Balanced Tackle?

[Taylor Peterson]

I am wondering how to know if a rod and reel are balanced well. I have heard of placing your finger where the cork or composite meets the blank and it should balance out, is this an accurate way? The reason I ask is I'm in the market for a pflueger president and am debating between the 6930 and 6935.  For instance, if I buy the St. Croix premier 6'6 medium power fast action, the rod says it can handle 6-12 wt. line. The pflueger 6930 reccomends 4-8 wt. line and the 6935 reccomends 6-10 wt. line. This would make me think the 6935 is the way to go but most people reccomend the 6930.... Thanks so much for any avice

[fishguy613]

you can use any line on the reel you wish, the info marked on the reel is regarding line capacity

[SirSnookalot]

Not everyone holds a spinning rod the same way, depending on where the hand is placed relative to the reel the balance will be different.  I hold all my spinning reels above the reel, that's why I only buy rods with a foregrip.  Once you have your set up, the balance always changes when different sized lures are used.  My own take, as long as I have a fairly comfortable set up the balance doesn't have to be precise.

[Bankbeater]

I have to try them out.  Sometimes I get it right the first time, and sometimes I have to start mixing and matching diffferent reels to rods.

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

There is no "right" way to balance a rod/reel combo. It's 100% personal preference and in many cases is obsessed over too much. Whatever feels good to you is "right".

[OkobojiEagle]

the balance always changes when different sized lures are used.

 

 

My spiinning rods are balanced slightly tip up without any lure weight.  It's the weight of the lure that I want to feel bring the rod out of balance and signal to me that something is going on with the lure (loss of weight or additional weight).  I balance my spinning rods directly on top of my lead finger holding the rod.  I don't usually try to balance my casting rods as I fish them tip down.

 

 

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[smalljaw67]

There is no "right" way to balance a rod/reel combo. It's 100% personal preference and in many cases is obsessed over too much. Whatever feels good to you is "right".

 

DVT is absolutely correct, it is thought about too much and the term tip heavy also gets used negatively and it isn't always that way. I prefer a rod that when I have a reel mounted on, it slightly tip heavy for cranking rods and spinnerbait rods but jig and worm set ups have to balance with the way I hold my set up, which means a perfectly balanced rod isn't going to be balanced for me, most of my rods that I find balanced right for me are what others consider being tip heavy, it is a reason I like split grips over full grips because slightly tip heavy is perfect for the way I hold my rods but if it is too tip heave, then that isn't good either.

[Wbeadlescomb]

I've always wanted one of those spinning rods where you tape the reel to the handle. Tennessee grip maybe?