Will Stewardson
Will Stewardson

5 expert tips for catching Ontario steelhead all season long (including winter!)

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#3  CENTREPIN

While tricky to master, centrepin fishing is considered the best way to naturally present the bait. For this, you’ll need a centrepin reel, naturally, and an 11- to 13-foot rod. The hottest bait under floats these days, Redin says, is a plastic bead representing a dead egg free floating in the water column. “That’s what the steelhead target,” he says.

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With his centrepin set-up, Redin uses eight- to 10-pound-test monofilament for the mainline, with an 18- to 30-inch fluorocarbon leader attached with a micro-swivel to prevent line twist. He threads the leader through a slip float and a bead, then attaches a float stop above the float and bead according to how deep he wants to run the bait.

Redin will also add splitshot below the float as needed to keep the bait down. As for hooks, he prefers sizes 4 and 6 with a straight eye. He also sometimes runs a tandem bead rig, with a second leader and hook attached to the bend of the first hook.

While it can take some time to learn how to cast with a centrepin outfit, Redin says most anglers start with a side cast. “They take some line and pull it out, using one hand as a guide,” he says. “When you force everything forward, it’s drawing the line off the reel sideways and out through the first guide.”

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A centrepin reel spins as the float gets pulled along in the current, and you can control the speed by keeping your fingers on the palming ring, either holding it back or letting it completely free spool. “Every pin fisherman will have his own technique,” Redin says. “Some guys run their bait way ahead of the float. Other guys like to have it almost vertical as possible under the float.”

If the float does anything odd, like tip over or dip a little, it’s most likely because of a fish, he says. “Guys who run their bait way out in front of the float, they’ll actually feel the bite before they see the float move. The guys who run vertical, they’re using the float as a strike indicator.”

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