i'm in the process of building my first rod so here it go.8'6" blank and i was wonder if is better to put 14" verses 11"of rear handle not include reel seat.the reason i'm asking is with the longer handle can you cast longer now that you have little more leverage .i have the same exact rod that was build earlier for me and i love it ,but alway have that thought in my mind.thank danny :)

Danny,
It is a trade off. By making the rear handle longer you may well be able to apply more force to your casts but a 3" longer rear handle means that you have 3" less rod from the reel to the tip into which you can store up energy during your cast. Unfortunately nothing is for free, there is always a price to pay. Why not assemble the rod with the components mounted just temporarily and give it a try.

yeah thats the best thing you can do the benifits of making your own rod is to fit it the way you like.....only you will be happy what ever way you go.....

What length handle do you have on the rod mention? If you feel like you could do better with a little more length, then mock it up and try it. Sometimes just an inch or so can make all the difference.

..........

find out what fits you and what you like.i have one with 14 inches and i like using it but the handle sometimes hangs up on my cloths under my arm pitt.i did one at 13 1/4 inches and i don't have that problem any more.just that extra 3/4's of a inch shorter helped.especially river fishing fast water making cast after cast all day long.it isn't much to worry about but now i don't have to adjust to the rod hanging up on my cloths when i go to make another cast.

Professional distance casters in my area have the reels mounted very low on the rod. I mean very low loike a few inches. Before I started to wrap my own rods I would have them built with the reel very high up on the blank because it followed tradition. I now mount the reel at roughly 12 inches from the butt end to the center of the reel and I enjoy much more comfortable cranking when going against the fish (the rod butt goes into a rod bucket). As Tom mention, do a mock up and find out what you like. It is very easy to cast with a reel mounted low.

The old rod i have is exactly 15" to the middle of the reel seat casting is fine fighting the fish is fine no problem what so ever sometime even have little problem of it catching clothes,with this new rod i was wonder if i add like 3"extra in the handle to make it 18"to the middle of the reel seat ,would that improve my cast distance?it a 8'6"mega monster blank make by Graphite Usa is the rod i'm building now .thank danny