Wednesday, February 13, 2013

“Man…how do I rig up for this?”

…how do I rig up for this?
by: John Garrett – Feb, 2013 
So, here we are on the verge of a Centerpin explosion in the Pacific Northwest. A lot of folks are intrigued and asking questions. Northwest Fisherman are quickly learning what our Northern neighbors in Canada have known for years! And that’s the efficiency and the effectiveness of using a centerpin rod & reel to catch steelhead. All you have to do is watch someone who is remotely experienced with the technique and you are left in awe. In my conversations with friends and clients, we’ve often mentioned that it should probably be illegal. In my opinion there’s no other technique that’s as deadly effective when it comes to bringing steelhead to hand. I’m sure there are a few side-drifters out there that would beg to differ, but when you put a float on the line…centerpinning is the champion – Hands Down!


I’d like to also put it this way…I absolutely love to swing flies (my preferred method) with my Spey rod and if I even have a thought to nymph fish, I will just straight up centerpin fish. I mean if I can’t catch them on the swing, and I need a fish fix, I might as well go for the overdose! If you think nymph fishing is deadly, you haven’t had anyone centerpin fish behind you. It kinda reminds me of a show I was watching the other night called “Northwood’s Law” where a known poacher was being interviewed as a suspect and he said…and I quote… “Since I been with my NEW OLD lady, I haven’t done nuttin… I haven’t done drugs; I haven’t done alcohol, nuttin!” Well I can relate…Since I been with my NEW OLD lady I haven’t done nuttin either…I haven’t done nymphing, I haven’t done pluggin, nuttin!” New, meaning the centerpin technique to us in the Northwest, Old meaning it has been around for a long time (that should be funny right there…I thought hard to come up with that).

With that said, this “NEW OLD” technique comes with a lot of questions. One of which was asked by a gentleman on our blog a few weeks ago and I will address his question in this post. And the question is this: “How do I rig this up?” Let me start by saying that there are numerous ways you can rig up; there is no “ONE WAY.” With tons of variations, size of bobbers, which weight patterns, what size leaders, what size swivels, how big of a jig, on and on. You can Google yourself senseless with all the information that’s at your fingertips. YouTube can give you free casting lessons and within 20 minutes you’re casting well enough to catch steelhead. There are also a number of how to books, such as “Raven’s Float Fishing Guide” and DVD’s such as “Center Pin Secrets” to help you out. I actually learned it from a couple of my clients (thanks Ken & Tony…you messed me up!) who insisted I let them bring their center pin rods on a trip. Well, the rest of that story is ridiculous!

So, this is how I like to rig-up my centerpin outfit when I’m steelhead fishing. For the sake of the beginner, I am going to start from scratch, putting line on that brand new reel that you just picked up from the Gorge Fly Shop to what I like to use on the business end. But before I dive into laying it all out, let me give you a nugget of advice. When trying to decide which centerpin reel and rod to buy, I encourage you to drop more money on the reel (since this is the major reason for the success of the technique) and less on the rod if you are on a budget. Look for a rod that is not top heavy. You want a reel that is silky smooth and one that you don’t have to “Help” free spool all the time. I would much rather have a reel that is so smooth that I actually have to put a finger on it to slow it down because it is letting more line come off the reel than my bobber can pull off while it is free spooling through the run. Okay, step by step, here we go…

 Centerpin Terminal Gear  – photo by John Garrett.

Attaching backing to your reel: I prefer to put 100 – 125 yards of 30# fly line backing on the reel first to help “Fill” the spool. I tie an Arbor knot to the reel to secure the backing. If you don’t know how to tie an Arbor knot, go to www.animatedknots.com for a visual. There is no need to completely fill the reel with mono or braided line. With 100 – 125 yards of 30# fly line backing you’ll have plenty of room for 200 – 300 yards of your favorite braided line. I prefer braided lines such as T.U.F. Line or PowerPro in the 18 to 20# test range. Braided lines have their pros and cons though. Pros: It’s very small in diameter, has virtually no stretch and is great for setting the hook on a long drift, not to mention that it mends super easy. Cons: such as getting tangled, you have to be aware and not bounce your rod tip around or after you set the hook dropping your rod tip fast can cause the line to wrap around the tip…results not good. If you do tangle up the key to getting in un-tangled is to keep the line loose. Don’t pull it tight. If it gets too bad, just cut it and retie. Some center pinners prefer mono. Mono has pros and cons as well. Pros: it’s less expensive. Cons: thicker in diameter, harder to keep off the water on extended drifts, coil memory on some lines, a bit harder to mend, and it stretches to name a few.

Attaching your mainline to your backing: After you have attached your backing to your reel, it’s time to attach your mainline to the backing. I use a double Uni-Knot and then use UV Knot Sense to seal the deal. It is kind of a bumper knot, in that the two knots snug up against each other, and I’ve never had an issue with this knot failing and it creates a small profile when the knot is finished which allows it to pass through the guides of your rod easily.

