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[Sir Snag-A-Lot]

After about 15 years of salmon fishing on our local rivers I am looking for something new.  I have spent most of time flyfishing and plan on continuing this.  When fishing water that's not really suitable for my fly gear I have been using a medium-heavy action baitcast rod and levelwind reel.  I feel like I can overpower fish too easily with this setup.  I want to get into steelheading too but wouldn't feel sporting doing it with this gear.  I want to try centerpinning instead.  I have a few questions about the gear that could help me get started.   

Just doing a bit of internet searching and checking out the Buy and Sell forum here I can see that like most forms of fishing you can spend a bundle on high end centerpin gear.  This is not going to be me for now.  I am on a limited budget.  I want to get into it spending the absolute minimum I can without buying junk gear that is going to break down easily or give me a bad drift.  I will try to buy used gear from the market here or another forum but will consider new if I don't find what I want here.  What is the minimum that I might expect to pay to get me fully set up with reasonable gear?  If I am going to sacrifice quality is it best to do so on the rod, rather than the reel?
What about line?  Mono or braid?  What test? 

Are there any other big factors that I should consider that I might not have?

Any specific advice or helpful links would be much appreciated.

[bunnta]

imo....sacrificing on the reel should be okay. i feel cheap rod actually can make a noticable effect on casting. your float fishing....so naturally ur not looking to feel the bite that often since your watching your float like a hawk not feeling the bounce on the rock every second  . You want a decent rod that have solid butt section so u drive your hookset hard. only time a good rod comes in handy is when you put a blade on it and feeling the head shake will allow you to determine where you want to guide the fish etc. i run an okuma aventa on my gl2 loomis rod that i bought used and it is good enough for 5 years and i abuse it hard. what you can do is look for used reel and make sure they aren't bent and u should be okay.

[charles]

I started with an amundson 2116M 11'6 2 power CP 10-17lb.  It is a good starting rod.  You can feel the headshake but not too noodle and definitely has no problem with big fish like a spring.

[adriaticum]

Get Okuma Aventa centerpin and Shimano Convergence rod.
That's about $300 together and give it a try. If you like it, you can always spend more money later.

[HOOK]

why not just buy a lighter action level wind rod instead ?

I fish a 2106 Sage and if I get into Chinook over 25-30lbs I feel slightly under gunned if they decide to go for a real tear down river however any other fish species its suited very well.

I used to fish levelwind rods in a straight medium and found them perfectly suited to all species. I only got the Sage because I swapped it with a pin rod (Sage 3113MB)

If you really want to go the CP route then a 2 or 3 power is what you would be after. TFO makes a really nice 3113 for around $200. Sage will run you around $600 but they have more to choose from 2106, 3106, 3113, 4120. that Amundson sounds like a good rod at 2116M that extra length is pretty nice for using a pin

think im going to go see if they offer a long trigger rod in that !

[island boy]

couple years back i got a trophy combo for $225. good for pinks and coho. havn't had any issues yet.

[rjs]

ditto on the  Shimano Convergence !!!

keep saying I'm gonna buy a sage or gloomis soon as it breaks.... but it's been going on 8 years now !!!

[bunnta]

ditto on the  Shimano Convergence !!!

keep saying I'm gonna buy a sage or gloomis soon as it breaks.... but it's been going on 8 years now !!!

LOL, i keep saying that to myself too. when my loomis breaks!....its 8 years old rod.....lol

[charles]

The amundson 2116M is pretty good.  Even if you buy new from Steveston Marina is only $139.99-$149.99 + tax.  The longer 11'6 is very good at protecting lighter leader and it is so easy to cast.  I just don't like using electric tape on those convergence sliding grip.  I don't want my JM CP comes out while I am fishing and hit a rock. 

[mvelasco]

found a trophyxl @ searun for 100. great rod and handled lots of pinks. great back bone

[leapin' tyee]

found a trophyxl @ searun for 100. great rod and handled lots of pinks. great back bone

Good choice

[Sir Snag-A-Lot]

The casting rod that I use right now is a Convergence and I do like it.  It has handled a lot of fish for me.  It's just a little to heavy for what I want to do now.  I will check out lighter models I guess.

  Any more specific recommendations on reels?  What about line?

[Pin-nook]

why not just buy a lighter action level wind rod instead ?

Exactly what Hook said! Why not buy a low profile reel and a lighter action rod?  I started out drift/float fishing with baitcasters and realized differences in going smaller and lighter in gear, so much more enjoyable when targeting certain species. I still don't understand why people only have 1 setup to fish for all species, I get that affordiblity can be an issue but this is not really a cheap sport or hobby. 

[Sir Snag-A-Lot]

With respect to the pin versus level wind suggestions I guess I am a bit bored with level wind. I have done it a lot.  I have never tried the centerpin method so it's something new to play with.  I figure if I get into a pin setup at a good price the decide it's not for me I can go back to the level wind.

[adriaticum]

With respect to the pin versus level wind suggestions I guess I am a bit bored with level wind. I have done it a lot.  I have never tried the centerpin method so it's something new to play with.  I figure if I get into a pin setup at a good price the decide it's not for me I can go back to the level wind.

atta boy!