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Not Fly Fishing – Centerpinning

Written by Jeff Kurt. 

Are you one of the people who secretly think Trout Unlimited is just for fly fishermen? To give a broader view of trout fishing techniques, this year will include a series on other methods to catch trout.

Centerpinning is one of those hot new techniques that has been around for 200 years. Basically, centerpinning is a method of float fishing where a long rod and a free running reel allows the float to drift naturally the whole length of a pool. The bait can be live bait, jigs, or the nymphs and soft hackles a fly guy would use. The unique characteristic of centerpinning is allowing a very long natural drift under a free drifting float.

The center pin reel looks like a large, light fly reel and has a very smooth bearing on an axle also called a center pin. Although a simple device, center pin reels are built with careful craftsmanship and attention to detail. The reel pays out line freely with the fisherman using an “educated thumb” to brake it. Part of the skill of center pinning is to control the spool so that the reel does not over-run the line and create a bird’s nest. A thin floating line is used so that the line can easily be controlled as the float drifts downstream. Rods 13’ to 15’ long are used in order to be able to set the hook with all the line out.

Float fishermen have been catching fish for millennia around the world, but fishing with a cane pole severely limits one’s reach. At the end of the 18th century fishermen around Nottingham – the lace making center of England – adapted lace bobbins to be free running reels and refined the fishing lines to create the tools for a method to drift a float a long way down a stream. The wood reels commonly called old English fly reels at antique shows are usually Nottingham reels designed to “trot” a float down a gently flowing stream. Center pin reels reached a pinnacle of refinement around 1900 when reel makers used spokes like a bicycle wheel to make an extremely light reel. The rapid spread of spinning tackle after WWII relegated center pinning to another “old fashioned” method of fishing that languished until the 1980’s when Ontario steelheaders found out that their grandfather’s outfits made a perfect way to naturally drift a egg sack. The technique quickly spread to the New York State steelheaders and visitors to the Salmon River are now spreading the technique to trout streams all over the Northeast.

Centerpinning is a great way to get a long natural drift and is deadly on trout and salmon. In addition, the direct contact with the reel makes it seem a more natural way to fish for many people.

However, centerpinning is controversial among the fly fishing crowd. First, in the proper hands the technique results in massive catches even on hard pressured rivers like the West Branch of the Delaware. There a lot of grumbling when fly fishers are hard pressed to bring a few trout in while the centerpinners are hauling in dozens. A more serious complaint is the reach of centerpinners. Centerpinners can drift an entire pool, which is fine if one is all alone. However, some centerpinners continue to drift a whole pool even if it is crowded. Occasionally, a little friendly negotiation is needed to assure that everybody has their own space on a stream.