The Tuna 
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Alvey Centerpin Reels
Has anybody here ever used, owned or played with an Alvey centerpin reel? I believe they are made in Australia. I saw an internet based video of an old guy demonstrating one of these reels. Aside from its large size compared to most pins that I have seen, what I liked most was how he flipped a little lever and was able to rotate his reel 90 degrees such that the centerpin was now aiming down the rod thru the eyelets into a casting position. Presumably as long as you have enough line on your reel, the centerpin would now act much like a spinning reel (without the bail) during the cast.
post edited by The Tuna - 2009/12/04 09:45:22
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Hummer82
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RE: Alvey Centerpin Reels
2009/12/02 17:36:15
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I have owned one for 17years. I love it. I have the 475A model(don't think they make them anymore). As far as the functionality of the reel goes, the casting or swivel is awesome. I never used one of the typical pins to compare the smoothness of the drag, but I can guess that its a not as good as the high dollar pins.
For the price, you can't go wrong.
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The Tuna
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RE: Alvey Centerpin Reels
2009/12/02 17:48:46
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Casts pretty well does she? A guy that was selling an Alvey on eBay says that his model weighs just under 2lbs and it is intended for surf and rock fishing. It is not a true centerpin that is drag-free, he says you have to use your hand to feed line with the drift. He tells me that Alvey makes a model called a Blackfish which he says is a true centerpin. I don't know if it has the swivel feature.
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Hummer82
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RE: Alvey Centerpin Reels
2009/12/02 17:57:19
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The model I have is the blackfish with the sidecast feature. Look on the site, I saw one recently that will work, but I was hesitant becuase of the size being two small. The model from what i gather is by size. Fore example 475a was 4.75 inches. Pm me with any other questions.
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ShutUpNFish
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RE: Alvey Centerpin Reels
2009/12/02 21:15:23
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Just under 2 pounds?? Thats nearly 32 ounces! If you held that thing all day, your arm would just about fall off! The pins today typically weigh anywhere from 7 to 10 ounces....thats a BIG difference when holding a reel for a full day of fishing. That swivel feature does look pretty neat, but once you learn how to cast the centerpin properly, I could see it becoming a pain.
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mxdad66
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RE: Alvey Centerpin Reels
2009/12/03 16:57:43
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Ray Walton, makes what you are asking about,CenterpinAngling.com 
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The Tuna
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RE: Alvey Centerpin Reels
2009/12/04 00:01:55
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The Model 475A5 that Hummer has recommended to me actually weighs about 15oz which is something to consider. My English made CP reel is about 9oz. But if it can get me into the middle of a wide river like the Yough I'm in favor of it. Correct, the Ray Walton reel does swivel, but it also costs over $600. The Alvey Blackfish 475A5 can be bought delivered from Aussieland for $151 US.
post edited by The Tuna - 2009/12/04 00:07:35
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The Tuna
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RE: Alvey Centerpin Reels
2009/12/04 00:30:42
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I am just curious, does anybody sell some kind of swivel adapter that would fit into a Fuji-style reel seat that provides a second seating surface or reel seat (that is obviously pivotable) so that this 90 degree casting concept could be applied to most any centerpin reel assuming the reel spool is open 360 degrees around to allow the line to peel off and of course assuming that the spool is loaded with enough line near the spool perimeter so that it would peel off freely during a cast? Where could I buy such a device? Ever hear of one? If such a device does not exist, it may become necessary to invent one.
post edited by The Tuna - 2009/12/04 00:36:52
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The Tuna
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RE: Alvey Centerpin Reels
2009/12/04 13:35:15
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Hummer,
I hope you are receiving the PM's I'm sending you, in particular the last one that had the website and ordering details for buying an Alvey reel. For some reason this website saves all of my incoming (Inbox) PM's but does not save or store the outgoing PM's. If not let me know here and we'll work something out.
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The Tuna
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RE: Alvey Centerpin Reels
2010/01/07 15:30:38
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ORIGINAL: ShutUpNFish
Just under 2 pounds?? Thats nearly 32 ounces! If you held that thing all day, your arm would just about fall off! The pins today typically weigh anywhere from 7 to 10 ounces....thats a BIG difference when holding a reel for a full day of fishing. That swivel feature does look pretty neat, but once you learn how to cast the centerpin properly, I could see it becoming a pain.
I haven't weighed it but the 475A that I bought feels about the same as my all aluminum JWYoungs Purist, actually maybe even lighter. It has to be lighter because the spool is made from that bakelite material. It does not feel any heavier. And as far as rotating the spool by 90 degrees it takes all of 1 second to rotate it either way. It is slicker than slick. About as quickly as you can lift the bail on a spinning reel. I cannot wait to use it on the Yough but I'm afraid I might get tangled in the trees on the opposite shore.
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The Tuna
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RE: Alvey Centerpin Reels
2010/01/08 11:07:50
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The Alvey 475A Blackfish centerpin reel with the 90 degree rotational casting feature can be purchased from an Alvey distributor in Gainesville, FL for about $105.20 shipped to PA. Contact Gene Brandner at info@alveyusa.com to order one. Make sure you specify LH or RH retrieve. I coulda saved me about $45 had I known. I bought mine thru AmazonOutdoors.com.au
post edited by The Tuna - 2010/01/09 13:04:27
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