or metal pallet that gives them the classic movement and a sinking more or less accentuated, while the poppers are without a pallet and owe their action to the particular cut of the head that allows a very particular movement on the surface. Still little used instead the “walking the dog” (abbreviated as WTD), minnows completely similar to the classic minnow but without the scoop that determines the sinking in recovery; it is therefore bait that swim zigzagging on the surface, hence the term that means “walking the dog”.
The minnows can be single-piece (by far more utilized) or articulated, with more sinuous swimming (and therefore to be recovered more slowly), very catching for certain species (sea bass in primis). There are also floating or sinking models. All minnows give the best of themselves in the foam while poppers and WTD are generally preferred with calm or smooth sea. The Jig are baits composed of a lead head (or jig-head) and a body in general silicone or composed of materials derived from fly fishing (fur, feathers, etc.).
There is a huge variety of its types and sizes, much used in this technique are the so-called silicone “sickles” or “grubs”. Compared to other artificial jig require an “active " recovery by the fisherman who must provide to give life to the bait with the movement of the arm and wrist and with frequent changes in speed. They are, however, among the most ductile and versatile baits, in fact they can be used both on the surface and deep, allow long launches thanks to the good weight in relation to the dimensions and have demonstrated their effectiveness against many marine predators. On another positive note, they have a much lower cost than all other fake baits.
The places of spinning
Spinning from the coast can be practiced by cliffs, beaches and harbors. To achieve good results with this technique it is essential to know the places Well, The Predator is not always present and you have to go looking for it, a bit’ as you do for hunting. Those who start spinning at sea spend a lot of time in the early years exploring and experimenting with new environments, enduring countless coats, selecting places and times.
In practice there is no rule always and in any case to identify a "spinning place" , only experience can tell us, but some indication of principle can be given at least for a first coarse selection. Without going into details, we can say that for pelagic or seasonal predators (barracuda, amberjack, lampposts, snappers) it is preferable to choose Rocky tips characterized by strong currents and deep waters, while for the sea bass it is more convenient to beat lower waters, beaches with medium and low energy, better if near foci, artificial cliffs. Lecce and serra can be more likely to be threatened in ports, but sometimes also by beaches, especially if there is a freshwater outlet nearby.