New centrepin reel

[waynec22]

Hi,

I have just bought a centrepin reel and I am after a little bit of advice please.

First of all, which line would be best for ledgering and a bit of rolling meat for chub and barbel? I've read braid is best but also plenty of votes for mono.

Also, when using a centrepin for ledgering, would I still use the same rig as when fishing with fixed spool reels? I.e running rig with lower breaking strain bottom?

 

[Keith M]

Every angler will have their own preferences but when I am rolling a bait or bouncing a light link leger along the gravel bed I use Terry Eustace Pro Gold (or Pro clear) as it has a good abrasion resistance (which is needed over sharp gravel beds or over rocky bottoms) compared to most of the braids I've used. Plus it also has a great shock absorbency and some often needed stretch and a very good knot strength; plus it is very under-rated as far as breaking strains are concerned so I can afford to go a little bit lighter.

In my view Braid usually falls down In a lot of these properties and I've had it knot itself quite often when I have used it for rolling baits along the bottom which are a few of the reasons why I no longer use it.

Others may have other views of course.

Keith

 

[barbelboi]

Pro-Gold/Clear for me too.

 

[binka]

Yep... Pro Gold over here too

 

[tigger]

Pro-Gold/Clear for me too.

Might as well use tow rope mg:

 

[dicky123]

Respectfully, why use a centrepin for ledgering?

A pin is a fantastic piece of kit, but they are best when used for trotting. I know lots of people do use them for ledgering, but a fixed spool does a much better job. It's got to a stage now when a trend takes over, and good sense goes out the window.

Trying to cast a pin any distance takes years of practice, and you'll get in all sorts of problems unless your on a small river and just dropping it in the edge.

I know what I'm saying will get criticised by those on the pin trend, but trust me stick to a fixed spool for ledgering, and a pin for trotting!

If you do put braid on, and don't have a spare spool for the pin, it will preclude you using it for the purpose it was designed for?

Just my honest opinion.

 

[S-Kippy]

Might as well use tow rope mg:

Or as its commonly known..Sensor !

Good sound advice from ****y. Pins are really best when trotting which is not to say they can't be used for legering or rolling a bit of meat about. Personally I'd use mono rather than braid....I'm not a big braid fan anyway but I just think mono is more versatile especially if you only have the one pin.

 

[Keith M]

Respectfully, why use a centrepin for ledgering?

A pin is a fantastic piece of kit, but they are best when used for trotting. I know lots of people do use them for ledgering, but a fixed spool does a much better job. It's got to a stage now when a trend takes over, and good sense goes out the window.

When I'm not trotting a float on my local stream or river you will usually see me using fixed spool reels for most other types of fishing including fishing the waggler etc. simply because a fixed spool is usually the best tool for the job. However trotting isn't the only time that a centrepin can often come into its own:

I find that Centrepins are excellent tools for trundling a bait along the bottom on a smallish river, and I sometimes get a great deal of enjoyment when playing a decent sized fish when I'm margin fishing close in on a stillwater after Carp or Tench; as long as the water is fairly remote and does not have lots of bankside disturbance.

I also find that Centrepins are very good when I am fishing the lift method after Tench and needing to finely adjust the float tension.

Yes I do use a fixed spool reel for most of my fishing especially when I'm needing to cast any distance or trying to control a light waggler but I still wouldn't be without a centrepin for some types of fishing, besides just trotting on a smallish river.

Keith

 

[tigger]

Or as its commonly known..Sensor !

.

Isn't sensor lower in diameter than pro gold?.....it's certainly cheaper and yes it has towed me an awful lot of fish in, both small and decent, so it covers the spectrum .

 

[Keith M]

I do have a bulk spool of 10lb Sensor which I bought a couple of years ago incase I couldnt source any Pro-Gold; however I haven't used it simply because it didn't feel as supple as Pro-Gold, was more visible when viewed underwater than Pro-Gold, had a little more memory making it curl more easily than the Pro-Gold line as it came off the reel, and last but not least Pro-Gold regularly does far better in the annual EFTTA comprehensive line tests than the Sensor line (which does quite well I might add).

