The Greys Bewick and other pin chat thread..

[peter crabtree]

There was a swim on the Dearne that held a 12lb+ barbel and the only guy who caught it used a carp pole and very short line. He predicted that if anyone hooked it on a conventional rod and line it would gain enough line to snag the hook.

Not sure what you mean here? Surely the elastic in the pole would have come shooting out enabling any big fish to get in a snag?

 

[nicepix]

Not sure what you mean here? Surely the elastic in the pole would have come shooting out enabling any big fish to get in a snag?

It was the length of the pole that enabled him to hold it away from the near bank snags until sufficiently tired out enough to net.

 

[tryanythingtwice]

Tigger, your inability to accept that there just might be a swim (on a river that I doubt you've ever seen never mind fished) requiring a slightly different approach speaks volumes. I do hope your dogma is in no way inhibiting as you strive to join the ranks of the self elected experts, of which, thanks to your endorsement I am now pleased to consider myself one. ATB.

 

[tigger]

Tigger, your inability to accept that there just might be a swim (on a river that I doubt you've ever seen never mind fished) requiring a slightly different approach speaks volumes. I do hope your dogma is in no way inhibiting as you strive to join the ranks of the self elected experts, of which, thanks to your endorsement I am now pleased to consider myself one. ATB.

Trannythingtwice, You came on this thread saying that it's better to use a fixed spool reel as it gives you more control over the fish. One of the big plus points a centrepin reel has over a fixed spool reel is the better control you get when playing a fish.
The amount of pressure you need to exert when playing a fish with a centrepin reel is instant, no fumbling around with a drag knob as with a fixed spool or any other reel. You can stop a fish dead in it's tracks or let it run at whatever pace you feel is best.

 

[tryanythingtwice]

Tigger, I said that in that particular swim I always used a fixed spool. I used to sit there holding the rod, you can imagine what the bites were like. The rod would bend right through the corks and drag would only give line if immense pressure was exerted. I have fished with centrepins since I was 12, I am now 50+ I am fully aware of what you can do with a pin. The tree was at about 45 degrees to the bank and the run was right under my feet. If I had thought I could have stopped the fish with a centrepin I would have used one. Whilst I accept your point that fixed spool drags, however good, are not infallible, neither is a wet thumb. The fish by the way weren't huge by todays standards but went up to low double figures, usually though in the region of 5.5 - 8.5lb. My last post on the subject, perhaps...

 

[Keith M]

Although I love using Centrepins for trotting and rolling baits along the bottom; there are a few swims where I might choose to use a fixed spool reel; especially if I need to employ 'hit and hold' tactics right next to dangerous roots or fallen branches etc. and I'm having to wait quite a while for bites; in these cases I will often revert to using touch legering with a fixed spool reel, where bites are registered on my finger immediately a fish moves over and picks up my bait.

There are other times when I will quite happily trot a float down to slightly less dangerous snags and thick overhanging branches using a Centrepin and be fairly confident of being able to keep the Barbel from turning downstream and making it into the jungle of branches below.

Every swim that I fish has different characteristics and I find that keeping an open mind to the best type of reel to use in the swim I'm fishing is important.

Keith

 

[nicepix]

And that Keith is one advantage of the Trent centrepin against conventional ones. Hook and hold. The catfish in my video didn't manage to gain more than a metre of line and I didn't have to hold the reel. This allows you to put your hands on the rod where you will get the best leverage rather than have to brake the reel.

 

[trotter2]

I think there is some people confusing winding power with speed of retrieve.
Yes I agree if a fish shoots off upstream a fixed spool would have the edge keeping a tight line on a fish.
But a centrepin is better for hit and hold tactics for sure, let me explain

When I started north sea boat fishing in the 70s we used to catch cod ,ling and conger on a simple Scarborough Center-Pin Sea Fishing Reel no drag just the hand to control the drag on the edge of the drum you could exert so much force on a hook it would straighten out a 6 /0 O’Shaughnessy and I would say you could even snap a 30lb class boat rod.
If you want winding power a multiplier or a centrepin you don't see many fixed spool big game fishing reels Lol .

And unfortunately an elasticated pole would be the worst thing you could use to stop a powerful fish, Yes it would give you leverage but the elastic would defeat the purpose of trying to keep the fish out of the snag .You would need to tie the line direct to the tip, flick tip style "Tenkara style ". The pole could posably snap so I would not recommend it.

 

[Keith M]

It's not that I don't think that the Centrepin could be used for hit and hold tactics; I know it could; and I would normally be quite confident in using my Centrepin for this; but if I am having to wait a long time in between bites I would just prefer to be able to relax my hold every now and then to scratch my nose or take a bite from a sandwich or something else, without having to take the line from between my fingers on my left hand, and if I used my pin in these circumstances I would have to instantly clamp down on the reel spool the instant I felt the bite through my fingers, before any line at all was given, and I just think that occasionally I might be better off using a fixed spool reel which if the clutch was clamped down wouldn't give any line whatsoever before I had managed to grab the reel and strike. (NB: I would loosen the clutch slightly if needed only once the fish was away from the snag).

As I have said before; normally I would be quite happy using my centrepin for hit and hold situations when I am expecting takes but my concentration tends to wane a bit if I am having to wait a long time in between bites. I'm not as young as I was LOL..and a clutch which released line in an uncontrolled manner (on any type of reel) would probably make things worse using hit and hold tactics LOL..

Keith

 

[trotter2]

I agree Keith it would be madness to use a centrepin for all styles and techniques of fishing if your not comfortable with something use something else .

 

[Ray Roberts]

I caught this on a centrepin with a drag when I was Seventeen, it weighed just over 100lbs.

I also caught dozens of conger eels up to almost 70lb on a centrepin without a drag.

If there was a competition for the most embarrassing haircut I would have won that for sure.

 

[nicepix]

Would that have been the Alvey you were using Ray? A couple of my colleagues had them and they were top notch.

 

[Ray Roberts]

Would that have been the Alvey you were using Ray? A couple of my colleagues had them and they were top notch.

No it was an old Hardy reel, I think it was a Fortuna. I borrowed it from the owner of the hotel where I was staying. I was in Cornwall for a few days and didn't have any tackle with me. The guy spooled it up with fresh line and lent me a rod, which was very kind of him. It won the Bacardi Rum competition for that month, but I held back putting the form in for a couple of weeks as the prize was a case of Bacardi and at that point I was under Eighteen.

I did have an Alvey sidecaster reel but they twisted your reel line like no other reel I have ever used.

 

[trotter2]

Brilliant photo and recount Ray that proves a point

Do you remember when small Scarborough reels were used for beach casting I do Lol

 

[S-Kippy]

Absolutely brilliant picture Ray.....and there were a lot worse haircuts than that around then. I know....I had one of them !

 

[nicepix]

The Fortuna was a highly regarded and very expensive reel. You must have dropped on a very generous person to loan you one of those. They were, as the name suggested, built 'For Tuna'. In the 1930's there was a thriving tuna fishery in the North Sea off Scarborough and that is what that reel was aimed at.

The Alvey my fishing mates had wasn't the one that turned to allow casting. I think it was more like this one but it is a long time ago so I could be mistaken........

 

[pf0x]

Could you make the pic a bit bigger please?