talk to me about center-pinning

clarkman

clarkman

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I mostly want to do this for trout, although I wouldn't mind eventually doing it for my nymphing setup for steelhead.

Basically, just walk me through it while keeping in mind that this should be a budget friendly endeavor & I have exactly zero clue about how things are set up.
 
When I first started centerpinning it was for steelhead, so some of the size/weights below may need adjustment.

First, buy a reel. I bought a raven matrix for my first. It seemed like a good quality entry level reel to me at the time, and it has held up well since then.

Next buy a rod. I bought some no name rod that was 13 feet long. Honestly I couldn't tell you the brand without going to look at it. I know it has a cork grip with sliding rings. It's worked fine for me though if there were any part of this first setup that I would upgrade it would be the rod. Haven't gotten around to it yet.

Then buy some line and put it on your reel. I used 10 pound hi-viz mono with some backing, just like how you would line up a fly reel except mono on top instead of the fly line.

Buy some floats. I like torpedo shaped sliders. I generally use clear in summer and the high density foam ones in winter. I think most of my floats are around 1/2 oz. though I would need to look at them to confirm. You will also need bobber stops if using sliding floats. I like the rubber egg ones that slide on your line.

Buy some weights. Split shot, the weights with swivels on both ends, etc. all work. For convenience sake I've gone to sliding hollow core pencil lead on my line because I have a ton of it that I need to use. The weight should both help get your presentation down and balance your float.

Buy some swivels to join your mainline and leader, and prevent line twist.

Buy some leader.

Finally, buy whatever it is you're going to present to the fish...jigs, plastics, hooks for bait, etc.
 
I'll need to do this while I'm not on my lunch break at work on my phone. But I can definitely weigh in.
 
First - don't read centerpin sites from the midwest where it's very popular as what they do is complicated and generally very different than what we do here (much lighter gear with their slow flows and smaller lake run fish).

Simple PNW pin rig is basically the same as a float rig with other gear except for the rod/reel. KISS is good.

The rods are like long float rods to aid in mending on loooong drifts. My shortest is 10' which is a trout setup built on a 4wt blank. For anadromous fish I have them from 10'6" to 12'. Reels can be cheap to fancy benchmade beauties as nice as any flyreel but generally they are as frictionless as possible either through bearing or tightly machined bushings spinning around a central axle or 'pin, hence the name. They will be spooled with mono or braid based on personal preference. Lot's of people out here use heavy braid as the fish are not leader shy and it saves losing floats.

My rig, others will have their own favorite:
  • 30lb braid with a slip float with a bobber stop on both top and bottom, dacron stop at the top and a t-stop like used with beads at the bottom. Allows you to use the float as a fixed and slip float and the bottom can save you losing a favorite float if you break off. Braid is light, floats and mends well.
  • Below the bottom stop is an inline weight with swivel at each end. I use the Dave's Tangle Free inline weights as I try to keep my hands off lead when possible. Having the heaviest weight on the inline right below the float allows you to make bigger, further mends w/o moving the gear around as much.
  • 3' or so of whatever tippet you like down to a jig. Combine the weight of the jig and the inline weight to match the rating of your float. 1/2oz or 20gr floats are popular around here paired with a 3/8 inline and a 1/8 jig.
Tweak your rig from there based on water and personal preference. There are lots of different float types for different water, etc.

If fishing a bead:
  • Run heavy mono from the inline weight to a swivel and attach some weight to the swivel that balances the float. Lots of ways to do this based on the bottom contour or just what you like.
  • From the swivel run 2' or so of tippet depending on current and clarity to your bead.
Here's my main steelhead gear rigs. For chinook, I swap out this pin rod built on a Sage X 7126 blank for one built on a Method 9119 blank and a fancy pin reel that has a drag. Spoon (or fly) in the glide above and pin through the rock garden.

SageX_and_296
 
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I'm sure other pinheads will weigh in with their opinions, but I throw out that you probably want to learn to cast with a heavier (1/2oz or heavier) weight and at least 11' rod with a full flex. Once you learn the BC Cast (there are plenty of good videos on Youtube) you can branch out to learning the Wallis cast and others that will work with the lighter weights you'd be using for trout fishing. Centerpins are fun - I need to make more time to fish mine. But the hatchery returns have been in the tank on my local rivers, and that (+ Chum) was what I used to target with my pin rigs.

