Thursday, March 28, 2024
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TESTED: Alvey 475CP Superior centrepin

I’VE been fishing for blackfish (luderick) since the earlier 1960s and this is the reel I always hoped I’d see Alvey produce. They’ve made some good blackfish reels in the past using materials common to their sidecast range, and while they’ve always represented excellent value for money they’ve never quite matched the level of excellence achieved by the English J.W. Young Trudex and Rapidex centre pins of the 1950s, the slightly later Avon Royals, and more recent Shakespeares and Okumas.

With this reel they’ve made it. In fact, they’ve surpassed the previously mentioned classics. Using modern materials – cold-forged aluminium and sealed stainless bearings – and modern manufacturing techniques, they’ve come up with a reel that is salt resistant and casts like a bullet, using the Wallis method. It has no external “bits” to catch the line and the manufacturing tolerances are so good there’s no way the line can slip behind the spool. It really is “superior”.

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I tested it last Saturday on a wet and windy rock platform. The lumpy swell and rising tide meant that casting had to be long and accurate, but there wasn’t any adjustment period in getting used to this reel. Loaded up with 12lb float line, I could put the float rig right where I wanted it from cast one, just where the fish were sitting or moving through. I also accidentally tested its seals and impact resistance when a pivot away from a good wave resulted in a “rod & reel-in-a-rock pool” situation. Never a good look, but aside from a couple of scratches (the reel and me), no performance problems resulted.

Aside from the high tolerances, it has some other great features. It’s screwed rather than riveted together, meaning that during its lifespan it will be able to be pulled to bits for thorough cleaning. The ratchet is engaged by turning a knob rather than shifting a lever – a more secure and long lasting system. The reel seat is relatively short, which means it should fit all of the current generation super light float rods, a problem with the old Avon Royals. The knurled spindle knob doesn’t need to be over tightened, so if you do need to take off the spool, no tools are required. And it looks really classy and comes in a black reel bag.

It’s 4¾ inches in diameter, which is for some reason a “classic” size for centrepins. Reels like this mounted on long float rods have made a big comeback in the USA and Canada where rigs quite similar to our blackfish float rigs are used to target seriously big trout and salmon. They’re also being experimented with for Czech nymphing with weighted flies and fluorocarbon lines, so I’d predict this reel’s appeal in Australia will extend beyond luderick specialists.

Its RRP is $260 and I reckon that with minimal care it should be good for 20+ years use. As my float-fishing Pommy mate Martin Salter might say, “a lovely bit of kit”.

For more go to: www.alvey.com.au

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