Centre Pin Reels

[dorsetandchub]

Gents,


Any thoughts on the most suitable / best centre pin reels for barbel fishing?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Derek Gibson]

Gents,


Any thoughts on the most suitable / best centre pin reels for barbel fishing?

Thanks in advance.

No longer made, but still available on E.Bay. The old ''Speedia'' is a pin that will still hold its own with any of the current crop of pin's costing considerable more. Well worth the search.

 

[graham472]

Still on the used route.Youngs Rapidex also on E.Bay.About £40-£60.

 

[dorsetandchub]

Thanks, gents - bit of food for thought

 

[Paul Boote]

Derek is spot on with his Speedia suggestion, dorset.

Find yourself a good 4-inch Wide Drum Speedia, ideally the De Luxe Version that has a ratchet tension adjuster which you can tighten when fishing a big flow) and you've got a barbel 'pin for life.

 

[Ray Wood 1]

Dorsetandchub,
Get yourself an Allcock's Match Aerial or a Rapidex or Trudex I have tried most pins including a Ray Walton rollingpin but I always come back to my Aerial's.

Never tried a Speedia just don't like the look of them they look cheap and tinny just my opinion

I am having a clear out and have two pins for sale, if you're in the market for any PM. Once you have used a pin you won't look back, that's presuming you have not already used one.

Kind regards
Ray

 

[Paul Boote]

I beg to differ about the Match Aerial and Rapidex suggestions - fine (if you like the reels) for float work, nigh on useless for barbel legering.

The Trudex has the advantage that it is built like a brick something-house, which renders it fine for light to medium barbel legering.

As for Speedias. I have five wide drums and two narrows (the narrows being one of the most free-running trotting reels ever made). I have owned and used two of those five Wide Drums since I bought them secondhand and for pence as a youngster in the early 1970s.

Between them they have had over 150 salmon (on worm, in the days when I used bait for salmon - pre-1988), largest 18.25 and 19.5 pounds, and hundreds upon hundreds of barbel including one in 2006 or 2007 of 16.25 pounds and 16 other double-figure during two consecutive seasons. Both still running beautifully; they'll see me out.

 

[Judas Priest]

Personally I'd look at the Okumas and the Marco Corteisi. Can't for the life of me see why you need a superbly free spinning pin for barbel and neither of those two will break the bank.

 

[Paul Boote]

Horses for courses.

Okuma: the Sheffield is, in my opinion, a superb trotting reel (I liked it so much, I bought a spare spool for mine). But for legering? Nope. Very poor, weak ratchet.

Cortesi-type and other use-and throw animals? Just about tough enough, but I wouldn't use one for serious barbel-legering.

Free running? It's not all one to four-ounce gripper leads, you know. I catch a lot of my fish with no more than 3 SSG shot or their tungsten tube equivalent on the line. I can cast such tackle with a smallish bait 20-odd yards with the Wallis Cast on anything but rather windier days.

Unlike fixed-spools (reels that are fairly okay irrespective of brand and price paid), you have to get the right sort of centrepin for proper, more than just occasional, barbel fishing. A poor one will merely send you away disillusioned and back to your baitrunners.

 

[Ray Wood 1]

Been using my Aerials for barbel ledgering for donkeys where you get the unsuitable from is beyond me.

Not really interested in what fish you've caught... the topic is about pins, as you say horses for coarse personally I would not touch a speedia wide or narrow.

Most barbel anglers I know use the Allcocks match Aerial looks like we got it wrong.

Kind regards

 

[Judas Priest]

Paul
Yep I know it's not all about 4oz grippas and yep I can flick a couple of swanshot across the Dove with both my pins.
Never learned the Wallis as an old guy called Bob showed me an easier and less complicated way, perfect for muppets like myself and for fishing really tight swims.

Saying that, I would cherish an Aeriel for trotting

 

[nicepix]

Ladeeez 'n genlemen,
I bring you the much vaunted and admired Okuma Trent

A reel with the same reliability and trotting ability as the Sheffield stable mate and an anti-reverse that would hold against any flow.

Shame is, the second hand ones are as rare as rocking horse teeth and the new DRII version is around £200.

 

[trotter2]

Any of those reels would do what you need mate. Its all down to how much you want to spend. If its your first centrepin pick something new as old secondhand reels can be a nightmare.

 

[cg74]

Ladeeez 'n genlemen,
I bring you the much vaunted and admired Okuma Trent

A reel with the same reliability and trotting ability as the Sheffield stable mate and an anti-reverse that would hold against any flow.

Shame is, the second hand ones are as rare as rocking horse teeth and the new DRII version is around £200.

Ah yes, I seem to remember seeing a good video demonstrating its various functions; even a completely unnecessary drag system, or not, here it is:

 

[Ray Wood 1]

Dorsetandchub,
All below on ebay now make your own mind up about quality between them.


W R Products Speedia Vintage Centrepin Reel | eBay

J W Young & Son Trudex Centre Pin Reel. | eBay

Vintage 4 " inch centerpin reel made by speedia centre pin trotting centrepin | eBay

Speedia Deluxe Centerpin | eBay

*** Match Aerial Centerpin reel *** | eBay

Regards
Ray

 

[tigger]

I beg to differ about the Match Aerial and Rapidex suggestions - fine (if you like the reels) for float work, nigh on useless for barbel legering.

The match aerial is superb for trotting for barbel...i've caught lots of them using mine. Nowt wrong with the rapidex either. Ok the ratchets arn't very strong but they both have a drag/ tension wheel if it's needed to beef up the ratchet.

There are loads of good reels for barbel fishing, imo any of the okuma range being one of the best bets for someone who knows little about older second hand pin's. My favourite okumas are the Aventa pro and the sheffield.

Paul, maybe we should meet up and have a casting competition, Prince Albert open day would be good and Alan Roe can be the judge .

 

[trotter2]

Go for one of the Okumas mate. That way you will get a reel which will be working perfectly out of the box. Sheffield or Aventa Pro 1002. Use it and abuse it, learn how to wallis cast some of the lads will show you how. Or pop over and see me if your near the Durham area

 

[mick b]

A few years ago I chatted to Fred Crouch about Barbel reels and he told me that he had caught thousands on his Aerials.
He didn't say if they were the ones he used to make for Allcocks or those he made under his own name, didn't matter to me because an Aerial is just that.

Hope this helps.

 

[dorsetandchub]

Thanks, all - I think I need to do some testing obviously

 

[Paul Boote]

If you have several hundred pounds at your disposal, dorset, hit the auction houses for a 4-inch 1-inch diameter Allcock Aerial of 1915 to 1925 vintage. The 1-inch diameter (or 1.25-inch) Aerial makes a fine lead reel, the 7/8-in. version a supreme trotting reel. I have both, bought thankfully in the days when nobody wanted a centrepin, even an Aerial.

If you have three years waiting time at your disposal, commission Chris Lythe to make you one of his exquisite modern copies of the above. I did several years ago, offering immediate payment when placing my order (which Chris declined), waiting two years without a word from him and eventually giving the order up, only to hear from him after three years, when I couldn't pay for the ruddy thing and had to give the reel up, having just shelled out several thousand pounds to undertakers for a family funeral. Still, I have the original Allcock versions, which are really quite something.