Well, I can't speak for everyone 5-salt, but for me the centerpin was so appealing for three reasons...Firstly, I really liked the idea of fighting a fish without any gears to give me an advantage, you see centerpins have no drag system to tire the fish out, you just use your hand to restrict the fish's runs...so if you aren't on the ball, you'll get your knuckles busted!!! I like to think of it as the fish's way of rewarding me for falling asleep at the wheel... :lol: Centerpins also have a 1:1 gear ratio (versus 6:1 ratio of baitcasters) which limits the ability to reel down hard on the fish when it comes at you...these two aspects of the centerpin, I feel, give the fish more of a sporting chance to win the battle!!! It forces the fisherman to really stay on top of what the fish is doing, ya know? The third reason that I find the centerpin so appealing is simply the smoothness of the drifts you can achieve on the river, there's something very satisfying in getting that reel spinning so fast it "hums" on your casts, and then the tension free manner in which the line comes off the reel as your float drifts perfectly straight up and down through the water. It's an especially effective way to present your wares to the steelie....You can achieve similar drifts with baitcasting reels as well, but for me there is something particularily satisfying in doing so with a centerpin...
maybe you'll try one eh?
rib :wink: