Placement of Reel Seat

[bassripper2000]

Hello guys,

I was wondering, I am building a split grip spinning rod.  In such, the reel seat can be placed virtually anywhere on the blank.  What is you method of finding the proper location to place the reel seat.

Is it just a matter of preference?  Or is there a specific method that one could use to balance the rod out better?

Thanks  

[Alpster]

The awesome thing about building your own rods is, you can have it your way. There are as many methods as there are rod builders. I will share mine and hope it is helpfull to you. I will set the reel seat on the rod blank with the reel I will be fishing with, and move it untill the blank is a little tip heavy. Masking tape will hold it till you make up your mind. I don't like rods to be perfectly balanced at the reel seat, I like them a little tip heavy. This is a personal thing for me, you should set it up the way you like it. I mark the reel seat with a china marker and dry fit the cork or eva grips. With the cork/eva (not glued) and the reel seat taped back in the placed marked I will tape on the guides with the "new concept" spacing. (See www.rodbuilders.org and search for new concept) and hold it again and make sure I am pleased with the feel of the rod. Mark the guide spacing, location of the seat & grips and do a static test to make sure of the guide spacing (you want the line to be concentric with the blank under a load). Adjust the guides to the proper spacing. Line up all the components carefully. Glue up the grips, glue up the reel seat use arbors or fabric tape to center the seat on the blank, wrap and finish the guides and go fishing with a custom rod. JMHE

Hope this is helpfull

Ronnie

[Guest DavidGreen]

Is it just a matter of preference?  Or is there a specific method that one could use to balance the rod out better?

Personal preference and experience.....

Alpster, and I have some of the same building techniques. I like to take the reel set in the seat, and tape it on the blank with a slight tip heavy feel, making sure that I don't get my fighting butt section so far up the fore arm, that it will get caught in any loose clothing I'm wearing while fishing, that might hinder the casting or fish fighting abilities of the rod. I do this with my walk-in custom clients also. I feel that this aids in the casting of any rod, spinning or baitcasting, and can get close enough to neutral balanced to actually give the same benefits.

[bassripper2000]

Thanks Guys

Your info is invaluable as always.  I was afraid my rod was too tip heavy, so I kept moving the reel and the seat up, then it started feeling like it was getting to a neutral balance.  However, that makes the butt end way too long so I thought I would ask.  Thanks for the insight,  I think I am starting to finally understand more and more.

Thanks again

[MickD]

Just noticed your post, a little late perhaps.

Previously mentioned point about not getting the distance from the reel to the butt too long is very important.  For some types of fishing this dimension can really cause problems.

I don't think it is possible to get neutral balance and maintain dimension above within reasonable bounds.  Watch for the people who disagree with this statement!

Remember that you probably can cut off some of the threads of the reel seat, also.  Most of them are longer than they have to be for the reels I use, so I usually cut off at least a half an inch.

Remember to put your winding checks, if you use them, on the blank before glueing the next section of cork into place.  I forgot this and had to split the checks, then build up epoxy on them to hide the split line.  Duh!