Last night I finished my first rod ! Wow what a feeling of pride and accomplishment. I rememebr having a simialr feeling the first time I built a deck. With the help and advice of many of you, I was able to complete the rod even with a false start (not adding enough hardner to the epoxy). While I certainly see the imperfections, I'm happy with the out come for my first attempt. Next time I will know how to improve upon the small suttleties that make a difference.

The only thing I have not done yet is cement the reel seat butt cap in place. I have been holding off because I want to put a fighting butt on this 7wt. On my 6 wt I simply slid a rubber fighting butt over the butt of the rod and it works great. For this rod I am toying with the idea of putting a cork butt on. What is holding me back is knowing how to get the proper fit for the butt. Since I have to mail order everything for rod building, I don't know how to get the right size fighting butt for the rod. I don't know the inside diameter of the rod blank butt or the diameter of the reel seat tube.

Any (simple) suggestions for a fighting butt?

Thanks for all your help - My rod would have been a mess with out it (some of you craftsman may think it is a mess now anyway !!)
Jeff

Some seats are made to accept commercially made fighting butts. What type seat do you have? You might want to call your supplier and discuss this with them.

You can also run a sleeve inside the blank butt and build a short fighting butt on that. Lots of options here.

..............

Congratulations on your first rod.
Wait till you catch a fish on it. There’s something magical about catching fish on rods you’ve built.

I'm afraid there's no hope for you now!! Once you catch that first fish on it, your addiction will really kick in. Life as you now know it will no longer exist!!

Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/02/2006 11:01PM by Mike Barkley.

Jeff....you forgot something......you forgot to post a picture of it. ;)

I have added added fighting butts to my flyrods very easily. Call the supplier you usually deal with. Tell them the seat you have. More than likely there is a threaded plug that will fit the butt of the seat perfectly. Glue it in using rod bond or whatever you use. May have to cut away part of the blank inside to accept the plug. Buy a threaded end fighting butt and your done. You can also get a cap to go in the end of the seat when not using the fighting butt. Give your supplier a call. They'll help you out chossing the parts.

Steve

Hi Jeff,
The Batson fighting butt hardware is part no's FB2PI-B (black) and FB2PI-SG (shiney gunsmoke)\
There 3 pieces to each set. 1)plug for reel seat 2)threaded insert that is epoxied to seat
3) threaded bold to attach to fighting butt.


Good Luck!

Raymond Adams
Eventually, all things merge, and a river runs through it..