Since I prefer to use a braided type mainline, this is how I finish rigging up: Directly to the end of the mainline I will tie on a “XXS” Swivel. This size swivel allows it to pass through the guides of your rod easily. I then attach a section of 10 pound monofilament (length depends on the depth of the river your fishing) for example if the stretch of river you’re fishing is no deeper than 10’, I would use a section about 10’ in length. This is the section where you will attach your Raven Float. To do this simply slide your cut 3/32” piece of rubber tubing on to the monofilament section, then slide your cut 1/16” piece of rubber tubing on to the monofilament section. Now insert the top your Raven Float into the 3/32” piece of tubing and the bottom of the float into the 1/16” size tubing. You might ask: “Why do I need two different sizes of tubing for the same float?” The answer to that is when the top of the float is dipped in paint it makes it thicker than the bottom section. So this is the reason for the two different sizes of tubing.

I prefer this type of float system because it is somewhat fixed and yet easily adjustable. It also allows me to quickly change floats if needed without cutting my line to remove a sliding float. Now at the end of the monofilament section tie on another “XXS” swivel. What this double swivel system does is help eliminate line twisting, especially if your use the side arm cast. If you don’t use a dual swivel system and cast side arm, you will quickly become frustrated with major line twisting. It is in this section of monofilament, between the two “XXS” swivels that you will attach your Raven float and your split shot system.

If you’re scratching your head right now and wondering why I don’t put the float on the braided line and just attach the braided line to a swivel and then use mono tippet to my offering, well, I learned the hard way the answer to that question. Because attaching your float to the thin diameter of the braided lines two things happen… 1) The float slides easily when you set the hook and 2) If you set the hook with some force you can cut through the rubber tubing because of the thin diameter of the braided lines and you end up watching your float, float downstream. So this section of monofilament takes care of that little problem. Now let’s get to the business end of things.

From my second “XXS” swivel I will attach an 18” to 24” piece of 6-8 pound tippet material and complete it with a jig, nymph, trout bead or whatever else I feel like fishing with. If I want to run a double trout bead system for instance I will then run the second trout bead on a dropper section of 12” to 16” tippet material and tie that right off the bend of the first hook. There is an important reason why I don’t like to have a long dropper, well longer that 16” anyways, and that is if the fish takes the main fly the dropper fly dangles back near the tail of the fish and when trying to tail it you have a high percentage rate of getting hooked! Trust me, I have learned this the hard way. This system is DEADLY, especially when you have Chinook spawning and the steelhead are “keyed” on “Single Eggs”. I have out fished, on many occasions folks who use clusters of real eggs with just a single trout bead or double trout bead set up. It makes total sense if you stop and think about it. Eggs don’t come out of Chinook in clusters and this is why I believe that the single or double trout bead set up is ridiculously effective.

John Garrett with Underwater Steelhead being released – photo by Steve Turner.
Attaching shot patterns to your monofilament section of leader between your float and above the second “XXS” swivel: Let me state right off the bat that there are more ways to pattern your shot than you can shake a centerpin rod at, and by no means is the way I like to pattern my shot the only way to do it. You will want to experiment with the river your fishing and adjust your shot pattern to your needs. That being said, here is how I typically will pattern my shot. Directly under my Raven float, I will place 2 to 4 “AB” Sure Shot split shot, loosely crimped so I can easily adjust them without damaging my leader. I crimp them slightly because if I need to adjust my float, I will also adjust these 2-4 spit shot. The reason I like to put these split shot here is the fact that where I fish, I like my float to “Pop Up” true immediately. I don’t like to wait until my float is halfway through the run before the float becomes straight up true. I want my offering to get down NOW so I can take advantage of the entire run. From there I will stagger the remaining split shots evenly apart 8” to 10” towards the tippet swivel, with my last split shot resting just above the knot of my swivel. NOTE: I recommend using split shot that doesn't have the wings on it. This will help alleviate line tangles due to the wings when casting. Split shot without the wings are easily removed, you simply take your forceps/pliers and pinch the corners of the crack and open the split shot like a baked potato.

So there you have it. My basic set up for 90% of the time that I am centerpin fishing. This set up has served me quite well. After getting used to the basics, you can seriously lose your mind with information overload on specifics. I am an avid proponent of getting out there and starting somewhere and adjusting and fine tuning your set up to your specific needs. That’s part of the fun of it. This is just one way to get you started. Enjoy your time out on the water…every day is a blessing. Keep asking us questions and we will answer them as best we can in short article form. Visit us often as we bring some product reviews of rods, reels and more…


Also, send us your centerpin photos and we will include them in our photo album. Who knows you might become famous like some kid named “Justin Bieber” who was discovered in a YouTube video…anything could happen, you just never know.

Thanks for visiting and submitting your questions at NW Centerpin

John Garrett
Gorge Fly Shop

2 comments:

  1. I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don't know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
    Rods & Reels

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for the information, you have been very helpful and I will give a thumbs to the power pro braid it's the best on the market in my opinion.

    ReplyDelete

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