Center pin/"float fishing" vs fly fishing

For those of you who are curious about center pin fishing, Iwas too until my last trip the Erie on Friday the 23rd.  (which by the way was by far the best I have ever seen on any of the creeks from about 2pm till dark.)  Before that fantastic few hours I ran across a couple of guys fishing a center pin rig.  On the way up from Pittsburgh, my friend's cousin tried to explain the setup to me.  After I ran into these guys I asked them what they were fishing with.  Basically it is a really long rod (like 12') with what looks like a fly reel attached.  this reel has no drag whatsoever and is called a center pin because there is basically a center pin with what looks like a regular (non large arbor) fly reel rotating around the pin.  From what I saw this set up relies totally upon a large bobber.  When I say bobber please don't think strike indicator.  This rig has to keep whatever is below the water suspended above the bottom of the stream or it will snag like any other rig.  The float distances of 100yds is only possible because you are fishing with a bobber.  Now granted by now you are right in thinking that I am a fly fishing snob, and if your looking to catch the most fish then by all means friend buy a minnow bucket and get it over with.  This rig may be effective, but for the price of a good setup I would rather mend my line and stick to what I got....

Speaking of lines, wish me good luck I am heading out early thursday morning, snowstorms be ****ed tight lines to all!!

I was watching a couple guys fishing yesterday with centerpin equipment.  Seemed like they were doing pretty well, but I noticed a couple things....
 
They seemed to have a heavier mono line, with a leader tied in at the float.  Is this normal?
 
They made very long drifts, which to me seems like an advantage, but wouldn't you break off alot of fish because of slack line?  (Admittedly, I have never seen this done until yesterday....)
 
Do center pin anglers use only bait?
 
 

Wow alot of people getting involved with pin fishing. Avid everyone has there own ways of setting up there centerpins. personally i fish mine with no barrel swivel at all and do very well. If your fishing the tribs in Erie you honestly don't need more than 8# main line. I like to run some flouor off that about 2 ft. But see alot of guys think just because you have a centerpin you catch more fish not true. It's the person using the pin and the stick,there is alot of skill involved. If your new to centerpin fishing your going to learn hell i have been centerpin fishing now for about 6/1/2 years, and still learning new things. I think i have become pretty good with my pin i do believe u do have a advantage because of the drag free drifts but you have to know how to have a drag free drift to begin with. I love using sacks when the water is up high and of color, but little on the green and clear side i love fishing a glo bug with a nymph it's  a deadly pattern 4 me. also it's really nice free floating Minnie's. What a blast when the fish are on the Minnie's,single eggs. But the main key is to keep your rod up high and the line off the water. But there is alot more to it,  just than shot placement etc so many different types of floats out there,,,,,best thing to do is get together with someone that has been pinning for some years and teach you the tricks of the trade. Plus i even use mine in the rivers,ponds,and trout streams back home....never get enough practice. But once you get the hang of it more and more it's hard to beat even on the bad days of fishing the mighty chrome gods. I can't remember a day that i haven't been in the 30's this year!!! Even on the bad days. Hell my buddy was a fly fisherman and i converted him after he seen what it can do. Now i have been teaching him,,,And now i am going to have a hard time keeping up too him....Least it will make it more fun.....But hey if anyone would  like to get together and do some pinning feel free drop me Aline will hook up some steel........thanks.

Whether i'm using a so-called strike indicator on fly rod setup or a so-called float on a spinning rod setup, it's still a bobber. There's no need to Church it up.

Skip,
 
I may have a free day this monthto head to Erie.  If I'm out that way I'll share a drift with you as long as there is some good flow.
 
Scott

I fished with a friend of mine this fall on the Oswego River,I used a noodle& spin & he had a centerpin&float rod.We used the same egg sacks,out of the same container and he hooked 2 to my 1,consistenltly.I bought a pin setup and what a difference,hook up's are much more.Until you try it,don't knock it.It has it's learning curve like anything else,but,done right,you can seriously put a dent in the fish population.

Rewarding to say the least.Fished the Salmon River with the pin for the first time this past weekend and what a blast fighting 12lb. & larger fish. I thought it was fun on Elk but the larger rivers are a blast.

I remember my first trip to erie, I saw a guy using a pin, this was before it was the new wave. Immediately it caught my interest just by the pure size of the reel and how it just spun and gave that really long drift. Thats cool! Anywho, it was never enough for me to cough up the money to try it. Now if one of you guys hands me a rod to try someday sure ill give it a whirl. But the love for the fly rod will never let me put it down in favor of 30-40 fish days every time I fish. To me, the fishing is more then just having the ULTIMATE drag free drift. Its how well did I cast, how well did I choose where I wanted to cast, how well did I control the line after the cast that gave me that great drift. I dont look down on anyone who does it, thats your choice. But someone please explain to me how you can fish flies on it, have the fly infront of the indicator and the fish hold it long enough to set the hook? Ive caught many fish were I have just set the hook, just because in fast currents and caught fish, not lifted, not snagged, set the hook because trout are so quick sometimes we cannot react fast enough. If you doubt me watch a video of trout underwater feeding.... Feeding Lies is a great one. Throw in Joe H. Nymphing and listen to him talk about it. Now how in the world can the fly beat the indicator and you still know you had a strike...or...... are you missing a lot of fish you never knew you missed?

i never knew what those foreign guys were using that one easter a couple years back until i read this thread.they were hooking fish like crazy but landing very few.im pretty knew to steelhead fishing ive caught some but everyone else on the stream usualy does better than me.im just finally now going to try using floats and different baits other than minnows.ive always just drifted w/ split shot.
thanks for all the info.someday i want to use the flyrod right now im getting to where i can catch the little stockies w/ it.

THERE IS NONE!

ORIGINAL: LigonierA1

ORIGINAL: jlh42581

....someone please explain to me how you can fish flies on it, have the fly infront of the indicator and the fish hold it long enough to set the hook? .... Now how in the world can the fly beat the indicator and you still know you had a strike...or...... are you missing a lot of fish you never knew you missed?

I too have watched pin crew absolutely hooking up 5:1 over myself and others.  It's impressive. 

Like Jeremy asked about, can one of you pin guys explain something to us fly guys?  I do alot of nymphing and it's a split second game.  Those fish are incredibly fast at taking and rejecting a nymph.   For a flyfisherman, that's pretty much the nymphing game, detecting the strike. 

Centerpinning, you're fishing the nymph downstream, ahead of the shot and float, correct? How the heck does that "take" get detected?  The second that fly is taken, the float continues drifting towards the fish, no?  Creating slack that won't pull the float under or otherwise indicate the take?  THis is what puzzles me as a flyfisherman, where we do so much upstream, short/tight line nymphing it's hard to wrap your head around an effective centerpin nymph presentation.  It seems like you'd have a zillion missed strikes? 

I suspect if I tried it a few times, I'd better understand.  That's true with most things.  Can someone elaborate on that a little? 

 
I really don't fish the lure, bait downstream from the float I try to keep directly below the float keeping everything vertical.  That way as soon as a fish bumps it I can tell.  This year I've had fish hit the bait 3 to 4 times before they took.  I could tell each time by keeping constant attention to the position of my float.  With short line nymphing your throwing upstream and letting the fly come back at you, more or less the vertical position of the float in centerpinning is keeping the bait down in the fishes face at a more realistic presentation alot longer time than your fly is staying in the zone.  This isn't nearly as important when the water is say 45 deg. or warmer but as the water cools the fish want to move less to strike a bait.  The float tech. can be accomplished just as well with a good noodle rod and the same basic rig, the only thing that you wont have is the opportunity for long drifts.