Balancing My Spinning Rod Setups.

[bigbill]

Since I have on order four new bait casting rods and I'm happy for now with all my bait casting outfits it's time to go threw my spinning setups to upgrade them too. I found three brand new Finor lite spinning rods I had tucked away in my tackle room. That have the right action and power I been looking for I figured I'd set them up ready for the springtime. I installed two Finor lite spinning reels on two Finor rods and they balanced perfectly. The Finor lite 400S reel balanced the 7' Finor rod, while the Finor 300S reel balanced the Finor 6'6" lite rod. I then installed an Okuma exiptior #30 spinning reel on my third 7' Finor rod and it balanced perfectly too.

On my other spinning outfits I swapped the reels till they are as close to balancing without adding weight yet. They say by having our rod setups balanced it's less fatigue on us at the end of the day. I remember going home really tired after a long fishing trip making many casts since I use lures only. I hope balancing helps. If it doesn't help its old age right? God bless, bigbill

I may balance all my bait casting setups by adding the weight kits. To me there a screw and adding multiple flat washers till we get it right. I figure by using masking tape at first we can tape the screw and add washers till it's balanced then screw it to the butt end of the rod. I'll paint the flatwashers and the wood screws flat black using epoxy spray paint then calibrate each weight setup.

[SirSnookalot]

I've yet to balance any combo and never will.  Initially I like them to feel comfortable but using a wide range lure weights the balance is constantly changing anyway, not in the least bit bothered by it.  I do understand fatigue, gladly I don't suffer from it, IMO it stems from not being in shape or not having your muscles conditioned.  A golfer that plays every couple of weeks will get sore and tired, one that plays everyday will not, no different with fishing.  If you cast enough and do it daily your muscles will get conditioned against soreness and fatigue. That said with age we aren't the same as were 5 or 10 years ago, at 68 I can attest to that, I've lost strength.

[aceman387]

I played around with some quarters and a chair tip during the winter on some of my combos and gave it up after a couple outings.I just never thought it was necessary for me.

[smalljaw67]

I don't balance my outfits, I try to buy rods that are decent and match them up with weight and size appropriate reels but some off balance set ups I look for on purpose. My spinnerbait set ups are slightly tip heavy, this makes for great roll casting and perfect feel on the retrieve since the rod is tip down most of the time. I also think balance is over hyped, most good set ups are pretty good, the only real rods I found that were extremely tip heavy were rods that are 7'6" and longer.

[SirSnookalot]

 I also think balance is over hyped, most good set ups are pretty good, the only real rods I found that were extremely tip heavy were rods that are 7'6" and longer.

I use a 7'6 or 8' rod almost every day, by far my favorite lengths.  I throw any where from a 1/4 oz to an ounce+ very comfortable for me.  In fairness I'm not flipping for bass, but have pitched under docks for snook literally hundreds of times with those very same spinning rods.  True it's easier with a shorter rod, but those still don't have to be in perfect balance for me.

[Darren.]

I balance some, not all of my setups.

 

Some think it unnecessary, some do. I'm one to whom it matters. Entirely subjective. We are all different physiologically, so all have different needs and likes.

 

The lightest rod I own is my Avid spinning rod, and it balances out extremely well without any kits with either a Stradic 1000FI or Lexa 2000 attached. My Premiere casting rod paired with a Chronarch 50e is too tip heavy for me, thus I add a balancing kit.

 

So it's all relative to the individual. I want all my setups to be tip-light. I fish soft plastics 99% of the time, so there is a lot of lift, reel slack, lower rod, wait...lift, reel slack, lower rod, wait... and so on. This puts a lot of stress on the ligaments in my elbows (and yes, I actually find doing pushups really helps this). Therefore, TO ME, balance matters immensely.

 

When I test new rods at local stores, I always like to feel the balance points without a reel attached. If the balance point is well above the reel seat, it's too tip-heavy for my liking. Adding a reel won't change that too much (it will a little, but not enough for me).

 

Anyhow, just my .02. Take it for what it's worth.