I used to fish my CP quite a lot on the Vedder/Chilliwack 15-20 years ago....would go to White Rock and get sand shrimp on the dropping tide and then drive out to the river and fish...good times...I remember catching a 16-18 pounder once in the upper river in a 20 foot hole...I had my drift set at 18 feet...very exciting...Thanx for the vid...selah
According to government stats angling pressure for steelhead on the vedder has been fairly consistent for about 40 years. But I somewhat doubt the data. Last year was crazy busy. I think it might be that far fewer people bother with government surveys now. I'd be pumping bugs too if it wasn't for the long drive, deadly.
I had a good laugh when you mentioned you traded your pin for a level wind. I myself spent hours at trying to learn to cast a pin. I too decided to sell it out of frustration but my wife talked me into trying again. I figured it out but thought i might add that matching up to a good 10.6 or 11' rod make's a world of difference as well. Keep the video's coming!! See you on the river one day!
Glad to hear I'm no the only one. Some people seem to catch on pretty quickly. I have seen some casting really well after just a week. For me casting accuracy was the biggest problem to overcome.
That's awesome. I think that's what makes steelheading so interesting. Every cast could be the one, #5 or #5000. Right now I think I'm sitting at about 3000 casts without a bite :)
For any one starting new.. centerpin reels within $300 are good enough to last long if you maintain well. Super smooth expensive ones are just matter of your choice. CP won't catch any more fish than baitcaster. In a slower water, they work awesome. If you are on a budget, save and stick with baitcaster then move to CP but then don't give away baitcaster.
I've honestly had great luck centerpinning using a $50 Amazon-purchased centerpin reel. Low investment for anyone who wants to give centerpinning a try. The knock-off brands from Amazon are still made from CNC'd aluminum...many use stainless bearings just like the expensive reels. Grease up the center shaft and the bearing and it'll spool and reel as smoothly as something that costs 10-20x more $$$. Matching it up with a longer rod designed for centerpin float fishing is always a good option, but anything over 8.5-9 ft is sufficient for most rivers and streams. I also recommend starting off with a smaller diameter centerpin reel (3.75-4.25" diameter range)...I've found them easier to manage and cast compared to a larger diameter reel. Casting is usually the #1 difficulty anglers have with pins, but once you're over the learning curve it's smooth sailing and more fish to the bank at the end of the day.
I like that spot because there is very little background noise from the river and not too much foot traffic. I get self conscious filming around people.
centerpin reel is excellent for line management, due to it large spool, the monofilament line doesn't become as curely as they are on other type of reel. I wonder if anymore ever try use braided line on CP reel.
500 dollars for a reel with no drag system. No thanks. That doesn't mean that I am not fascinated by the centerpin. Awesome job on explaining the advantages of fishing with this type of a setup.
Thanks for the comment. The reel I'm using there is only 350 brand new and because it has no drag system, should last a decade or more. Most spin casting reels, even expensive ones, are done after a couple of seasons of battling salmon.
once you master a center pin, you master the river. the single most deadliest method of taking salmon and steelhead full stop. i typically out-fish bottom bouncer / flossers 10 to 1 and ALL my hook-ups are legitimate takes. NO SNAGGING !
Yes, pretty much all manufacturers make rods that are either called centerpin or Float/drift. The main difference between that and a regular spin casting rod is that the eyelets are smaller and sometimes the butt is a bit different too.
With no gear ratio . How to you reel fast enough when a trout darts towards you? I get the drift aspect of float fishing. I dont understand the 1.1 ratio ...
I find Coho do that more often than trout, but yeah, reel like hell and hope for the best. After using a CP for a while you get used to reeling fast, a muscle memory kind of thing.
These big fish require the dominant hand to be on the rod just to muscle them, so most people reel with their non dominant hand. I suppose it's personal preference, but the majority of anglers I think do the same. My wife gave me the same argument until she got her first salmon on :)
I've been pinning for afew years now but I can't cast like you are in this vid. I cross cast holding the rod in my right hand and casting over my left shoulder pull my line off the side of the spool.. I can't seem to get the real moving fast enough to cast it the way that you are casting it and make any type of real distance..
The trick is to release near the end of the backswing, so that the reel is already starting to spin up when you cast forward. Definitely a tricky bit of timing. Took me about a 100 hours to get good at it, though some people pick it up much faster. I think I had a lifetime of spin casting reflexes working against me, because my 12 year old daughter had a much easier time of learning.
Is the "trotting"/holding back the full freespool the reason i see guys whos float seems like its being held back and the top kindve angled towards the angler when drifting? Thanks
Yes, the Brits call it trotting, around here most people just call it hold back. It's all about trying to match bottom water speed to float speed. That relationship varies with each spot. In the top half of a run surface water is generally a lot faster than bottom water, but in a tail out they are almost identical.
