9'6" rod for centerpin

[rich_ace_G]

Ok, I have a 6'6" fenwick rod and the spinning reel needs to go. I will probably put my okuma spinning reel on it (which is in my 9'6" okuma celilo rod). I read on my celilo rod that my rod can be used for float drifting as well...but would it be a decent rod or a longer one would be better? All the centerpin guys I know use 11' to 13' rods. Or maybe just get another spinning reel.

 

[NADO]

You could get away with it but it wouldnt be ideal. I think if you only have one rod for your pin it should be a 13 footer.

 

[rich_ace_G]

I will probably get another spinning reel for this rod and would have to save some $$$ for a centerpin gear.

 

[Klik]

it will be just fine. there is mainly two reasons people use long rods for smaller tribs, that excludes the further casting on bigger rivers and using super light float/setup under 3 gram float with thicker line.


1. From what i understood, if you perfectly fish a centerpin reel, your line should never touch the water, you hold your rod tip high so the line stays off the water and your float moves with absolutely zero drag and move with the water flow for most natural presentation. of course how good your reels is comes into action. keep in mind this is for rather short distance, when it goes further, you can't keep the line off the water, unless you hold the reel head level or above to keep the line off. lets say it won't be fun on the joints for a long time. I am not saying dragging line/line touching water is wrong, i do it myself all the time and still catches fish at the same rate, just saying what it was meant to do for most natural presentation. your line on clear water, specially high viz will alert the fish as the steelhead/salmon have extremely good eyesight.

2. is to be able to use lighter leaders and let the rod bend take lot of the pressure. in case you are fishing in clear water, or they are moody, you have to down size. and .05-.08" diameter leader and short rods are little harder to fish with a 6-15lb steelhead on and takes much longer to bring them in. i have a friend that uses 6 6" rod with spinning reel and 8lb snelled mono leader, he catches and lands as many trout as the next guy. trout are fish and fish are not very intelligent, just instinctive.

 

[[email protected]]

i agree with the first point klik, just not the last part, if that were the case, fly guys wouldn't catch fish, especially before the clear fly lines came into market. salmon/trout do have good vision, but its more of a window than a broad sight like humans, the windows expands the deeper the fish is.

heres a great article about trout vision http://www.examiner.com/article/trout-behavior-part-1-understanding-a-trout-s-vision-and-instincts-for-a-better-approach

but other than that, any rod will be perfectly fine, will it be the ideal setup, no, will it work, absolutely

 

[Klik]

i agree with the first point klik, just not the last part, if that were the case, fly guys wouldn't catch fish, especially before the clear fly lines came into market. salmon/trout do have good vision, but its more of a window than a broad sight like humans, the windows expands the deeper the fish is.

heres a great article about trout vision http://www.examiner....better-approach

but other than that, any rod will be perfectly fine, will it be the ideal setup, no, will it work, absolutely

do you mean last part of the first point about high viz line in shallow clear water? that is fine, i was just saying when they become picky everything spooks them.
but second point is true about using thinner leader lines with longer rod and controlling the fish easier on much lighter tackle.

 

[staffman]

There are some decent centerpin reels for the same price as a decent spinning reel. Check out the Rapala Clasic for one, and there are likely others in this 150 dollar range as well.

 

[[email protected]]

do you mean last part of the first point about high viz line in shallow clear water? that is fine, i was just saying when they become picky everything spooks them.
but second point is true about using thinner leader lines with longer rod and controlling the fish easier on much lighter tackle.

just the part about the his vis main line