Centerpin (Float) Fishing Gear

[zippyFX]

Hi All,

I was reading up on Center pinning and I think there are a number of spots I can try it out in Ottawa. Thing is I am not keen on shelling out the amount of money required for the rod and reels until I can appreciate what I need. I have found [muskiebait avert your eyes] some discount reels on ebay that I thought may be interesting to try.

Question is will these mount to a regular spinning reel or do I need to find a fly rod? I have never used a flyrod or a centerpin rod so I am not sure. I plan to check out the local stores but I have not yet had the opportunity.

[MuskieBait]

You can start with a cheaper float rod...Okuma has a few options...or I like my Shimano Convergence. It's no $300 Raven rod...but it does its job...and has been landing me 25lb+ salmon and tons of steelhead in the past. I still have it...bought it pre-owned but in original wrap condition for $50 at the time...from an online forum.

You can also start with Okuma Aventa reel...but after trying one out, I was pretty disappointed with it. I went one level higher and got a used Okuma Sheffield online. Still not a "bling" reel like an Islander or a real Sheffield...but I can barely even cast that damn thing at the moment...so do I need a better reel? No. The Okuma Sheffield is grades above the Okuma Aventa though...even to my untrained hands.

I never said you shouldn't get discount gear online. In fact, I love purchasing online...as long as you know what you are after!

I bought my Penn Jigmaster, Penn Spinfisher, Shimano Baitrunner and my Daiwa Saltist online (slightly used) for anywhere from 30% to 50% off the sticker price. As long as you know what you are after, there's nothing wrong with discounted gear online...as long as they are good gear with online discount rather than poor gear at a cheap price.

[OldTimer]

MuskieBait offers good advice. I myself buy most of my lures etc - on line.

The action of a float rod is somewhat different than either a fly or a spinning rod in the lengths involved.

[MuskieBait]

Some fly rods come close to a float rod action...and I often ponder if I can re-wrap a 4-piece fly rod blank to be used as a float rod. The basic premise of the action is very similar...you just need to find the right blank though...I just don't have the time to try out a bunch of rod and spend time to learn how to wrap a rod.

Some of the spey rods are very interesting as potential fly rod blank...It's an interesting thought to ponder.

[MichaelAngelo]

(01-14-2013 12:23 PM)zippyFX Wrote:  I have found [muskiebait avert your eyes] some discount reels on ebay that I thought may be interesting to try.

Fishfight bought one of these cheap pins a while ago and it wasn't up to par. I think I saw them anywhere from $20-$50.

I bought a used Okuma Aventa for $100. It was crap... the bearings were damaged and the reel was out of alignment. The spool was not balanced and would rotate so that it sat with the heaviest section of the spool pointing down.

Here's what I thought... the premise of a centerpin is a freely rotating spool. Dead simple, nothing can go wrong. No, I was WRONG about this.

Centerpins are precision equipment. The spool must be perfectly balanced and the bearings must be top-notch... or there is no point in using a centerpin.

If there is the slightest imperfection in spool balance, the reel will not spin freely and will hang up with the heaviest part of the spool towards the ground.

If the bearings are not top-notch, then the current of slow flows will not be enough to pay out line.

I was so frustrated with my $100 aventa... it wasn't even worth it.

This is something that'll cost money to be worth getting into. This is NOT the case with other types of reels. A cheap spinning reel will do just fine. A cheap centerpin is friggin POINTLESS. I went through this frustration two months ago.


PS: I haven't spent enough time with my centerpin to say that it helps me catch more fish, but I can say that fighting the fish is a lot more interesting. There's no drag, so you feel every pull of the fish and choose how much pressure to apply. It's a unique experience.

Here's an interesting kicker... one would say and advantage to the pin is that you can fish long drifts and just let the float go down the stream as far as the eye can see. In reality, it doesn't work that way because DEPTHS CHANGE. If the fish are holding the bottom and your depth is set to 4', it's ONLY GOOD FOR A FEW FEET OF DRIFTING ANYWAYS! The rest of the drift is wasted because depth may have changed to 3' or 5'.

I hope a pinning expert can correct the above statement if I'm wrong...