Fishing Articles
“Terminal-Polarity”
Setting up the Mainline and Leader in Reverse for
maximum casting and leader strength
Timothy Kusherets
Most Steelheaders and Salmon Anglers run a 14:12 or 10:8 mainline to
leader setup when drift-fishing; setting up the mainline and leader
strengths backwards is something I call “terminal-polarity”
ideal for drift-fishing any kind of water, fresh or salt. It’s
an especially effective technique that works “best” when
the pressures of combat fishing put fish off the bite during the fall
and winter runs. Ordinarily the leader is supposed to be weaker than
the mainline, by a couple of pounds, so any snags you get hung up on
will cost you only the leader; but what if the fish are on the far side
of the river and there’s no way to get to them because the casting
distance is simply too far? Terminal-polarity drift-fishing is the option
you’re looking for; however, the chances of losing more gear than
usual but it does work.
I had gotten to a familiar river I scout out every year, fishermen had
lined the riverbank forcing most all the fish to the far side soon after
dawn. After deciding that the best fishing positions involved getting
shoulder-to-shoulder with a few guys I began to fish. Now and again
I would hear my compatriots lament about the fish they could see off
in the distance.
“Dude! Did you see that one? God that was big!”
“Man…would you look at the size of that one?”
“Son of a gun! What was I thinking not taking out the boat?”
After a couple of hours it was clear all the fish had moved out across
the river; it was time to go.
I had broken down my gear and was headed back to the car when I stopped
and thought about the dilemma. I knew that the line I had was too heavy
to get all the way to the other side. I thought about what it would
take to get to them. The line-test that it would take to make the cast
would have to be incredibly small, but that wasn’t the problem.
Casting with light line as far as I needed to cast; I new losing it
to snags was very real. I would run out of line in no time at all; but
the biggest problem was that I didn’t even have the line to begin
with so I called it a day. As I got into the front seat I looked over
the river and could see the fish. It felt as though every minute between
the time I decided to go fishing to the very moment I was looking out
over the river had been wasted. It was on my mind as I headed down the
highway and pulled into a gas station. After I filled up I went into
the store to look at tackle that was sure to be hanging on the back
wall. I was browsing when I saw some 6-pound test; it was then that
I got an epiphany. I hadn’t traveled too far from the river and
home was still two-hours away. I had scheduled the whole day to fish
and decided that I would go back and give those fish the what for. In
a rush I scooped up every spool of line took them to the counter. I
couldn’t get on the road fast enough.
When I arrived back at the river most of the other fishermen had abandoned
the prospect of fishing, with the exception of a couple of guys. They
had sat down and were both chastising themselves for even making the
trip. They had some things to say as I passed on by. They could see
my newly bought light tackle.
“What in the heck do you think you’re doing?”
“Boy, you’re going to lose all your stuff! I know what you’re
thinking about and all you’re going to do is put line in the water
and lose it! Don’t do it man! It’s a waste of time to fish
like that. Why don’t you just come back in a boat another day?
I’m telling you you’re going to regret it!”
I understood they meant well but the only thing keeping me from the
fish on the other side was that kind of thinking. I intended to break
from that pattern.
I was done setting up in about 15 minutes. The mainline was 6-pounds
while the leaders were 10-pounds. I used a double-swivel snap-setup
for the terminal gear with a 2-ounce magnum slinky in the hopes that
it would snag less and cast far. I waded out to a boulder and got on
it, which gave me a good 2 foot height advantage. With my 10.5 foot
rod I drew back and cast out. It looked as though it sailed for about
70 yards. I watched as it arched and just before the terminal gear hit
the water I flipped the bail over. The, fishable, slot poured into a
pool and the pool into a tailout, where the fish were holding. As it
went through the riffles I watched as the line stopped, when the line
neither pulled nor strained harder I knew it was a snag. I had to break
off. I wrapped the mainline around my left hand and hoped. As I pulled
back there was a snap that no fisherman wants to hear. The mainline
had broken right at the tip of the rod. Half the spool was gone and
to make matters worse the other fishermen had been watching. The rain
of insults I received were intense and vulgar but what they didn’t
know was I had already accepted the possibility that losing line and
setup was going to be part of the program.
I stood there on the boulder and brought out another reel from the back
of my vest and retied. Though it was clumsy trying to tie up on a boulder
with a rod over 10 feet long I was ready to fish in about 7 minutes.
I cast out again.. The leader hit the far side of the seam and headed
downriver to the tailout. As the mainline approached the area where
I had lost the first setup I flipped the bail open and let the line
free-bail past the snag; as it did I flipped the bail closed. The mainline
had just passed the snag when it stopped. I waited and then felt the
kind of “tick” a small trout might make. I set the hook
and a huge bright hen jumped out of the water! It was all over the place!
It was the kind of fight that winter fishing could warm frost bitten
hands. The steelhead swam towards the riffles that were below the tailout
where the water picked up speed! I put the tip of my rod in the water,
making sure not to bump any boulders, and flipped the bail for the third
time. A belly formed in front of the fish tricking it into thinking
that the pull was coming from downriver making her turn around and head
back upstream. I was sure that it would work but I had never dreamed
that it could happen from so far away! I made sure that she had made
substantial progress upriver before I flipped the bail closed and reeled
in the slack. By “thumbing” the spool for a few seconds
at a time I was able to maintain the full six-pounds of pressure for
the entire fight without snapping the line. The tactics worked perfectly.
As I was standing on the boulder when I could see her flashing to the
side now and again, after about fifteen minutes she was ready to come
in. Holding her in the water and looking at the nearly perfect shape
of that beautiful chromer I removed the hook from her mouth and put
her back. I fished for the remainder of the day. I lost a lot of line,
but I also landed a mess of fish, which I was sure to show to the fishermen
that had been haranguing me prior to using the polarity tactics. From
here out, there’s no such thing as too far where casting is concerned.
© Timothy Kusherets 2008/09 Copyrighted
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