Does anybody know anything about the Grice & Young Avon Royal Supreme Centre Pin reel, I have just got one on ebay, I am told it was made in the seventies at Christ church, its not come yet hope I made a wise choice

I used one for many years. Grice and Young sold out all their tooling to a South African Company ca 1989.

They still make them I think. They are marketed by Shakespeare

Do they spin well ron, not used one before

They are not the ideal reel for trotting.

Personally I would go for the Okuma Aventa which you can get for £69.99 from a number of outlets. There is also the Okuma Sheffield centre-pin at £120 which I have been told is the best ever made.

I have a couple of JW Young Centrepins but they cost me over £200.

I should have asked first, I have sent the cheque now, I could allways put it back on ebay if it dont trot well, I paid £66 with the p/p .
There was two on there last week one went for £125 when i saw this on Monday it looked like a bargain.
Chris

Barbel Catcher,

The Avon Supreme is a lovely centrepin and it is a very useful tool for trotting especially as the diameter is a little larger than most, like the Rapidex and Trudex.

When you get the reel give it a good strip down, clean it up, dry it thoroughly and apply a light oiling to moving parts.

I have 2 Purists, a couple of Aerials, 2 Rapidex' and Trudex reels but for sheer enjoyment I'll use the Royal Avon Supreme out of choice.

I have a Royal Supreme - paid a fiver for it twenty odd years ago - and mine is certainly free-running enough for most trotting situations, though it is more suitable for bigger, more powerful rivers like the Avon. In these situations it is better than many of the lighter reels available.

One big advantage over the Purist and similar models is that, once you give it a good 'bat' at the end of the trot, the momentum of the heavier drum keeps it spinning longer and speeds up the retrieve process. Of course, this extra weight is a disadvantage when using light float tackle in slow moving water.

The adjustable drag mechanism is a useful refinement over the ordinary 'Supreme' (the 'Royal' suffix denotes the presence of this feature on G&Y reels) as it allows the spool to be tightened up enough to prevent it backwinding when legering in a strong current.

The only reel I have which will beat it on fast rivers is a pre-war four-inch Allcock Aerial Popular, and these are becoming increasingly expensive.

I had one from the early 70's up until a year or so ago and then flogged it on Ebay,regrets...yes.Wish I had used it on the Trent, instead of leaving it in the garage.
It wasn't suitable for Essex rivers but, I used it all the time, for all my fishing in those days.
Then I switched to fixed spool!

Very much designed for the faster more powerful rivers. I've seen them in use over many years on the Hants Avon and Dorset Stour.

As others have said, probably not the best 'pin for the slower paced rivers.

But a good buy at that price.