i have never fished a centerpin but hear all of this talk of how great they are. I would love to try it but dont want to drop $500 without a test drive. is there a "beginners" reel you guys would recommend? And what kind of rod would be a match for it? It may even be a worth a free trip to WP to let me play with your reel.

After all these years, I am seeing the knock-offs on my old Wynona reels from the early days. I still have 3-4 of them in the cabinet. One is stainless steel with a friction brake. One even has a piece of really thick leather that you used to thumb the spool. I still love to use them for mooching. I think one of these would make a great training reel before someone made the plunge for big bucks. You can get them for cheap on ebay or one of the tackle collectors sites. Mine are very smooth and about as fool proof a reel as you can get. I will see if I can post some pictures if anyone has an interest.

I started with a Daiwa M-One. I think it is a perfectly good reel. Then GutZ had a Shimano 4000GT, and I bought on of those. Slightly better than an M-one, but not by much. I can say that I have never had a single problem with my M-One, however Myself & Several other owners of the 4000GT have experienced things like screws coming loose internally, which makes a annoying clank when you reel.

You'll be fine with either of those reels for starters, then after you have used them for a couple years, even though there is nothing wrong with them, you might start looking at the Islanders. Like Said, they are made with great precision and sport an exceptionally polished Anodized finish.... = bling.

Rods, Nothing shorter than 10'6", fiberglass, e-glass, or a blended blank with a mooching handle. I like at least 10" of cork below the reel seat so it sits in a downrigger rod holder and won't feel like it might slip out. I use a 1264BP blank made by Rainshadow. Other off the shelf rods that work well are Daiwa Heartlands and Shimano Convergence rods.

If you go custom, Check out the salt water reel seat components that Kerry has at Rainshadow, they're really sweet!

With a single action reel and a long slow-action blank like mentioned, keeping barbless hooks in a fishes mouth is much easier than with a 8' 6" Fiberglass rod and a levelwind. Setups like this really shine when playing a fish around the boat. When you get a fish close and see color, you loosen the drag a bit so that before netting if/when the fish darts off or makes a quick turn, there isn't a bad jerk on the hooks. The reel just pays out line silky smooth and the hooks stay orientated correctly. The extra length of the rod from butt to tip also helps if you have to stick the rod in the water because the fish went under the boat, guiding a fish around an outboard, and during landing.

Lots of knuckle buster talk w/o mention of the Hardy Longstone. I'm considering a MR2 as I have an Islander fly reel and they are very nice however, they lack a little soul. They are close to perfect which might be a little sterile?

My good friend and mentor Rikk Taylor always fished sallmon with his Hardy Longstone. Whenever i think of him I can see that beat up old gray HL , him palming THE SPOOL, and the looong rod bent in a sweet curve. It's is a classic.


Damn, now I think I must have one. Do you have any idea what one iN fair shape might fetch?

I bougt a mr3 last year and I love it. This is the only model that converts to left hand retrieve It. as far as the armr2 is concerned you might as well get a level wind if your worried about bruising your little knuckles waist of money and I give my dad $hit about using one every time we go out. as far as prices are concerned holiday sports in Burlington WA will have the best. I dont recall what i paid but I know after shopping around they were the lowest.

I bought mine (MR2) off a guy on Ebay for around $450. He was in Washington so I got it pretty fast. He was selling multiple reels at the time...sorry I can't remember his name. I chose the MR2 because I wanted the freespool option which I need when mooching. I usually leave the drag off and use my fingers. If you add some dacron backing on it you'll be better off as far as speed while retrieving.

Heh. That's what I end up doing on the letdown. Just flip the switch to freespool and use your finger as a break.

Never tried that on a fish yet. I think I'll puss out and use the drag on a fish.

Most of us use on ly a very small amount of drag, just enough to avoid backlashes. If you use a lot of drag you may as well go but a level wind.

To me the whole point is to be more involved in the fight, by using your sense of touch as the drag.

Any damn fool can reel mindlessly while the drag does everything for them.

Ya...I always have it set really low anyway so it is basically has no drag. Just for fun sometimes when fighting a fish I'll flip the switch just to hear my real scream when the fish takes off.