You'll be able to find reasonable priced reels from Okuma or Raven - they're the most expensive part of the setup. I've played with using 10-11' spinning 'noodle' rods with a centerpin reel. . . if I was going to rig for trout and wanted a rod off-the-rack, that's what I'd choose..

The other option is what Thomas mentioned. . . a 3-5wt switch rod blank also makes a good trout pin rod.

Have fun!
 
Yes, that Youtube video is probably the best I've seen, at least he's the guy I understand.

As far as rods, you can find used? PM me if you're interested in a used rod. A bit heavy for trout, but, fine for steelhead. I don't see any rods out there I would use for trout, might just use what I have, but, I like the idea of using a 4wt spey rod made up into a center pin rod for trout.

As others have pointed out, keep the terminal tackle simple. I personally like the fixed floats, it's what I learned on. However, I will use slip floats too.

Under the float I use a inline 3/8 sinker. The 16-20" below that my offering, be it a jig, bead, or what ever.
If being lazy and fishing higher water, I'll use 1/2 ounce under a slip float, such as a Cleardrift.

My first set up was a Raven Rod, and Reel.

That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
 
I have a 10' 3/4wt full flex that would probably work for a rod to start (remember, primary goal is for nymphing for trout). It sounds like I should be able to coble something together once I get a reel.

Outstanding video. That seems to simplify things in comparison to some of the others I've perused.
 
Looks like things are well covered so far. Here's my one tidbit:

I've tried braid a LOT on my pins over the years, and I just don't like it. At all. I don't backlash often, but when it happens, it's so much worse with braid. I also don't like the zero-give it has when fighting a fish when dealing with a freespooling reel. Something about the "feel" I don't like. Also find it sags a lot more when running long drifts.

15lb high vis mono is my preferred running line.

Everyone will likely have a very different opinion.
 
I played with it for trout over here in our little rivers 12' 2-8# rod, and a chepo import reel. Didn't care for the mono so tried hydofloat and liked that. My big problem was being uncoordinated I had trouble controlling the reel with my fingers and got birdsnest. With out short drifts and the way I was fishing it I just prefer a fly rod (or spin and feather the line out).
Maybe I made mistake, I watched a lot of those midwest videos. I also didn't stick with it probably as long as I should have to really pick it up.
 
Tom Butler said:
I played with it for trout over here in our little rivers 12' 2-8# rod, and a chepo import reel. Didn't care for the mono so tried hydofloat and liked that. My big problem was being uncoordinated I had trouble controlling the reel with my fingers and got birdsnest. With out short drifts and the way I was fishing it I just prefer a fly rod (or spin and feather the line out).
Maybe I made mistake, I watched a lot of those midwest videos. I also didn't stick with it probably as long as I should have to really pick it up.
Click to expand...
Honestly, Hydrofloat may be the single worst line I've ever used. Period. It's fine for like, the first hour or two, but the coating peels off if you even want to adjust your bobber. Then the memory gets so bad when it's cold that it becomes unusable. Quite literally my lowest recommendation.

Again, opinions. But I feel pretty strongly about that one. :p
 
iggie said:
I don't use braid because it has a tendency to tip wrap.
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Tip wrap is the only real downside for me. I switched from limp braid like PowerPro to Sufix832 (30lb for steelhead, 40lb for chinook) and the only time I get tip wrap is on missed hooklets.

I lost several nice fish and a bunch of floats fishing various high-end floating mono mainlines so went to braid and learned to use it. Now I know exactly where I'll get a breakage (the flouro to the terminal point) and I can keep an eye out and swap as needed. Never lose floats anymore. Maybe heresy but steelhead fishing is sort of 'practice' for me. My main non-fly fishing focus is spring chinook. For those guys, I want zero stretch on hooksets from far away so I'm using a long, stiff as a board rod and heavy braid. Really helped to increase my bites-to-hooked fish ratio.

