Well when I first had this idea of a little trotting I thought I'd pop along pick myself up a little rod and a centrepin ........... then I found out centrepins are an expensive hobby.

But I still want to own one. A very nice course tackle shop in Maidenhead offered me the Okuma Aventa 1002 for £100 .......... but that still hurts a little and I have seen the Shakespeare one and the Aventa 1000 for a lot cheaper.

However I am looking for reasonable alternatives and need some advice ...... the mega cheap ones on ebay I am a bit suspicious of. So some advice on new/second hand ones would be good. Even if it is to go for the Okuma.

I am only going to be fishing smallish streams Teise and Wandle with maybe twice a year trips to Timsbury

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Carl

http://www.wandlepiscators.net/
http://teiseangling.co.uk/index.htm

TOMORROW THE TRENT COULD BE YOUR FISHERY! When are YOU going to JOIN THE ANGLING TRUST?

Carlos,

The Okuma Aventa Pro 1002 is the BEST value 'pin out there. Don't even bother with the 1000. It's not free enough.

If you can afford it, the Okuma Sheffield is even better. But for most purposes the Aventa 1002 is superb.

I use my 'pin (and 14ft rod combo) on the Loddon, Blackwater, Wandle (2lb trout is my best), Avon, Itchen ... in fact anywhere I fish

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Cheers,
Lawrence

An old Speedia would take some beating, £35-£50. Not easy to find a good one though.....

TF

I concur with TF. There a quite a lot of good 'pins out there and a nice speedia from fleabay ets. won't break the bank. Another option is the old Yongs Rapidex or Trudex. I have no personal experiance of the offerings from Grice and Young so can't comment on these. Any of the above reels will do the job but you need to be careful and ask the seller some searching questions if buying from an auction site. Most sellers are genuine and won't want to risk their good feedback by telling you porkies.

For what it's worth I have a Speedia, a Rapidex and an Okuma Sheffield. There is really little to choose between any of them, all are fine reels.

Okuma's are superb modern reels, but if you want a cheaper option, have a look at Shakespeare Lincoln for around £30-40 (link below). Not the prettiest looking thing but amazingly good for that price (had a play with one in my local tackle shop and couldn't beleive how smooth it was. You can also turn the spool to face forwards to cast like a fixed spool, although this does put twist in the line after a while). I have some seen some dirt cheap plastic 'pins for a tenner in some angling mags, but I can only imagine they're awful!

http://www.mullarkeys.co.uk/fishing/...akespeare/806/

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Carlos
get yerself a speedia
cracking reels and not to much damage on the pocket.Might have to trwl ebay though.

Just to echo what others have said about speedia's, Get one! Dont bother with the wide spool model for trotting, and they're more expesive. my first proper pin is a speedia, and it's still my "go to" reel for trotting. If you can get one for the right price you cant beat a match aerial for trotting LONG distances, but for general use, and the price the speedia's are impossible to beat


Cheers,


Graham

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www.wildflies.com

Cant recommend an okuma sheffield highly enough. Spins for ages and doesnt look bad either.

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http://manchesterfishingfiend.blogspot.com

I would follow the advice of the posts above and go for something secondhand off ebay. You should be able to pick up a nice reel for less than £50. Another bonus is that the likelihood of it being made in England or Great Britain is high.

Graham,thats strange as my wide drum Speedia is a corker for trotting.Not tried a narrow version so can't comment,but more than happy with the wide.