New Fenwick AETOS rod - reel won't tighten down?

[Ray K]

I just received my new AETOS casting rod and find that my Lew's Tournament MB reel won't tighten down completely when the top reel clamp is turned all the way down.  The reel still wobbles a bit.  Is it common to have to sleeve the reel seats with tape or something or, should I expect the rod to be able to clamp it down tight?

I also have a Fenwick AETOS spinnig rod an no problem with that one.  I really like these AETOS rods and they have a good price/reputation but, I don't know that I like it with the above situation.  What do you think?

[new2BC4bass]

Can you try another reel on it?  If I remember correctly, I had that happen with a Fenwick Smallmouth rod and a Chronarch 101A.  Tried a couple other reels and they tightened down no problem.

[Ray K]

17 minutes ago, new2BC4bass said:

Can you try another reel on it?  If I remember correctly, I had that happen with a Fenwick Smallmouth rod and a Chronarch 101A.  Tried a couple other reels and they tightened down no problem.

Good thought.  My modern reels are all Lew's and I tried a Tournament Pro G, a Tourney MB and a Tournament LIte.  All wobble side to side and are almost OK front to back but, I can feel a bit of play. 

The only reels that will tighten down are my vintage Ryobis, Daiwa PL1000 and Original Lew Childre BB1N.  And, I didn't buy this rod for any of them.

[A-Jay]

48 minutes ago, Ray K said:

I just received my new AETOS casting rod and find that my Lew's Tournament MB reel won't tighten down completely when the top reel clamp is turned all the way down.  The reel still wobbles a bit.  Is it common to have to sleeve the reel seats with tape or something or, should I expect the rod to be able to clamp it down tight?

I also have a Fenwick AETOS spinnig rod an no problem with that one.  I really like these AETOS rods and they have a good price/reputation but, I don't know that I like it with the above situation.  What do you think?

You can add a bit of electrical tape (cut in form fitted slices) to the stems of your reel seat.

Unless your reel is grossly undersized, this will take up the little bit of extra space and your reel will sit securely.

Don't over load it with tape & don't over tighten the rod's fastener or it may become damaged.

A-Jay

[Ray K]

1 minute ago, A-Jay said:

If you add a bit of electrical tape (cut in form fitted slices) to the stems of your reel seat, it will take up the extra space and your reel will sit securely.

Don't over load it with tape & don't over tighten the rod's fastener or it may become damaged.

A-Jay

I don't  mind doing that.  Just wondered if it's a fairly common occurrence with all these ultra light casting reels?

[A-Jay]

Just now, Ray K said:

I don't  mind doing that.  Just wondered if it's a fairly common occurrence with all these ultra light casting reels?

I had to do it to fit both of my Stradics (white ones) securely on a couple of Fenwick Elite Tech Smallmouth sticks.

Worked out fine.

A-Jay

[thebillsman]

Glad I cancelled that order then.. I would've thrown a Lew's TP on there.

[MIbassyaker]

I don't have this problem with any of my Aetos rods, but it does happen with some reels on my Elite Tech Smallmouth rods. Easily solved with the electrical tape trick mentioned above.

[Robert Riley]

Hm. I just bought an Aetos. I'll let you know if I have a similar problem, I have a Lew's BB1 going on it.

[I.rar]

I had similar problems with my curado on the smallmouth rod. Excellent rod but man was it annoying. Almost cost me an arrowana! 

I added a small piece of heat shrink tubing to the reel feet and shrunk them down to fit. Easy on an off with no gross residue. 

[Ray K]

1 hour ago, I.rar said:

I added a small piece of heat shrink tubing to the reel feet and shrunk them down to fit. Easy on an off with no gross residue. 

I like the heat shrink tubing idea.  That's what I'll do.

[smalljaw67]

The Aetos uses a Fuji SK2 reel seat and to have reels not fit the Fuji is strange. Now the smallmouth series has a custom seat so that is easy to understand, Daiwa often has the same problem, I forget which brand but it was either Shimano or Abu Garcia that didn't fit their zero G reel seat right so they did have a shim available for that.

[Damn Yankee]

I bought an Aetos casting rod recently and have no problem with mounting my tour mb.Tightens well and fits the rod real nicè.Great set up.

[Big Bait Fishing]

7 hours ago, smalljaw67 said:

The Aetos uses a Fuji SK2 reel seat and to have reels not fit the Fuji is strange. Now the smallmouth series has a custom seat so that is easy to understand, Daiwa often has the same problem, I forget which brand but it was either Shimano or Abu Garcia that didn't fit their zero G reel seat right so they did have a shim available for that.

it has nothing to do with the brand or model of reel seat , it is their positioning of the reel seat on the blank ( distance between the pieces of the two piece reel seat like the SK2 )