I also like the consistency across rigs. I generally have two spinning rigs, two bait casting rigs and a pin or two rigged and hanging on the wall ready to go, all rigged exactly the same so it's easy to grab and go or swap terminal rigs from rod to rod. It's a 3min walk to the river so I tend to grab them a lot.

It all works. It's fun to experiment and get things dialed for your individual preferences and river conditions. For example, I have a minimalist low-and-clear rig that I'm testing right now that still isn't quite right.
 
Evan Burck said:
Honestly, Hydrofloat may be the single worst line I've ever used. Period. It's fine for like, the first hour or two, but the coating peels off if you even want to adjust your bobber. Then the memory gets so bad when it's cold that it becomes unusable. Quite literally my lowest recommendation.

Again, opinions. But I feel pretty strongly about that one. :p
Click to expand...
LOL, I just threw whole spool of that stuff in the trash. I bought it on a whim and after spooling half the reel, said "no fucking way" and unrolled it into the trash.
 
Used my leftover Hydro as running line on trout rods where I'll rarely see the backing. What everyone else said . . . coating comes off, not fun when it's cold, etc. Even if the coating stayed on, I'd rather go with 12-15lb mono. Sufix orange 15lb was my favorite. There might be something better on the market now. I've heard that Sunline produces a good line for Centerpins -
 
I've never tried braid on my centerline reels. I get enough backlash with Mono, I don't need further headache right now.

But, if I did, I probably would stick with PowerPro braid. I use it on my bait caster.
 
My favorite mono for the pin before I went to 100% braid was Siglon Fine Float, one of the hollow lines out of Japan (Sunline).

I've been reading about this stuff and thinking about trying it for the helluvit but haven't gotten around to ordering any. I like being able to see the line in low light for mending and all that's in stock is the low-viz.

hitenausa.com

Chromium Float - Float/Centerpin Main Line (300yd)

Hitena, Premium Tackle For Serious Anglers - Fresh/Saltwater, Fly Fishing, Float/Centerpin and Rod Building
hitenausa.com hitenausa.com

I tend to backlash more with mono due to the stiffness but the backlash is worse with braid when it does happen. However... With braid, if I don't want to mess with it, I just cut it out and tie the ends together with a double uni-knot and keep fishing. The join is tiny and it takes only a minute or two to fix.
 
The most expensive part of centerpinning is the reel. Even the cheap Okumas which are perfectly good cost over a hundred bucks. If you look around on the internet or ebay, you might be able to find a lightly/never used pin reel for cheaper, but then you are taking a crapshoot on how the reel was treated. That is up to you.

I use mono, one rod is 15lb cxx, and another is 17lb cxx. I've tried a bunch of fancy floating mono, some specifically designed towards centerpin fishing, and I don't like any of it, the abrasion resistance is usually crap. I pretty much stopped losing floats and terminal tackle once I switched to cxx. If you are starting out, I strongly recommend the heaviest mono you can get away with, because you will get backlashes. I have followed what is popular up in BC, either Ultragreen, Chameleon, or Pline CXX. They are all abrasion resistant, and test well over their line rating.

Since you are starting with trout, maybe look at something like 10lb mono mainline like ultragreen or chameleon, and use a weighted float like the weighted aero floats. That way you keep your weight closer to 1/2 ounce, and it's easier to do the BC swing cast. When you get more comfortable, you can drop down your main line to something like 6lb for trout.

Hydrofloat sucks.
 
Used a centerpin outfit fishing from the skiff for Kings when the tide push has about maxxed and swinging was no longer viable, and is very effective.
Reel an Okuma Sheffield DR11 center drag loaded with 20# CXX.
Rod an 11' 8 wt switch rod, removed the reel seat and cork, installed a new 24" one piece EVA handle, once the balance point was determined X taped the reel in place with 3M black tape, rock solid.
For flies under the balsa float, Clousers and Comets tied on jig hooks

Learned a lot about centerpinning sifting through this web site:
www.michigan-sportsman.com

Center Pin Fishing

Forum to discuss your Center Pin rigs and how you use them.
www.michigan-sportsman.com www.michigan-sportsman.com
 
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