Long Trotting and the Centrepin Reel

Long Trotting and the Centrepin Reel

The centrepin reel – the perfect tool for long trotting

For example, after a bit of practice you’ll find that you can raise or lower a baits level in the water by just applying different amounts of thumb pressure on the side of the spool. You can lift the bait over shallow bars or over underwater snags or to a shoal of fish feeding higher in the water, etc, and let it go deeper when you are over deeper water in the same way.

You let the float pull line from the centrepin at the speed of the flow and are never out of control as you are when letting line spill off the spool on a fixed spool reel, and there is no snatching of line like you get when you engage the bale arm because there is no bale arm. And when you strike you just stop the spool with the thumb and strike with a long sideways sweep.

Likewise playing a fish is great fun as you are in direct contact with the fish with no gears between the spool and your hand; you can instantly give line under pressure from the fish with no chance of the line breaking when the anti reverse is on as there is no anti reverse, your finger is the clutch and is instantly adjusted.

Big fish are not normally a problem as thousands of barbel anglers will testify and the barbel is a powerful fighter as you know. However, there are disadvantages, like when a fish runs towards you at high speed and you can’t retrieve line fast enough. But that doesn’t happen that often and the advantages easily outweigh the disadvantages.

When you are retrieving the float at the end of the trot you retrieve it by batting the edge of the spool; where you tap the spool with your other hand to speed up the spinning so that you can retrieve the line under speed.

And there are also techniques, such as the Wallis Cast (see Alan Roe demonstrate the technique in the video below), to help you cast approx 1 to 3 rod lengths. However Long trotting does not normally involve casting and you normally just lower your float into the water at the start of your trot.

I would not normally use a centrepin for anything else as the Fixed spool reel is easily the master where normal fishing is concerned, but long trotting is the domain of the Centrepin and I don’t think it can be beaten in the hands of someone who knows how to use it properly. I do, however, occasionally use a centrepin for fun; and if you leger with it and put the ratchet on you also have a built-in bite alarm.

I have a book called ‘Roach’ by Dave Stuart (part of the Osprey Angling Library set) which mentions long trotting for roach using a tiny multiplier (Abu Record 2100) just for fun. I have the same multiplier and tried trotting with it after reading the book; it was great fun and did the job quite well. In the same book the author also describes long trotting with a closed face reel. However, neither can beat the centrepin at long trotting.

Buying a Centrepin

When you choose a centrepin for the first time remember that the weight of the spool is more important than the length of time it spins freely when you flick it with your finger, this may sound strange but with a heavier spool there is inertia to overcome before it starts to spin; you can start it going yourself but then it may spin too fast for a few seconds. And when the float slows in a slower current or your hook drags on the bottom for a few seconds the heavier spool carries on turning at the faster speed for a few moments as it slows down and your line will be developing slack bows for a few seconds. But with a light spool the initial inertia is hardly noticeable and if your float enters a slower current or your hook drags on the bottom the spool will slow with it. So your control will be that much better. So don’t choose one because it spins forever, choose a fairly free spinning reel which has a light spool.

I recommend a centrepin for long trotting and one of my experienced fishing friends once said that he didn’t realise what he was missing until he bit the bullet and actually bought one.