From what I have heard the coating on the line itself starts to break down and chip off where you tie knots to your leader or anything else.
Also have never used it tho. I have heard lot of mixed answers from people tho about their opinions on the stuff.

My limited experience is that Hydrofloat is pretty much garbage.

My experience with it is limited is that the one time it was given to me free of charge and put on one of my reels, I took it fishing and took it off after about ten casts when the finish was already peeling off.

Fish on...

Todd

Interesting, I've made a few hundred casts hooked 9 fish and landed 5 on it so far and the finish is still as good as new, and considering I use mono at the end before my float the hydro float never comes in contact with bottom structure such as sticks or rocks, and I havnt used it below freezing conditions but I realize it would freeze up like braid and wouldn't be my first choice in the colder winter months, only complaint I've had so far is that it cuts my finger sometimes while casting it long distance using the wallis cast

On the bright side I've found a great float in the new aero float line, I was given a few by the owner of hawken fishing before they were in stores and have found them to be the best float for center pin fishing

I like izor, havnt tryed it on my pin rod, does it pick up and mend easily? Does it ride high in the water?

I wonder if you could wax it like normal braid to help it from freezing. With the coating on it it might not last too long.
I never would have thought it would cut into you tho casting.
Izor is the only stuff to tear into my fingers so far.

Yea idk, I can tell the coating is fragile but since I use a 15# test mono bobber/shot line I don't have to tye a knot with it often so that should make the coating last longer, and I'm not shure if it cut my finger casting or when I was guiding the line while reeling in

If it works for you thats all that matters I guess. I was tempted to try it when it first came out but I never did. I stuck with the sufix braid like normal.
I am not a pinner and all the people I have seen using the hydrofloat are not either so not sure if the line is gonna benefit you any better than if it was spooled on a good bait caster. Its nice to see there are some pinners around.
I honestly have never seen any pinners on my local waters. Only seen a few on the coastal steams.

True dat.

Even so, the very worst mono is still better than the best braid on a center pin, IMO. It's a poor substitute for fly line backing on a pin too.

Save the braid for your baitcasters and spinning reels.
Sooner or later, every pinner learns that braid and side casts are things of last resort.

Well it seems to work well, and its actually a gel spun spectra not a braid, not 100% shure if I'll buy it again but I'm deffinatly gona fish it until it wears out or let's me down

I just picked up a few of the Aeros too. They do look promising.

Customs and homemades are fun too.

Corey,

Nice stash. Where's the Mac?

BTW, I wouldn't say you're biased at all; more like blessed.

I like the looks of those custom floats been thinking about tryin my hand at making some one of theese days just for shits n giggles

I've never put braid on my center pin. I'd blow it up faster than I blow up my reel now with mono...

If you do any side casting, you're going to be pulling off 20,.. 30,.. 50,.. yards of line at the end of the day to get line that won't twist on you. That's why I'll just stick to mono, I don't have a problem trashing 50 yards of line after the end of the day. Izor is a good idea, good quality and not expensive.

I never side cast so my lines last a long time, I only wallis cast or bc cast

I'm getting there. Slow learner.

On the topic of tactics and tips, here's one that you may or may not like. Take it or leave it.

As we all know quality center pin reels are precision tools which can be very expensive. They are also designed to last a lifetime with minimal maintenance and proper care. They can also be highly addictive to collectors, hoarders and serious afficianados, as some here might attest. Thus they maintain very high resale value in good condition.
The problem isn't that good center pin reels don't hold up to abuse, but due to their form factor and size they are generally more exposed to bumps, scrapes and bruises as you can see here.



I bought my first Hardy Silex over 30 yrs ago and although it's pretty beat now, I still use it to this day. Later though as I began to "invest" in more reels, I became more conscientious hoping to avoid taking a bath as I "traded" out different reels. Like many, I would try to keep a neoprene pouch or towel near me to set the reel on when handling a fish. But we all know how well that works and conscientious I'm NOT. Even tried sticking rod in belt, over my neck or in mouth and every other Kama Sutra position you can imagine to protect the reel. Nothing seemed to work on the rocky or brushy banks I usually fished, especially with rods extending over 10'. Anyways I finally realized, if I could just set the rod down with the back plate protected, the reel would be fine for the most part.
So, I gaffed up the back side of the reel and voila.



Now this may not work as well for heavily ported back plates, but it has worked out well on Milner, Kingpin, JW Young, Is Steelheader and Hardy reels. The key is to use only high quality GAFFER's TAPE, which is not only tough, strong and made of fabric, but more importantly it doesn't peel when wet or leave any residue whatsoever when removed.
Oh yeah, it ain't cheap, it can be difficult to find (most professional photo stores or studio supply houses have it) and it ain't attractive either, but it will maintain a higher resale value on your reels.
Another advantage I found especially in the cold, was that it made the reel more comfortable to hold, which is nice because more often than not when I'm fishing I support the rod with reel on my open palm with handles facing upwards.

Here's a closer look at my center pin condom.



Hope this helps.

Well I blew up my reel with the hydrofloat on it and got pretty pissed so I stripped it all of and put 12# hi-vis izorline on it and to my suprise the izor dosent cast as far or as smooth as th the hydrofloat so I guess I'm onto the next as far as trying lines for my pin rod, also just got the 13' shimano clarus pin rod and its really freakin sweet

Oh and as far as the tape on the backplate I like the idea but it still won't keep sand or dirt from gettin into the reel but I see how it would keep it from getting scratched up, and I see youhave tape on your slide rings, I suggest an old bicycle innertube cut into 2 inch sections slid over the slide bands, a lot cleaner looking and holds verry good

Just picked up this 'ol clunker last night....not sure I can bring myself to actually using her. Maybe tho....