My Rig

O.K. so I got a legit request to put up a post describing my "rig" for steelheading.  aka my Centrepin setup.  I had never really thought about any form of technical education through this media.  After some consideration I opted to email the said individual his request but later thought I might as well cut and paste the entire conversation here for any of the visitors or lay people that may not be familiar with the Great Lakes Float Fishing Centrepin setup.  I make no prior claims to being any sort of expert.  I merely responded with my personal beliefs and system for Great Lakes Steelheading.  I am coming out and making the statement up front...what works for me doesn't necessarily work for others.  Steelheaderes are a funny bunch.  Like most of the world now actually....Haters!  Purists may have alternate opinions.  F*ck them...its fishing and should be fun.
Hope you find this helpful and at a minimum hope it brings a smile to your pathetic muggs.

cut n paste email...
Hi Fish Tales…

As per your request about my centrepinning rig…
I can tell you that you will need a 13’ float rod with an action suitable to the flows you are going to fish. Large turbulent flows require a stick with some backbone like an St Croix Avid in the 6-10lb line class or an 14’ IM8 Raven or a 15’ 3 piece Frontier or maybe the new Rainshadow XST in 13’ 6-10.
As for a centrepin reel go with the industry standard Islander IS float reel. Best all around production float reel ever. Will last you a life time and they are bullet proof and beautiful. Get a black one and roll cool on the river ;0) I have a gold, black and slate grey.

Line is simple…I use cheap and frequently replaced Berkley Trilene XL mainline in a 10lb class. I run green because I am straight and dig chicks... And it looks cool on my reel…oh ya and I'm straight.
Now you may need to beef up your mainline depending upon the flows you are fishing and the size of critters you are after. If you do I’d go up to 12 or 14 max. The thing with Berkley XL is that it is cheap…very limp, casts great, strong as shit and cheap. I mean cheap because you will get a lot of line twist and need to replace your mainline a bunch of times like every 6-8 trips is what I do but it’s only $6 bucks a pop.


Next comes the rigging part…
Here ya go…depending upon your flow choose the smallest float you can get away with keeping in mind more weight is better for casting and you do need to see that f*cker when it floats down the river. But… fish can see giant bouy’s a mile away...right!!! eh!!!  I only run Drennan floats and in particular I like loafers in 8gm size. I’m getting old and the small orange speck on the loafers is getting hard to see but I’m holding out until I have to switch because I’m a stubborn regimented pos and then it will be to a Drennan Piker or Zeppler about 11 gram size or less. These are not cheap but all other floats out there are Sh*t! Sh*t! Sh*t!  Im not a balsa fan ;0)

Float goes directly on your mainline then a micro swivel tied to mainline and fluorocarbon leader. Don’t cheap out on your leader…only run flouro…I prefer the Raven 5.6lb variety as the sh*t is as tough as cable and the fish don’t see it. Some peeps will argue that mono is just as good in off colour water etc…I don’t give a F*ck why risk it. You will get way more hookups running flouro hands down end of story. I always run a 18-20” flouro tippet. Then your hook of choice. If you are using jigs then it’s decided. If you are running flies then it’s decided. If you are running roe bags then I suggest Dai rikki scuds in a #10 or larger depending on your flow, fish size, and line ratings.
Then comes the weighting system. So…you need to understand that you have to load up enough shot under your float in order to make it sit in the water column properly…without any weight the float will not work and it will just lay on it’s side on the water surface. Experiment here. Keep in mind that your offering at the end of your rig needs weight to get down to the bottom. I primarily bulk shot my rigs. Quick and easy…simply put 3 or so split shot of size req’d above your swivel on the mainline. Then adjust your float up your mainline for water depth that you are fishing and put your split shot under it to make the float work and voila..you are ready to fish. You can easily adjust for depth with this rig by sliding your float and split shot up and down the line as req’d. Some peeps stagger shot from the float down to the leader every 6” or so…those people also tend to be homosexuals. Kidding… not really…

That is way too much work and a pain in the ass for me.  The secret to successful steelheading is getting your sh*t to the bottom quick. That is where the fish are. The float and center pin allow you to fish long lines parallel to the shore with minimal swinging. One can cover a tonne of water quickly and efficiently. The ideal is to keep your mainline off the water thus eliminating the need to mend for obvious reasons. Keep your line as tight as possible and don’t be afraid to trot back on the float in order to try and keep your offering leading your float. I don’t get all too anal about that as some times a lagging bait occurs and for some god forsaken reason I tend to still catch fish…weird…now the purists will call me out on this but my blog does have a few pictures of steelhead on it. ;0)
Any questions? Clear as mud? Keep it simple…don’t over think it. Get your bait down, keep your line tight…set up on any abnormal float deviation.
Btw…I see you have fished the Situk in AK…I’m jealous…very jealous…I actually may hate you…joking…My rig would work perfect on that flow. 8 grm drennan perhaps a 12lb main line, 6-8lb flouro tippet and #8 or #10 scud or #6 jig hooks with marabou that would be a lot of fun!!! Almost booked a trip for this may…just may do it yet…who knows.


Hope I helped and didn’t offend,
Brian Morin
Aka Lambton
http://www.lambton101.blogspot.com/

OK now Haters...Start Hatin... Oh ya and in my defense if Arn and Norland can catch fish with this method there must be some form of legitimacy to it...those guys are useless.