When it comes to float fishing for Luderick, the centrepin reel is the best tool for the job. Debatable perhaps, but in my opinion, and for the purposes of this article lets assume that this is correct.
Photo 1 - TopLeft Grice & Young Avon Royal Supreme, TopRight Okuma Aventa Pro, BottomLeft Alvey 475B, BottomRight Grice & Young Golden Eagle
I prefer to use a centrepin for a number of reasons. Centrepins give you the ability to let a float drift unencumbered, they let you maintain your line easily, they don't introduce line twist, they allow direct contact when playing a fish and they are easy to maintain. They do have one disadvantage in that they are harder to cast, and you will never get quite as much distance as you could get with a sidecast, for example.
Centrepin reels are an excellent choice for Luderick fishing as I have described in another article. One of my favourite manufacturers of centrepin reels, and indeed a favourite of Luderick anglers down the years, were Grice & Young.
These reels, although not designed for Australian conditions, are very handy luderick reels. They're hard wearing with a tough construction, few moving parts, yet a very small amount of force is needed to turn the spool. Sadly these reels are no longer manufactured in their original form, however, Shakespeare until recently sold a reel made with similar tooling to the original factory in the UK and there are many originals available via EBAY. If you want to buy from EBAY, it pays to know what to look for.
