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Centrepin casting


tiddlertamer

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Thanks to the constant comments made by Anglers Net aficionados who promote the use of centrepins, I'm about to buy one.

(Well actually my gorgeous fiancé has volunteered to buy me a Hardys 4" model for my birthday which is probably too much information for the forum but also a rather fine and dandy thing to do!) :D

 

Anyway - to my question.

 

What is the best casting technique to adopt? The Wallis cast, the loop cast, the double loop cast, the side cast, the Nottingham cast or any other cast you may care to mention.

Some casts may be good in some situations such as when room is limited and others when a longer cast is needed.

Nonetheless is there one cast which every centrepin user should master.

 

I've only used a borrowed centrepin once and trotting/float control with it was a dream. But to cast to a favourite swim along far bank cover on a river 15/20 yards wide, I found it impossible.

 

What is your favourite centrepin cast everyone and why? Oh, and how do you actually do it!?

He was an old man who fished alone in a skiff in the Gulf Stream and he had gone eighty-four days without taking a fish. (Hemingway - The old man and the sea)

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First things first tell your fiancee to save her money there are better pins to be had for a lot less money.

Secondly I would recommend that you learn the wallis cast it is easy to do despite what some say!!

 

Thirdly if you want to make your way to Lytham St Annes I will happily show you how to do it

"Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical

minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which

holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd

by the clean end"

Cheers

Alan

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Thanks to the constant comments made by Anglers Net aficionados who promote the use of centrepins, I'm about to buy one.

(Well actually my gorgeous fiancé has volunteered to buy me a Hardys 4" model for my birthday which is probably too much information for the forum but also a rather fine and dandy thing to do!) :D

 

Anyway - to my question.

 

What is the best casting technique to adopt? The Wallis cast, the loop cast, the double loop cast, the side cast, the Nottingham cast or any other cast you may care to mention.

Some casts may be good in some situations such as when room is limited and others when a longer cast is needed.

Nonetheless is there one cast which every centrepin user should master.

 

I've only used a borrowed centrepin once and trotting/float control with it was a dream. But to cast to a favourite swim along far bank cover on a river 15/20 yards wide, I found it impossible.

 

What is your favourite centrepin cast everyone and why? Oh, and how do you actually do it!?

 

 

 

 

 

Alan Roe's your man. If you get chance to meet him I'm pretty sure he'd help you out. He went out of his way to help me out.

What a guy, Cheers Alan!

 

 

 

Just noticed Alan's beat me to it.

Edited by tigger
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First things first tell your fiancee to save her money there are better pins to be had for a lot less money.

Secondly I would recommend that you learn the wallis cast it is easy to do despite what some say!!

 

Thirdly if you want to make your way to Lytham St Annes I will happily show you how to do it

 

 

A very kind offer. Lytham St Annes is many a mile from London so can't make it up there anytime soon. Maybe one day and don't tell the rest of the forum (ooops I already have) I believe there is a rather fine golf course used for the Open. Fishing is my love but Open golf courses are rather special...

 

Intrigued by your comments about Hardys pins. I've got one of their Marksman rods and it is superb.

 

As to the Wallis cast, I am interested in your comments as many say it is difficult. Could you elaborate?

Edited by tiddlertamer

He was an old man who fished alone in a skiff in the Gulf Stream and he had gone eighty-four days without taking a fish. (Hemingway - The old man and the sea)

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First things first tell your fiancee to save her money there are better pins to be had for a lot less money.

Secondly I would recommend that you learn the wallis cast it is easy to do despite what some say!!

 

Thirdly if you want to make your way to Lytham St Annes I will happily show you how to do it

 

 

Hi Alan

 

I have just ordered a Greys Bewick which I know is part of the Hardy stable. Is this reel not worth the money either? If you could let me know fairly soon I would appreciate because it is due to arrive this week. Also if you have others in mind which you would recommend higher I would appreciate

 

Thanks very much

 

Willie

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In my opinion all of the modern "classic" style pins are vastly overpriced and Ive owned several of these and origonals to compare them to. Yes they are nice tools and are well made.In fact bril;liant in nearly every way except for the price! We keep getting told they cost so much as there isnt such a big market for them....

