‘Pin Head

Since the day I picked one up my centerpins have banked countless salmon and steelhead. The thing is that’s all I’ve ever used them for; salmon and steelhead. I am also a bit of a river rat in the sense that some of my most gratifying days come walking the banks of flowing waters, fish or no fish.

Summer months mean the rivers in my area are void of salmon and steelhead and the centerpins get tucked away in the corner, waiting for the fall runs to arrive. As I one day wet waded a local stream in search of smallmouth I had a revelation. Why not exchange the spinning combo I held for a ‘pin? Ok, so I’m not the first person to think of it, and honestly I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of it before, but at that moment I thought myself to be a genius.

As I mulled over all the things I could be running under a float to catch smallies, I realized something else; the centerpin now had a spot in my arsenal twelve months of the year. As the hardcore fly angler pursues all that swims with fly I was about to embark on the same journey with the ‘pin. Suddenly my mind was flooded with thoughts of bass, walleye, pike, you name it, all coming to hand with the ‘pin.

I openly admit that I have a border line unhealthy relationship with steelhead. The obsession over these fish was only enhanced the day I got my first centerpin. But maybe, just maybe there’s something more to this. Maybe I was completely blind to the root of this obsession. Maybe it’s not as simple as being absorbed in a single fish. What if it was the centerpin that triggered it all? It would make perfect sense, but I can’t be sure until I put my theory to the test. It’s time to do some experimenting and find out if I am in fact a ‘Pin Head.