I recently purchased a SIG III 1wt setup from a reputable local rod building supplier and trusted him to put together the right components for me. After the reelseat/cork/winding check was epoxied in and before applying epoxy to the wrapped guides, I decided to check it out with a recently purchased "1wt" reel.

Low and behold, the reel seat is too long!!!! Its too long for the "3wt" reel I have. The only reel I can put on this beautiful 1wt rod is a "5wt" reel!! I've left a message with my supplier and am still waiting for his return call.

I've learned my lesson but I think the supplier had some responsibility in making sure the reel seat was appropriate for a 1wt or at least to tell me it needed to be cut to size. Oh well.

The only thing I can think of doing now is finding a large "foot" to replace the small foot on the 1wt reel. Has anyone ever done this? Does anyone have any other options? Thanks.

No, he wasn't at fault - the fly fishing industry is. There is no standard among reel makers, or seat makers for that matter, on any sort of standardization of reel feet or seat sizing. Feet and seats are all over the board, unlike the rest of the tackle industry where reel feet are generally about the same size and shape, regardless of reel size.

What type seat do you have? Uplocking? Downlocking? Wood insert? There are some other possible ways to enact a fix without trying to find a larger reel foot.

..........

I just did same mistake. You should always dry fit everything. Your supplier had no clue what reel you were going to use.

Thanks Dave

Unfortunately you are the builder and one of your responsibilities is to make certain the parts fit properly as you are the one choosing the components for a rod that you have chosen to build. The reel is your choice and you need to make certain that it will fit. I've made the same mistake and now carefully check and double check my dimensions before glueing. Blaming the supplier is akin to blaming the car salesman if your latest purchase won't fit in your garage.

Stan Grace
Helena, MT
"Our best is none too good"

Good point, Stan.

Steve made the same mistake that many have owing to the fact that most of us would never suspect that there is no standard size reel foot size in the fly fishing industry. After all, who would assume that reel makers and seat makers have never been able to get together and arrive at some type of standard.

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

Uplocking with a beautiful wood insert. If you have a work around for me, great. I'm pretty good with chicken wire and duct tape!

I realize now it was a mistake to assume the supplier would give me the correct seat but I was building a one weight and he put the whole package together for me (cause I'm still pretty green at this. Its my 3rd rod). I assume he's sold these 1wt many times before and that the builders but small reels on them. He just got these new wood inserts in and maybe didn't realize they were too long for 1wt rods. If I'd known to check, I could have just cut them to length. I didn't know to check but sure do now.

I'm not going to hold him responsible, just wondered what he might suggest and maybe warn him so the next person doesn't end up with a bottom heavy setup.

Steve:

As an option you may look a measuring the length of the threads, and the extra length of the reel seat. It may be possible to cut off the bottom of the reel seat, bore out the part of the seat that is under the threads and then reattach the threads to the remaining seat. You would end up with a slighting shorter rod.



Chris Richer
Iroquois ON

Many small reels have large feet. Your supplier had no way of knowing the size of your reel's foot - there is no standard foot size for small fly reels, or any size fly reels for that matter.

What you might do, is try to get the threaded barrel off the wood insert. Turn down the insert barrel and form a new shoulder a bit further up. Probably a quarter inch or so is all it would take. Then trim the slightly excess blank length and reinstall the threaded barrel. The problem here would be that as a novlce, you aren't likely to have the tools and/or the skill to do this, yet. But it would be a fairly simple fix if you can do it.

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

So there is hope I can find a light reel with a foot large enough for this reel seat?

I know. Probably not. I should have checked it first.

You are right. I don't have the tools or the skill. I would have better luck making a new foot out of wood. Hey. It *might* work!

Thanks for the responses!!

I admit that I'm not familiar with the reel seat that is on your rod in question but a solution that I would try would be to make a bushing out of a nice metal or composite material that could be put between the threaded ring and the rear hood that holds the reel down. Of course that hood would have to slide over the reel seat barrel or that may have to be turned down also. the bushing could be split and assembled together on the reel seat with small screws or pins.
Just a thought.
Dave

Tom,

actually there is a standard. Formerly there used to be two standards - one for regular and one for spey reel feet.
Here's the current: [www.rec.com]

Cheers,
Sakar

Also not knowing the exact seat, maybe possible to turn a wood spacer in same wood as insert with tight ID tolerances and a width to make up make up the distance needed. The rear of the spacer would butt up against the locking nut and the front up the shoulder of the rear hood. Heat the end cap to remove. Remove the locking nut and put the spacer in between nut and hood. Re-thread the nut and see if it will push the hood up far enough to grasp the foot.

Or, buy an Orvis Battenkill BBS in the smallest size and respool the line :)

Steve Rushing Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Heat the
> end cap to remove. Remove the locking nut and put
> the spacer in between nut and hood. Re-thread the
> nut and see if it will push the hood up far enough
> to grasp the foot.

I can heat the end cap to remove it?!? Yay.

I didn't know I could do that. That is the advice I was looking for. I don't have a problem with a spacer at all. Getting the end cap off so I can put a spacer in is something I didn't think I could do and I sure will work.

Any advice on heating the end cap without discoloring it?

Steve, You can hold the end cap in some boiling water for a few minutes or use a heat gun that is used for removing paint. Hope this helps.
Chris

This may be a bit far fetched for this application. But years ago I had similar problem, I was trying to use an old Martin 72 on a Steelhead spinning rod that I had a Tennessee handle and sliding rings on and the foot would always work loose in a few minutes. So I cut the foot off of an old spinning reel and drilled holes to match and used that. It may work depending on how accurate you can drill the holes. You could even grind/file away the excess from the new seat so that it would fit perfect.

Chris Marriott Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Steve, You can hold the end cap in some boiling
> water for a few minutes or use a heat gun that is
> used for removing paint. Hope this helps.
> Chris


Really? I did not know that.

Move aside Honey. Daddy's making some DuraGloss soup!

Update: I tried to remove end cap by holding over a steaming kettle but no go.

Good thing too. I took it to a fish flying shop to try various reels. There were a number of them that will work with this reel seat. I guess the one I tried earlier was "non-standard". I shouldn't have paniced.

Thanks for all the help.

Good solution and once again proving that there is no problem a fly fisherman can't solve by buying new gear :)