 

A while ago I would have reccomended the Okuma Aventa Pro but after having owned a AN pin for some months now I cant praise it enough. Certaionly as good as if not in some cases better than the rest of the pins both modern and old that Ive owned and more importantly used.

 

Theres other guys on here as well that have got/had £250-£300 pins that swear by Andys reels as well.

And thats my "non indicative opinion"!

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What is the best casting technique to adopt? The Wallis cast, the loop cast, the double loop cast, the side cast, the Nottingham cast or any other cast you may care to mention. What is your favourite centrepin cast everyone and why? Oh, and how do you actually do it!?

 

My favourite (because it's the only one I can do) is the side cast. It basically turns your CP into a fixed spool reel by taking the line off the side and I can get pretty good distance with it. My method is to draw line off the reel with my left hand and hook it round my thumb about two feet from the reel with the line at right angles to the rod. It's important that this angle is maintained through the cast. Stop the line coming off the reel by trapping it with your right thumb.

 

Then just cast as normal releasing the line from your right thumb as you would if using a FS reel.

 

It works quite well but there are some drawbacks. It can introduce line twist, not been a problem for me yet but if it becomes one I'll change the line as I only keep 50 yards or so on the reel. Secondly if your left hand is wet/covered in groundbait the line can stick.

It's never a 'six', let's put it back

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I would still recommend the Okuma Adventa pro I can't comment on Andys reels as I haven't used them I have too many reels as it is. However I have some experience of both the Hardy marksman and the Greys Bewick. Both I would describe as being adequate but overpriced and as a working fishing reel I would suggest that overall the Okuma product is the more usable being less likely to get the winter porridge of groundbait ,maize meal and mud into its workings.

 

I tend to recommend the pro over the other models as the single bar across the front of the reel face allows me to retrieve with just a finger, the slots in the Sheffield tend to get uncomfortable and the line cage on the Kennet effe3ctivly blocks a batting style of retrieve.

 

Style is great if you are buying a pin as a glass case collectable but when fishing substance is far more important

 

Tiddlertamer as to the Wallis cast if you can get up here if i can't get you competent in less than an hour I will give up and take up knitting!! it really is that easy.

There is a short video clip of me doing the cast on youtube but it's not very explanatory.

If anyone who has a video camera out there who would like to shoot a replacement video for the site please let me know and we can put this myth of the wallis cast being difficult to bed for once and for all.

"Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical

minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which

holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd

by the clean end"

Cheers

Alan

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If anyone who has a video camera out there who would like to shoot a replacement video for the site please let me know and we can put this myth of the wallis cast being difficult to bed for once and for all.

 

I would certainly be grateful of that.

 

All I ever use is a sideways swing with one big loop of line in my left hand between reel and 1st eye. If I want to fish any further out that 2 rodlengths I wouldn't use a pin anyway! For me, a pin is all about trotting the near margin to the mid-river. Ideally, I'd just drop the float under the rod tip and trot from there.

And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music

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I use The Loop Method, with two big loops of line pulled through the butt ring and held with my right index and middle fingers. When I cast, I make sure to let go with my index finger before the middle finger (so the first loop is cast before the second, as it were). With maximum ‘slack’ line like this, I can usually reach far enough- especially since I tend to fish close in whilst long trotting (it’s hard to stop the float dragging across the current towards the near side when fishing along the far bank).

 

But there’s uniform agreement amongst more experienced pin anglers that Wallis casting is well worth the trouble of learning. I’ve seen it done by an expert, and it’s exceedingly effective (and looks incredibly easy and natural to do, of course). I’d recommend you try your best to learn the technique. Once you’ve seen it done (there are plenty of videos and written instruction on the web- indeed there’s an excellent instructional video frequently linked to in threads on this forum which a quick search will reveal), go to a field with a half-ounce lead, and spend a couple of hours practicing. I’m intending to do this myself as soon as I get the chance.

What's interesting is that, though anglers are rarely surprised by a totally grim day, we nearly always maintain our optimism. We understand pessimism because our dreams are sometimes dented by the blows of fate, but always our hope returns, like a primrose after a hard winter. ~ C. Yates.

 

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