Hi Bigdog: There is one advantage to the centerpin besides lookin cool;but in my opinion its irrelavant.You can fish a centerpin from your flyrod which means that you can switch from fly to bait very simply.
The cast froma centerpin is very soft,It must be to avoid the worst backlash you have ever had.With such a soft cast you can fish more fragile baits.
But in the final analysis there is no real advantage to the centerpin except its an ego builder. See me! i fish a custom centerpin reel!!
coot