The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

It has taken me 10 months but I have finally plucked up enough courage to have a go with the Ray Walton Rolling Pin MKII I bought last year.

I need to get some line on it then next time I can get out to fish I will be giving it a go. Keep your eyes open for a massive bird's nest of line walking around

John

I have one , only use it when I need a bit of distance.
Works like a dream but takes a little getting used to .





David

The rolling pin is designed to avoid birds' nests, it casts like an oversized fixed spool. What you will have to watch out for is line twist. Go and use it, enjoy it and catch some fish.

Fatty has two and uses them regularly.

They are ridiculously easy to use but as Dave says be aware of line twist. Easily sorted with a Gardner anti twist lead cast about at the end of the day.

Ray was not happy when I pointed this annoying fact out to him. In fact he got into such a hissy fit that he wouldn't sell one of his samples to me even though the cash Was in me sweaty paws.

Highly strung or what?

Anyways the reels are well made and do what they say on the tin. So recommended to those interested.

As ever ....

Moley

I admit one of my main reasons for using a 'pin (especially at venues with too many mudpigs) is that I don't get line twist after yetanothercarp pulling the line off against a fixed-spool clutch...on the odd occasions I wish to cast a really long way, I coil line on the unhooking mat. Unusually that's when a fish starts taking 'off the top' just out of normal casting range. I find this hard to resist.

That said, I can cast off the reel quite well on the river, but oddly, can't seem to get it sorted on a lake...

Hi all Can anyone tell me. Does this reel work for both left and right winding, or is it just left hand wind ( i.e. right handed ) ? I expect it only pivots on way

Just checked, my Ray Walton pin rotates both ways so I expect they all do

David

Thank you for the info. I have just had a thought. Where others have said that this reel causes line twist, if at the end of the days fishing, you turned the reel around on the rod and cast out a few times, would that remove the twists ?

David wrote: ↑Tue Jan 23, 2024 5:15 pm Thank you for the info. I have just had a thought. Where others have said that this reel causes line twist, if at the end of the days fishing, you turned the reel around on the rod and cast out a few times, would that remove the twists ?

It would not. Every time you cast out with the spool facing forwards, line twist is added in the same direction. When you wind back in, it doesn't matter which way the reel is facing, if it's rotating in the same direction as before (i.e. reeling in), the line twist will be loaded back on the drum. The only difference the reel direction makes is whether the line is fed onto the top or bottom.

The issue of line twist on forward facing reels has been solved several times. Malloch made the drum reversible. Vicomte Henry de France cleverly added a line clip to his moulinet rustique. Illingworth created the bail pickup.

Thanks for that. I just thought I would add. As one approaches 80 years of age, one's actions sometimes work faster than one's brain