Pin is In

Tried center pin fishing for the first time last Fall. I'd been intrigued after seeing a couple of presentations. The long drifts looked perfect for seeking out steelhead in unfamiliar waters - especially bigger, more open locations.

I've since learned from a few guides that they pin a little bit for certain species in certain situations but keep it quiet as they get criticism that it's not REAL fly fishing. This mystified me. What I'd seen was fishing flies under an indicator -- just as I do on my regular indy rig. Sure, it's on a different line, but the terminal tackle is identical. People consider bottom-bouncing a chuck-n-duck to be fly fishing -- even though most use a running line or some sort of monofilament type line.

But recently I picked up a book on float fishing for steelhead (center pin is really a subset of float fishing). Interesting book, but NO mention of flies. AH-HA! All the book focused on was spawn bags, hardware, and other spin tactics. Now I get it -- many pinners aren't running flies, hence the stigma.

It will be interesting to see how perceptions change. While pinning has been long accepted in Europe and especially in Canada, it's a relative newcomer to the US and especially the Great Lakes region. Several shops have told me they're seeing a lot more interest. And even the Steelheadsite.com has a forum devoted to the pin. I think once it takes off in the US among fly folks, we'll see some change in the perception.

For me, I can't WAIT to drift through the Manistique river in late April!

-Sean-