How does one get a DR1264 with an MR2 to touch the tip of the rod to the water while using a downrigger?

I want that rod bent over and damn near on the water when hooked up to a rigger.

You guys re-setting your drags after the fish pops off the rigger?

I set the drag right at the breaking point. Usually a good wave will cause the reel to give, freaking everybody out (including me).

I've yet to hook a fish in the sound that puts up any real fight while on the Islander. A few line tugs, but that's about it.

Parker back the drag off! I caught my first Thompson Steelhead on an Island fly reel, the drag is so smooth it get set tighter than needed.

BTW, did you have a Aire Puma about 7-10 years ago?

I seldom use my Islander with a downrigger. But when I do, I do as you say, and just back it off fast once the fish is on. No big deal. I know some B.C. guides that beleive its a sin to use a downrigger and a sacralidge use an Islander on a downriger.It doesn't bother me a bit, but it does seem a bit like putting silk shoes on a mule.

Ya, and my mule looks damn good in them shoes!
I love moochin, just depends on the water your fishin.

Been doin the same thing with my busters in the riggers all along. I've wanted a Islander for some time now si I just ordered one--it'll be there when I arrive! Then to Barkley ta test er out!

I've been fishing shimano 2000's for 20 years, broke a couple of the springs inside and replaced a few drag washers but that's it. my friend has a 4000 and it has had the screws come loose (like mentioned above) , mostly an inconveince. now I have a trophy xl large arbor, it's machined anodized aluminum, what some call a knock off islander. every bit as smooth as any other reel out there. i've been all through it and i can't see ever breaking or wearing out any part of it except the 2 little springs for the clickers. it a great reel, cost me about 300$ in canada. in my opinion it is good as an islander but i am looking long and hard at the mr3, probably have 1 someday.

I fish my MR3 with a Sage 12' rod in downrigger all the time. The rod tip is usually almost touching the water when set in the holder. I set the drag just tight enough to keep the line from easily slipping off. I've had plenty of puget sound fish that gave me a good tussle on this setup.

I usually do a quick turn of the drag if I can w/o getting my knuckles hammered when grabbing the pole. Just the other day I had a nice king at PT that jerked it off the rigger and there was not way I was touching the drag as he had it singing right off.

Like Dave I prefer to use my hands versus the drag. Makes it more of a challenge and fun.

the ultimate combo by far is a 1208C-2CH and an MR3....
I also have run Longstones for years but retired them last season....nothing sounds as good as a longstone screaming!!!!!!

I guess it's about time I come out of the closet. After a few trips north the last few summers I fell for the long rods and knuckle buster reels.

What I didn't like was using down riggers. I wanted to apply the Canadian set up to the coastal bays of Oregon where we typically fish water from 6' to 20 ' in depth. It was the rod holder that was holding us back. Neither Scotty, Fish On, or Folbe had a product on the market that fit my needs. Through a night of Jack Daniels a buddy and myself designed a rod holder on a cocktail napkin that would allow us to fish a Loomis SAR1265BC with a Islander MR2 reel on our local water. It is set up to hang between 4 to 12oz of lead and lets us fish the bottom of the water column where the Tyee resides.
We gave it a test run on Tillamook Bay last weekend it it worked awesome! Holder is home fabricated aluminum, coated with a spray on rubber to protect to cork, the upright is a stock Scotty extension that was fitted with some 3/8" thread and a knob ( to allow adjustment ) purchased at the home depot.
I will fish this set up hard this fall rolling herring at the coast and then bring it out again when the springers hit the Columbia and Willamette.
As for the expense of the Islander / Loomis combo. You might as well buy it once and have it last you a life time then to buy junk that will fail once a year.
Here are the pics.

Her's a photo of Rogue Rods Canadian Handle....graphite rear grip that is awesome coming out of the holder...
I fish over 60 day's straight each summer and I can't tell you how happy I am with this set up .....

I enjoy using my "Keen Kaster" for mooching, It is extermly light and the way the edge is rolled over makes it very easy to control the line tension. These reels are often on ebay, and they are inexpensive. I prefer them over Winonas.