Balancing Rods - Reel to rod weight ratio

[Manly Studson]

This is how it’s done.

[MickD]

12 hours ago, stratoliner92 said:

 Apparently not for you? ?

No, because if the tip is straight up then balance means nothing.  All the weight is directly over your hand.  It could be distributed over 7 feet or 7 inches.  It makes no difference.  As soon as you tip the rod down balance begins to show itself, and its effect is max when the rod is horizontal.  It's physics, it's not I.

 

 

The guy in the video is right.  For the reasons he gave.  IMO.  I have not been able to break my grandson of holding the rod by the butt as he ends his casts, and if he overshoots on the cast he cannot do anything about it.  

[Derek1]

I hold a 8 pound skillsaw or a 6 pound nail gun in my hand all day. Or a hammer/sledgehammer. In all positions  from down between my feet to standing on one foot above my head. So all these talks about trying to balance out 10 ounces while standing up straight on two feet just seem a little silly. 

[Finessegenics]

2 hours ago, MickD said:

 

 

The guy in the video is right.  For the reasons he gave.  IMO.  I have not been able to break my grandson of holding the rod by the butt as he ends his casts, and if he overshoots on the cast he cannot do anything about it.  

Yea. I get it now. Not sure if It has anything to do with the balance problem but it makes sense to have the stem between your ring and pinky finger so that you can stop overrun casts with your index finger. Gonna give that a shot next season and see how it goes. 

[WRB]

While I agree a rod maker can't know how the angler will hold the rod they should strive to start with a balanced rod at the reel seat center point. Most of today's off the self rod the balance point is further forward at the reel seat locking ring.

Spinning reel held position varies more then casting reels, between little and ring finger is how I hold them. Casting reels 2/3rds of my hand is foreward of the reel spool somI can keep in touch with the line.

Tom

[Yumeya]

22 hours ago, Manly Studson said:

This is how it’s done.

this offends me.

LOL

[Derek1]

On 12/13/2019 at 3:13 AM, Manly Studson said:

This is how it’s done.

No joke, I seen a woman using one like that. She was also holding the line with her reeling hand with four fingers about a foot off the side of the reel to do this kind off lob cast. Kinda like I used to see guys casting off the jetties when I was a kid. I really wanted to help her out. But she was wearing her carhart trucker hat backwards and camo sweats  She looked tuffer  then me so I didn’t interfere. 

[kayaking_kev]

I think balance is just as important if not more important than weight.

 

I have a Dobyns Xtasy 755c that weighs 5.1 oz. and a Shimano SLX 7'5 Heavy that weighs 4.9 oz., but holding them in your hand, the Xtasy feels way lighter because the balance is great, and the balance on the SLX is not good.

 

Similarly, the Dobyns Fury 703c weighs 4.5 oz, compared to the 2" longer Shimano SLX 7'2 MH that weighs 4.4 oz., but the Fury feels a lot better because of the balance.

 

And, for reel pairings, the Dobyns rods seem to balance with any reasonable reel,whether it's 8 oz. or 6 oz., but I can't find a heavy enough one to balance the SLX and I wouldn't want to go that heavy if I could find one.

 

The only time I ever felt any arm soreness was when I started using the SLX. The pain wasn't in my casting arm, but in the arm and shoulder that I hold the rod with, which is my weak arm. If I had to use the SLX all the time, I would consider getting a LH reel, so I could hold the rod in my dominant hand, but I will most likely just sell the SLX's.

 

I also find that similar to baseball players using weighted bats in the on deck circle, that if I make a few cast with my heaviest rod and then switch to a lighter rod, it makes it feel even lighter. I might have to start doing that to start off each session.

[LionHeart]

Reel weight does not  counter balance the tip weight of a rod unless you place the reel behind where you hold the rod.  Is that what you plan to do?

[Finessegenics]

3 hours ago, LionHeart said:

Reel weight does not  counter balance the tip weight of a rod unless you place the reel behind where you hold the rod.  Is that what you plan to do?

My issue is not with the tip being being off balance, but rather the reel feeling too heavy for the rod. I know a lighter reel (which usually means more $$$) would solve my issues. My question was just if there was a ratio to determine how light of a reel I would need for the rig to feel balanced. So if my rod weighs 3.7 oz, how light of a reel would feel “right” on that setup. Of course there’s a lot of variables like rod length and the way you hold your rod and so on.

[LCG]

On 12/20/2019 at 2:19 AM, Finessegenics said:

My issue is not with the tip being being off balance, but rather the reel feeling too heavy for the rod. I know a lighter reel (which usually means more $$$) would solve my issues. My question was just if there was a ratio to determine how light of a reel I would need for the rig to feel balanced. So if my rod weighs 3.7 oz, how light of a reel would feel “right” on that setup. Of course there’s a lot of variables like rod length and the way you hold your rod and so on.

Weight of the reel is really not a factor as much as the rod. The most balanced set up I had was a Fenwick HMG 6'9 ML-F which I believe weighed 4.2 oz with a reel that weighed 7.6 oz. The reel weight had little factor, the rod handle has an extra two inches behind the reel seat than other rods. That's what helped balance it.

 

I now use a Carbonite rod which I think is 3.8 oz and a stradic fl which is 7.8 oz, not perfectly balanced, and I don't care at all. The rod has the right feel and action for what I want and that reel is perfection.

 

If I wanted a perfectly balanced set up I would look at full cork rods with longer handle lengths.