I am about to build my first rod (fly, 908, 2 piece blank) and I have used the site heavily to gather as much information as possible, but I stll have questions for which I would greatly appreciate your advice. The rod will be used for redfish and dorado (S. America freshwater fish), meaning that there is the possibility of a large fish at the other end of the line. My objectives are to minimize weight for a given blank (sometimes I cast for 6-8 hours in 80-90o weather) and achieve it with a low budget. My primary interest is rod performance. Here are the questions.

1. One of my rods has a 2” Pac Bay detachable fighting butt, and the original plan was to use the same type. I then saw a 1.2” long 0.6” I.D., cork and EVA fighting butt that you glue to ...? I imagine it to be much lighter (it does not have the metal pieces of the removable) and I am aware of the preference that many of you have for the permanently attached butts. However, given the I.D., I would have to glue it to the arbor. Would it be safe to glue it to a polyurethane arbor (it would fit the 16mm perfectly), or do I need to use a graphite arbor at the butt end of the blank? Or should I forget about it and look for another one with a regular 3/8" hole? I do not have the tools to turn my own.

2. I will be casting looped shooting heads that need as much guide space as possible. Is it recommendable that the tip top is the same diameter of the last guide or would it be better/indifferent if the top is a bit larger?

Thank you very much,

Elio