Both the Sensor line and the Pro-Gold line did well on line thickness v strength tests and the 12lb Pro-Gold line typically broke at around 17.5lb and the Diawa Sensor broke at around 16.5lb so both of them were very under-rated.
The 12lb Sensor was marginally thinner than the 12lb Pro-Gold (by just 0.03mm) but the Pro-Gold surpassed the Sensor in various other tests like suppleness, visibility, shock and abrasion resistances.

But Sensor is a lot less expensive than Pro-Gold so will not break the bank and although not quite as good as Pro-Gold in some key areas, it is still a very reliable line.

NB: I don't use either of these lines on my trotting centrepins though as I prefer using Drennan FloatFish mainly because of its floating characteristics.

Keith

 

[S-Kippy]

Isn't sensor lower in diameter than pro gold?.....it's certainly cheaper and yes it has towed me an awful lot of fish in, both small and decent, so it covers the spectrum .

Ah....we're onto diameters now.I'll happily concede that PG is not the thinnest line out there....but I use a different brand if i'm after a bit of finesse.

 

[waynec22]

Respectfully, why use a centrepin for ledgering?

A pin is a fantastic piece of kit, but they are best when used for trotting. I know lots of people do use them for ledgering, but a fixed spool does a much better job. It's got to a stage now when a trend takes over, and good sense goes out the window.

Trying to cast a pin any distance takes years of practice, and you'll get in all sorts of problems unless your on a small river and just dropping it in the edge.

I know what I'm saying will get criticised by those on the pin trend, but trust me stick to a fixed spool for ledgering, and a pin for trotting!

If you do put braid on, and don't have a spare spool for the pin, it will preclude you using it for the purpose it was designed for?

Just my honest opinion.

Thanks for the advice so far, ****y, I really do appreciate your opinion.

The thing that tempted me into trying a centrepin was the direct contact with a fish, and the lack of gears which, to my understanding would lead to a better fight from a decent fish.

I fish the Derbyshire Derwent, and there are some lovely little places where rolling a a bait along the bottom with a pin would be perfect, this is what it will be used for most of the time. I think for ledgering I will opt for my baitrunner, but I like the thought of being direct to the fish.

After all this I really may not get on with it, however I would like to give it a chance and hopefully experience catching and judge from there. I am well aware from reading the Internet that it can be very difficult to master, but like I said I would like to give it a chance.

With regards to braid, I bought spiderwire after more Internet searching. My main reason to try braid was because I have read braid gives a much better response to any bites and you can feel the bounce of a bait through it.

I am still struggling with the concept of trundling a bait, I've read to leave a bow of line, however at the same time keep in direct contact with the bait, can anyone advise on this?

 

[lutra]

Thanks for the advice so far, ****y, I really do appreciate your opinion.

The thing that tempted me into trying a centrepin was the direct contact with a fish, and the lack of gears which, to my understanding would lead to a better fight from a decent fish.

I fish the Derbyshire Derwent, and there are some lovely little places where rolling a a bait along the bottom with a pin would be perfect, this is what it will be used for most of the time. I think for ledgering I will opt for my baitrunner, but I like the thought of being direct to the fish.

After all this I really may not get on with it, however I would like to give it a chance and hopefully experience catching and judge from there. I am well aware from reading the Internet that it can be very difficult to master, but like I said I would like to give it a chance.

With regards to braid, I bought spiderwire after more Internet searching. My main reason to try braid was because I have read braid gives a much better response to any bites and you can feel the bounce of a bait through it.

I am still struggling with the concept of trundling a bait, I've read to leave a bow of line, however at the same time keep in direct contact with the bait, can anyone advise on this?

