Float (Centerpin) rod recommendations for trout fishigng?

[Henning]

Hello everyone, I'm a newbie to the float world. I've been fly fishing for 15+ years, but I want to try the centerpin thing for dead-drifting flies to trout.

Any recommendations for a nice light trout rod to use for centerpinning? Thanks for the help...

[dhosera]

I have a Raven Matrix 12'9" 6-12 lb and love it. 130$ is not bad either.

[stlhdr19]

I have a friend that bought a 11'6" blank from cabelas. its like a 2-6 lb weight. he uses it for steelhead but i think it would be perfect for trout. check with cabelas. it only cost 25 bucks so for the price of components it would be a cheaper idea if you know anyone who builds rods..

[Flyfisher]

I have a Raven Matrix 12'9" 6-12 lb and love it. 130$ is not bad either.
I agree...great rod and an excellent price but it may be a bit much for most stream trout fishing. In my opinion, the Matrix is much better suited to steelhead and even light salmon.

St Croix Wild River series has both a 13' and 11'5" rod with an action more suitable to smaller fish. Okuma also sells IM6 and IM8 rods that trout will put a bend in.

[Eggsniffer]

I have a custom built centerpin for fishing stream trout. It's a 10' 1wt blank from Dorber (www.dorber.com). Mind you, building a float rod out of their fly blank will void your warranty, but heck I couldn't pass up on an ultralight centerp0in:evilsmile (not to mention the blank was only 60 bucks or so)

You could also get a a 3-6wt blank that will do about the same. I wanted the lightest outfit possible, and I believe I got it. Fly blanks don't have the same butt section as a float rod, so you'll get major bend right down to the handle if you build on a light fly blank. If you are into backbone though, try the aformentioned float blanks. I use this outfit exclusively on small stuff, and it REALLY lets 10-16" trout show off. Also you may want to look into a smaller reel, like 4" or less. They are pretty hard to find outside of the UK, but if you need any info on that, PM me and I can set you into the right direction.

Here's a pic of the rod maxed out when my buddy was fishing with it for smallies and he hooked into a decent sized catfish. You'll notice the rod is built on a 20" handle. If I had to do it all over again, I'd probably use a 15" handle, but we had the handle ready to go and figured it would work fine (which it does).
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b252/eggsniffer/6.jpg

[pinhead1]

Thanks for the info and great pic on the Dorber 10' 1wt. I was about to order it to test it out, but that bend may be a little too much.

atb,

John

[hard head]

Henning, what was wrong with the float rods you had for sale on this site ??