Spinning and centerpin reels each have their devotees, according to author Michael Graves.

Fishing historians are unsure of where float fishing originated, but one thing is for sure, and that is that float fishing for steelhead trout and salmon works! The idea is to cast your offering (in this case) into a tributary of the Great Lakes. Then let your bait travel downstream in a natural fashion, watching and feeling for an “indication” that a fish has taken your bait. In fact, float fishing is also known as indicator fishing.

Centerpin reels

Recently, I discovered centerpin reels. In the past, I thought centerpin reels were just fly fishing reels with no ball bearings. But quite to the contrary, centerpin reels fully incorporate ball-bearing technology.

Perhaps the main characteristic that differentiates a spinning reel from a centerpin fishing reel is line location relative to your casts and retrieves.

When we cast a bait into the stream with a spinning reel, the line uncoils or comes off the spool somewhat perpendicular to the stream. That is, the line comes off the reel at about a 60- to 90-degree angle to the stream. On the other hand, a centerpin is more like a waterwheel. Think of a waterwheel rotating in a creek, stream or river. The fishing line on the centerpin, just like a waterwheel, is in line with the stream when it comes off the reel or is retrieved back onto the reel.

This makes for a much better presentation of your bait, because with a centerpin reel, there is less friction or tension on the line caused by the reel itself. Your bait will, therefore, look more natural as it travels downstream.

The drawback to centerpin reels, in my opinion, is that they are hard to cast. It takes some practice to successfully get the hang of casting with a centerpin. The trick is to control the freewheeling of the reel with your rod-hand fingers when you make a cast.

There are several ways to cast with a centerpin reel, but for simplicity, I am going to stick with what is known as side casting. As its name implies, you will hold your rod to the side of your body with the rod tip pointed up at about a 45- to 60-degree angle.

To begin the casting motion, pull about 18 to 24 inches of line off the reel in a downward direction while applying pressure to the reel’s spool with your rod finger or fingers, and then pause, with full pressure on the centerpin’s spool. Most centerpin anglers rod hand is placed above the reel, towards the rod tip.

Remember to keep your rod-hand finger or fingers of choice on the reel’s spool so that your line doesn’t freewheel—just yet! Your rod hand not only holds and casts the bait, but also acts as a brake on the centerpin reel. Hold the rod and reel so the handle side of the reel is tilted slightly up, towards your face.

Now we come to the key point, which is generating and controlling line inertia. With rod, reel and body in position, you need to “take the brakes off”—that is, let the spool be able to freewheel by applying no pressure to it. Then rapidly pull down on the line while you cast.

A good tip is to pull the line down from a bottom rod eyelet.

The centerpin is now going to freewheel, and the line will come off rapidly as you aim for your casting target. If this wasn’t enough to do, you now must time the braking of the freewheeling with your reel control finger or fingers, so you cast out the desired amount of line while not letting the reel overspin and tangle up.

Hopefully, your float will hit the water’s surface right where you wanted it. Once it has, let the float, tackle and bait “ride” the water’s current while you “feather” the spool with your rod hand finger or fingers to keep it freewheeling nicely. You want to let the reel’s spool freewheel rate match the flow rate (i.e., current) of the creek, stream or river. Depending on how fast the water flow is, you sometimes need to help the freewheeling advance with your rod-hand fingers or thumb.

If your float goes under or acts irregularly, firmly grasp the spool with your rod-hand finger or fingers (hit the brakes) and set the hook. If you don’t remember to grasp the reel’s spool, the line will unravel, and you’ll have an unwanted outcome on your hands…literally!

Spinning reels

Spinning reels are often used by steelhead and salmon anglers. These types of reels have a lot going for them. I think they are easier to cast than centerpin reels. With spinning reels, there is no worry about freewheeling of the spool. The line uncoils off the spool when the bail of the reel is open as you make your cast or drift.

In drift fishing, the bail is usually left open, and the float, split shot, swivel, hook and bait pull the line off the spool as they drift downstream. You sometimes must help the line come off the spool, with the idea being, again, to match the float speed to the stream’s current, i.e. flow rate.

One of the best attributes of a spinning reel is that once you close the bail, you instantly have mechanical drag working for you. Compared to a centerpin, where your fingers are the mechanical drag or brake, a spinning reel sort of has it built in. Another great thing about spinning reels is that you can pre-set the drag simply by turning a knob. Furthermore, you can adjust this drag setting while battling a big steelhead or King salmon. Some spinning reels even have what is called a fighting drag, which is an additional lever to the drag knob to set/control the amount of drag you need while battling a fish.

Perhaps the biggest drawback to spincasters is their tendency to create loops or kinks in your line, which ultimately lead to tangles. There is no doubt, though, that spincasters give you a (built-in) mechanical advantage over centerpin reels. With a centerpin you, and you alone, are the gears and drag system of the reel.

Not insignificantly, spinning reels are very utilitarian, because you can easily switch them from float fishing to casting with your favorite lure.

The appeal for many centerpin anglers is to get more “in-touch” with their quarry, and the whole fishing experience. Regardless of reel type, line change-out/replacement due to kinking, abrasion, stretching and old age is necessary.

With any type of fishing, reel size is relative to the size of the fish you are pursuing. In terms of reel size in a centerpin, you will be better off with a bigger diameter reel for larger steelhead. For tributary steelhead fishing here in the Great Lakes Region, a 4- to 4.5-inch diameter centerpin will mostly likely land you more fish than something smaller.

Spinning reel size for tributary steelhead fishing should be somewhere in the 2500 to 4000 series range. When you get up to size 6000 and above, the reel might be too heavy for repeated casting. I’ve caught many brown trout in the 3- to 6-pound range fishing Lake Michigan’s shore with a 2000 series spinning reel spooled with 8-pound-test line. However, this was in open water (i.e., no log jams, rocks, or other obstacles), not to mention generally smaller fish than I catch in the tributaries. Hence, a 2000-sized spinning might be a tad on the small size for tributary fishing.

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