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[RalphH]

No it should be up locking because you don't want your hand gripping against the treading of the reel base, unless the feeling of the grooves doesn't bother you.

I was looking at some on line photos of Shimano pin rods - they had down locking seats. Both my switches and 2 of my spey rods have uplocking seats. Another spey down locks but the entire seat is cork.

[Dave]

I build a lot of rods and have never been asked to build a downlocking seat on centerpins, or fly rods.  I have, however, probably switched over a dozen or so to uplocking seats.  Most people prefer the feel of cork over reelseat threads.

[RalphH]

up vs down is something I never thought much about.

Of 9 sh fly rods one locks down - a Winston Factory rod from the early 90s. At least one of those rods, a sage, had the butt replaced. It was a custom job on a blank and the first may have been down but I don't remember any more with certainty.

DH rods (2 switch and 3 spey) one spey locks down - an Orvis from the 80s. The Orvis was done on a blank but the builder copied the butt from a demo rod he got from the local Orvis dealer.

2 spin rods - both lock down as with 2 gear casting rods.

My CP is uplocking.

[canso]

Is the fenwick HMX pin rod the mooching model? I did not find one on the website

Most of us use a moocher. I love my fenwick HMX moocher for the Center pin. Should find them for $150.
Moochers and pin rods are the same.

[Every Day]

There's a lot of talk on here about a switch/spey rod not being a proper pin rod. I beg to differ.

Around 4 years ago, I broke my only "pin" rod and used my admundson wind warrior 6wt spey as a backup. I never looked back. It loads up way nicer than any other pin rod I've ever personally used, and just feels better (snake guides and all). I even bought 2 blanks and got the handles built as "proper" pin rods. That being said, I still prefer to use the spey built rod as my pins, because I really like short handles. It's all personal opinion, but I very much dislike the standard pin build with huge long corks, and prefer a short 4 inch bottom, and 10 inches top maximum.

The same has held true recently with a switch to the rainshadow brand. The 6 wt spey I got built up as a pin is much lighter and easier to load up and aim than their actual "pin" blanks. Very, very similar action to the actual pin blank, but probably half the blank weight, and it's slightly more "noodly," which is what I prefer. In all likelihood, I'll probably never buy another pin rod again, and will stick with spey conversion builds.

P.S. I have actually found spey rods to help casting more than hinder it. With the proper timing, you can load the rod easier and cast in a shoe box. The higher flex also allows more of a slingshot effect = longer casting.

[psd1179]

There's a lot of talk on here about a switch/spey rod not being a proper pin rod. I beg to differ.

Around 4 years ago, I broke my only "pin" rod and used my admundson wind warrior 6wt spey as a backup. I never looked back. It loads up way nicer than any other pin rod I've ever personally used, and just feels better (snake guides and all). I even bought 2 blanks and got the handles built as "proper" pin rods. That being said, I still prefer to use the spey built rod as my pins, because I really like short handles. It's all personal opinion, but I very much dislike the standard pin build with huge long corks, and prefer a short 4 inch bottom, and 10 inches top maximum.

The same has held true recently with a switch to the rainshadow brand. The 6 wt spey I got built up as a pin is much lighter and easier to load up and aim than their actual "pin" blanks. Very, very similar action to the actual pin blank, but probably half the blank weight, and it's slightly more "noodly," which is what I prefer. In all likelihood, I'll probably never buy another pin rod again, and will stick with spey conversion builds.

P.S. I have actually found spey rods to help casting more than hinder it. With the proper timing, you can load the rod easier and cast in a shoe box. The higher flex also allows more of a slingshot effect = longer casting.

Great advice. The only reason I haven't do so is that I don't want roe stain my sage X

[banx]

put a condom on it steve.

[spoiler]

the very best deal I ever got on a centerpin rod was a rod advertised on Ebay as a two-handed fly rod for sale in the UK.
On closer inspection of the pictures I could see it was actually a Sage 3113lb brown rod.
The "buy it now" price was $175.00 cdn so I promptly snapped it up. Even with shipping from the UK it wasn't over $200.00 cdn.