Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum

Fishing in British Columbia => General Discussion => Topic started by: Wool on April 14, 2014, 10:45:21 PM

Title: Level Wind or Center Pin for White Springs and Chums?
Post by: Wool on April 14, 2014, 10:45:21 PM
  With the topic of lines is there a consensus that one is used more then the other? I've fell for my CP and Sage, but, sending that money down the Vedder would be a little traumatic. It's a long walk back to the truck with broken fingers and a stupid look on my face ( racing home to watch the lost and found section).
Title: Re: Level Wind or Center Pin for White Springs and Chums?
Post by: Daguru on April 14, 2014, 11:22:18 PM
I have seen people land big springs on the pin, but for me I tend to stick with bait casters if I'm targeting bigger fish. I don't have a problem stopping them with a pin setup but tend to clamp down on them too hard and have them break off ( too much drag pressure if thank makes any sense)
Title: Re: Level Wind or Center Pin for White Springs and Chums?
Post by: TheChumWhisperer on April 15, 2014, 01:35:43 PM
CP all day every day.  Levelwinds for spoons..
Title: Re: Level Wind or Center Pin for White Springs and Chums?
Post by: zap brannigan on April 15, 2014, 04:53:48 PM
^agreed.
Title: Re: Level Wind or Center Pin for White Springs and Chums?
Post by: Kenwee on April 15, 2014, 07:37:23 PM
Center pin will handle any fish, any size and its more fun and a challenge.CP only!!!
Title: Re: Level Wind or Center Pin for White Springs and Chums?
Post by: HOOK on April 15, 2014, 09:01:07 PM
went from a levelwind to a center pin and then back to the levelwind. My gear setups barely see water anymore and the levelwind is easier, more efficient, more casts/drifts for my time, faster fish landing times, etc. I found the cp best for bait fishing but a levelwind is a more rounded setup allowing you to toss spoons, float fish anything, bottom bounce if you want.........etc



HOOK - primarily a fly snob but does still take the whore stick out to play  ;)
Title: Re: Level Wind or Center Pin for White Springs and Chums?
Post by: firstlight on April 15, 2014, 10:19:00 PM
I too sold my CP,s and have been using a trusty Calcutta for about 10 years now.
Everyone has to try a centerpin at some point but like Hook,i just find it so much easier and efficient with the levelwind.
Love my moochers though while out on the Salt.
Title: Re: Level Wind or Center Pin for White Springs and Chums?
Post by: steely02 on April 16, 2014, 03:57:46 PM
Center pin all the way! Just gotta watch out for those knuckle busters
Title: Re: Level Wind or Center Pin for White Springs and Chums?
Post by: Brian the fisherman on April 16, 2014, 11:10:51 PM
I only use cp, and i slayed springs/chum. Just make sure the rod can handle a big spring before you go and try for spring back it with braided line.
Title: Re: Level Wind or Center Pin for White Springs and Chums?
Post by: milo on April 16, 2014, 11:18:49 PM
HOOK - primarily a fly snob but does still take the whore stick out to play  ;)

My kind of guy.  ;D
Title: Re: Level Wind or Center Pin for White Springs and Chums?
Post by: Ian Forbes on April 17, 2014, 12:01:14 AM
I started out with Silex reels: Jewel and Superba, in the 1950s. We didn't call them center-pins in those days. We called them float fishing reels... or just Silex, and matched them up with 10 to 12 foot cane rods. They did the job very well on wide open rivers where you could swing a long rod.
(http://gallery.flybc.ca/albums/album360/Ian_on_Oyster_1958.jpg)

Then, I started visiting small coastal streams from Southern Vancouver Island to the Queen Charlottes. Those rivers were brushed in and with no place to swing a long rod. I switched over to spinning reels. Spinning reels are great for tossing spoons and spinners in tight quarters, but they seriously fall down when trying to handle floats and long, controlled drifts.

(http://gallery.fishbc.com/albums/album308/Cec_playing_steelhead_4.jpg)

(http://gallery.fishbc.com/albums/album308/Mahatta_River_S10_7.jpg)

(http://gallery.fishbc.com/albums/album177/Lower_Nitinat_1.jpg)

Then, that changed. We kind of made fun of guys who first started using level wind reels for float fishing; that was until we saw what they could do. Although not as good as a spinning reel in tight quarters, the level winds were far easier to handle than center-pin reels. And, their biggest advantage was when following a salmon or steelhead down river on a brush lined stream. You can handle a level wind reel with one hand while holding onto stream side brush, as you stumble after a steelhead heading for the ocean. You need two hands on a centerpin when playing fish.
Title: Re: Level Wind or Center Pin for White Springs and Chums?
Post by: Wool on April 17, 2014, 07:38:21 AM
  You are the man!
Title: Re: Level Wind or Center Pin for White Springs and Chums?
Post by: obie1fish on April 18, 2014, 10:22:51 AM
My preference depends on my mood and how my arms are feeling that day... I had my left bicep reattached last year, and my elbows are pretty shot from long ago sports injuries and poor fly casting technique, so whatever works best. I also cast farther with a bait caster as my technique with a cp ain't great (but getting better- I amaze others at everything else...any time I do something on the river, I see people shake their heads in disbelief and leave, presumably because they know they can't compare!  ::))

But Ian, thanks for the tip in your pictures re: rain gear. You may see me on the river this afternoon with a bright orange rain slicker!  ;D But seriously, I was reminded of great memories of yesteryear by those pictures...thanks for sharing!
They remind me of my days as a child in the 70s who was to fish these places vicariously through people like you, Eric Carlisle, and Lee Strait, who could go to fish in locations unreachable to a 10 year old whose only wheeled mode of transport had a banana seat and cool plastic things in the spokes, and who had no river fishing gear whatsoever.
Makes me smile and ponder the changes in fishing tech. It's a bit like music- sometimes I want satellite radio and mP3, while other times it's vinyl all the way; so it is with fishing methods for me.