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Centrepin basics

Adam Harris

Adam Harris

Active Member
I am looking to buy my first centrepin and I am confused over the differences, ie width and diameter. Are certain specifications better for certain conditions? Are some better for ledgering and others for trotting? Do you load the line so it spools off from the top or bottom of the reel, or is it a personal choice?
 
Adam Harris said:
I am looking to buy my first centrepin and I am confused over the differences, ie width and diameter. Are certain specifications better for certain conditions? Are some better for ledgering and others for trotting? Do you load the line so it spools off from the top or bottom of the reel, or is it a personal choice?
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As far as I understand it, wide drum for heavier line and ledgering and narrow drum for trotting, but to be honest, for your first pin, it wont make much of a difference....

Regarding the line position, personally I prefer it to come off the bottom, but others prefer it off the top.
I seem to remember somewhere that off the top is better for trotting, but again, its a personal thing, try both ways and see which you prefer.

If you dont have a pin yet, I cant recommend the one on offer in Angling Times at the moment, enough.
Its a £100+ pin been sold for £30 +p&p.

It spins like a dream so will be a good trotting pin and has a loud enough ratchet to wake the dead, so also ideal for Barbel fishing.
Its the Avanti 'Marco Cortesi' signature centre pin.

Steve
 
Or get yourself a classic Speedia for perhaps only a little bit more.

The one below is a wide de-luxe, stripped of its original painted finish. A great reel with a few tricks that some modern reels don't have, such as the ratchet tentioner. The narrow Speedia is a brilliant little trotting reel. In one article I read the writter states that his narrow drummed reel is the easiest spinning c'pin he has ever used and would start with just a mere breath blown across the reel.
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Adam, i was also looking for my first pin(s). After reading the "ikonix centerpin thread" and some great reviews from some very experienced river anglers. I took the plunge and bought 2 of them, ( the dragoncarp ones recommended by Stevo above ). I,ve still yet to try them, but i,m sure there going to be a fantastic first choice. Here,s the link if you want to have a look. http://www.dragoncarpdirect.com/products/Marco-Cortesi-Signature-Centrepin-reel.html
 
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Adam Harris said:
I am looking to buy my first centrepin and I am confused over the differences, ie width and diameter. Are certain specifications better for certain conditions? Are some better for ledgering and others for trotting? Do you load the line so it spools off from the top or bottom of the reel, or is it a personal choice?
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width: narrow spooled reel are generally not so good for ledgering because of lines bedding in ,when using heavy ledgers ,whereas a wide spooled one the line is spread more evenly .and resists bedding in

but for trotting ,it doesn't really matter ,but the wider spooled reel might give you less chance of bedding in ,after catching a big fish ,but asthetically its personal choice

there is another consideration in that a full faced drum (flat bottom) is better than a pillered (pins) aerial type ,which can cause crimpling of the line (comes off the spool ina zigzag fasion) ,and it gets a memory of the angles between the pillers .wareas a flat faced spool doesn't .

diameter : Dia = retrieval rate .in general the larger the dia the more line you wound back onto the spool with each turn . but there are exceptions some reels have a deeper arbor than the dia betrays .thereby the diametre of the spool isn't the reel factor ,the Radius of the drum is ,case in point a 4" (spool dia) speedia has a drum diametre of about 3" across the pins .wether its a wide or narrow spool .

reel sizes :are a personal choice ,but in general a 4"-4½" is a comfortable size for most hands .I prefer too match my reels (well all my tackle) too the venue inm fishing ,so on big rivers i use big centrepins (4½" - 6") and medium sized rivers or still water i prefer reels around the 4" mark and on small rivers i prefer 3½"-4" centrepins.but basically its what your comfortable with .if limited too one centrepin then i'd recommend a 4"-4½" centrepin as thats the best compromise range.

Line exiting bottom or top: line comming off the bottom means you wind the spool in a conventional (as with open face reels) manner and is more flexable with casting options .whereas with the line comming off the top might have some precieved advantage when trotting , never found that too be the case myself ,maybe 100 years ago when reels was a lot less free running than modern reels are now.It also has limitations too casting options and you wind in the line backwards too the conventional manner.
but you have too try both too find which suites you

i hope that helps
 
Steven Devereux said:
Line exiting bottom or top: line comming off the bottom means you wind the spool in a conventional (as with open face reels) manner and is more flexable with casting options .whereas with the line comming off the top might have some precieved advantage when trotting , never found that too be the case myself ,maybe 100 years ago when reels was a lot less free running than modern reels are now.It also has limitations too casting options and you wind in the line backwards too the conventional manner.
but you have too try both too find which suites you

i hope that helps
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Some people seem to prefer the line coming of the top edge of the spool as it's slightly easier and also more controlable when using your thumb as the drag when giving line. I always have my line coming of the bottom, regardless of this. I merely use my thumb and cup my left hand on the rim for additional control. Alternatively, and when using split cane I think this is quite common, you can turn the rod upside down when a fish is taking line.
 
Steve Williams said:
As
If you dont have a pin yet, I cant recommend the one on offer in Angling Times at the moment, enough.
Its a £100+ pin been sold for £30 +p&p.

It spins like a dream so will be a good trotting pin and has a loud enough ratchet to wake the dead, so also ideal for Barbel fishing.
Its the Avanti 'Marco Cortesi' signature centre pin.

Steve
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Is this still available? Anybody know?
 
I phoned and they said they had none. Was told that their sister company, used tackle were taking orders. Is that where you got yours?
 
Yeah, got mine yesterday and very happy with it. Didn't expect to get it until after Christmas to be honest.
 
Just a great reel for the money. Having owned numerous, expensive pins, this reel seems to be amazing value. I bought 2, but haven't had a chance to use them yet.

For the money you can't go wrong. They seem to take very little effort to turn the drum, so for trotting they should be pretty good. They look like a very solid construction and the nice thing with pins is that there is little to go wrong them, they are so simple.
 
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