I've never fished the Derbyshire Derwent, but I've got it in my head that its largely a rocky sandstone river like most of my local rivers. If that is the case, I would defo forget braid and look for a more abrasion resistant mono. Bouncing braid across sandstone will wreck it and make it very unreliable.

You don't need a straight tight piano string to feel bites even with mono. You will get enough tightness from the flow even with a big bow in the line to feel bites.

Allowing bows of different sizes will help you search different lines down the river and help get your bait down without needing half a house brick for weight that would stop it from moving.

If all this gets to much at the same time as learning to fish with a pin. You can always use a fixed spool reel and come back to the pin later and maybe use the pin where it shines brightest, with a float first.

 

[barbelboi]

Ah....we're onto diameters now.I'll happily concede that PG is not the thinnest line out there....but I use a different brand if i'm after a bit of finesse.

It's one of the few that accurately state it's true diameter though - and you don't have to change it 6 times a session like someian who shall remain nameless.............

 

[tigger]

It's one of the few that accurately state it's true diameter though - and you don't have to change it 6 times a session like someian who shall remain nameless.............

BB, you only need to check on the line test sights to see that Daiwa actually underestimate both the diameter and strength of sensor .

Gold pro....fools gold, same stuff lol

 

[trotter2]

I tried braid years ago, think I used it twice and chucked it out.
Went back to mono its not for me.
What ever people say you will inevitably still want to try it at some point, I know I did and came to that conclusion.

 

[Keith M]

Gold pro....fools gold, same stuff lol

It also fools fish more often than Sensor as the records show quite well Lol.

Keith

 

[tigger]

It also fools fish more often than Sensor as the records show quite well Lol.

Keith

Err, not really Keith, I stand to be corrected but hasn't sensor caught a few record fish...never heard of fools gold catchin' anything worth a carrot.

Sensor always seems to catch me enough fish anyhow . I'm always up for a match with anyone who's wiling to travel up here or i'll come down there if they pay my expenses and board for a night or three in a nice hotel and pay my days fishing fees....I suppose I can get my own bait at a push .

 

[Keith M]

Err, not really Keith, I stand to be corrected but hasn't sensor caught a few record fish...never heard of fools gold catchin' anything worth a carrot.

Of course by the law of averages Sensor has caught a couple of record fish, I'm not saying that Sensor is a totally rubbish line. As I said before even I have a bulk spool of 10lb Sensor B̶r̶o̶w̶n̶ ̶r̶o̶p̶e̶ which I bought once when I couldn't source any of my favourite Pro-Gold.

NB: I've been told that two of the last three record Barbel were caught using Pro-Gold. Plus I know that the carp 'Toadless' was caught on more than one occasion on Pro-Gold in the years before he died.

Just ask the majority of big fish anglers on here and every other forum on the net what they think of sensor and I would put a bet on a fair number of them who don't like it; much preferring the super abrasion resistance and the outstanding suppleness and knot strengths of lines such as Pro-Gold over Sensor.

I have been using both Pro-Gold and Sensor for more years than I can remember; and I doubt if anyone could convince me that Sensor is quite as good as Pro-Gold even though I think Sensor is a reliable line, and I seem to have the same view as the majority of other big fish anglers that I have spoken to over the many years that I have fished for larger than average fish.

Everyone has their own favourite lines, and for their own different reasons, and pulling one well respected line apart just to promote your own favourite line is not the best way to win friends and influence people

No doubt you will still come back spurting more rubbish about every line other than your beloved Sensor but I will just let you get on with it as I am now getting slightly bored mg:

We should be out fishing together, not spouting garbage at each other or trying to wind each other up

Keith

 

[binka]

As I said before even I have a bulk spool of 10lb Sensor B̶r̶o̶w̶n̶ ̶r̶o̶p̶e̶ which I bought once when I couldn't source any of my favourite Pro-Gold.

You're just like me Keith, going for the lowest common denominator out of defiance and protest when you can't get your own way