Torphy XL Royale Rod, Temple Fork Outfitters 3113 Centerpin Rod and an Okuma Aventa VT1002 Reviews

Centerpin Rod and Reel Reviews:

Last year (2009) my wife got me an Okuma Aventa VT1002 Centerpin reel, for Christmas.  It is my first and only centerpin reel.  A friend of mine that owns a local sporting goods store had given that reel excellent reviews and for less than $200.  The week after Christmas I purchased a Trophy XL Royale Centerpin Rod from Island Outfitters in Victoria.[Link]  Here is my review of these products.

Trophy XL Royale Centerpin Rod:

The rod is an attractive brown colour with a nice low position to seat your pin reel.  The flex and casting characteristics of the trophy are good.  However, the backbone and the overall quality of the rod is VERY POOR.  Since I purchased the Trophy XL Royale rod, it has broken four times and been warrantied three of those times and now sits in my garage busted.   I found that the Trophy XL rod would shatter under medium pressure when fighting a fish.  The rod failed me on 3 seperate steelhead, and then in the summer on a pink salmon in the Campbell River.  When the rod would break it would sound like glass shattering above your head and my honest opinion of this rod is that it is worthless and should not be sold at any price level. It’s cheaply built and can not able to consistantly handle fighting a fish for very long.  I strongly discourage anyone from purchasing this rod.

Temple Forks Outfitters 3113 Centerpin Rod:

After my experience with the Trophy Royale XL rod, I was very leary of purchasing another rod in the $200 range.  Riversportsman in Campbell River [link] is really the only store outside of Victoria that had any pin rods that weren’t the Trophy XL.  After talking to the helpful staff there over many weeks, I finally gave in and purchased the Temple Forks 3113 (11’3″ rod) pin rod for $200. Riversportsman highly recommended the rod and compared it to the sage 3113, which is known as the very best pin rod sold, but very expensive. The TFO 3113 has a nice low reel seat and a painted in a very attractive green colour. The day after purchasing the rod I took it to the Stamp river where I hooked a monster steely that went straight down stream and took me into the backing.  The fish finally broke off after a few minutes, and the rod was still intact and showed that it had plenty of backbone.  Since then, the rod has played a dozen steelhead and is not showing any kind of weakness.  It casts very well, allowing me to get roughly the same casting length as my level wind set-up.  Also, this rod transfers a very sensitive feel from the tip to the cork which allows me to be very confident that no bites are being missed. Most importantly this rod is built tough with plenty of backbone and somehow coupled with an extremely sensitive feel and excellent flex.  I really enjoy this rod and I no longer feel that my level wind combo has to be brought to the river as a back up. The TFO 3113 rod is an EXCELLENT rod and I highly recommend it to any centerpin angler.

Okuma Aventa VT1002 Centerpin Reel:

The Okuma Aventa VT1002 reel will hold roughly 200yards of 15lb line. The reel includes stainless steel bearings which allow the reel to spin beyond the level of it’s price tag of $200.  I held an islander centerpin reel and the Okuma reel and spun them both, if I didn’t know that one was $200 more than the other,  I wouldn’t have been able to tell you the difference by the way they spun.  My okuma pin has been used extensively over the last 12 months. 20+ Steelhead caught and released, dozens of Coho and Springs, tons of Pinks and Chums caught and released in the river.   In fact, I used my Okuma pin a few times trolling for Sockeye in the Salt chuck.  My pin has got a few knicks in the paint but it spins as good as the day that I got it.  The staff at the local sports store that spins new mono on my reel always comments on how how well it spins.  The only thing that I wish was better about my reel is the clicker, it would be nice if Okuma went to a lever style clicker engaging mechanism than the current twist button.  But that’s fairly minor.  I HIGHLY recommend the Okuma Aventa VT1002 Centerpin Reel. It is built from a solid block of aluminum,  it comes with stainless steel ball bearings,  it spins as good as any other pin reel, and it cost $200.  What more do I have to say?

Tight lines,
Ian B.

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Category: Centerpin, Okuma, Product Review, Temple Fork Outfitters, TFO, Trophy XL Royale