Hi
Im after suggestions for an ultra-light reel seat for a 6' 2wt. I think sliding band is the way forward hopefully in a knurled nickle finish. It is likely to be a cork seat so a company selling a grip of the same cork would be ideal.

Im using a small pflueger reel at the moment which struble claim will not fit thier seats, strange??

Trying to keep the price down as well

thanks

A cork seat with sliding bands would be the ticket. Jann's used to sell a pre-formed combination kit, but others may have something similar. You'll just have to look around.

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Johnny,
It's probably not Struble's fault if they said the reel wouldn't fit. It's most likely Pfleuger's. I suspect their reel has a reelfoot that doesn't comply with AFFTA standards. Struble was just trying to save you a headache. They received their info from an unsatisfied person calling them before I'm sure.

The Pflueger reel foot is a bit thicker than most. It is a good reel but a bit heavy for a two weight if you are looking for a light reel.

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

I turn a cork seat out of Exotic Cork or regular cork and use Batson's U5 skeleton reel seat. It makes a very classy looking, affordable, lightweight grip. It is not as light as aluminum rings, but It is a super seat for light rods. I do not know if the Pflueger seat is compatable.

David Edens
Blue Ridge Rods
www.blue-ridge-rods.com
FFF Certified Fly Casting Instructor

struble was doing you a HUGE favor for telling you that. 'tis true. pfleuger reel seat footings (may not be limited to the mdealist series,i'm not sure) are known to be bigger than most. a third party company actually makes a replacement foot for the reels to help work with almost all reel seats. do a google search for "p-foot"

I have a Batson u5 on a 2wt at the moment, nice reel seat but I want to go as light as possible. The pflueger fits this seat fine (its a black eagle-not really a pflueger) and is only a temporary measure untill I get a Forbes reel. The Rec PLRN seems to be the right idea, but seems pricey for what you get. If I can find similar components for cheaper I'd have no worries about doing the cork myself.

There is one more option. I have a couple of old hardy greenwoods with nice, old looking slide fittings that would do the job, they used to be my grandfathers but can no longer be used because of the nature of the wood. But would this be a new gift of life or sacrelidge??

Take a peek at the fly rod building site at www.theworriedshrimp.com, there are some ideas there that may help you. The lightest he has listed is a 3 wt, but it sure came out nice.

John-

What do you think those rings are thinking (if they could)? They want to be fished! Reuse them and give them the freedom of a new life. If not, the cork and ring set from Janne's Netcraft is #250734 $10.95. Kind of hard to beat that price!

I use the Redington Ct 2/3 (discontinued) on my 2Wts. Super light weight and affordable at under $100 if you can find it on the net.

Domenic

A nice all cork reel seat that won't break the bank is from Cortland...sliding bands, a check where reel seat meets the grip, very nice Check them out.

Tim

Thanks Tim thery're perfect! I think the uplocking one with the top under the cork is what Im after. The cortland shop seems a bit vague - really cheap but not much in stock? is are thyere any good dealers i should try?
The brown one would look nice with a tiger eye blank.

John -you might be right, but its not an easy decision. THe netcraft one loogs ok but Id like to shape the grip myself.

Well I managed to get the ring fittings off the rod without damaging it. Gave them a polish and they've come up a goodun! have a look at : [img.photobucket.com]
_ Domenic sorry for calling you John!

by the way I regestered, but can't upload photos. says: Error creating thumbnail! Error code: 1
Also how do i make a link? this one doesn't want to work

It has worked!

When you upload photos to the photo page, you must select a category for the photo to be placed in. If you will do that, the error message will cease and desist.

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I let a local shop owner talk me into rings for a reel seat on the first two weight I built because he said it's more of a "classic " look on a light weight rod and I've cursed him ever since then. I don't fish that rod any more because of it unless I put an unsightly hose clamp on it to hold the reel on. I'm almost embarrased to fish it with that ugly thing on it. I had to ask myself just how "classic" was it to the third hot fish that took off downstream pulling out line as my reel bounced off the bottom of the stream bed because the dang thing fell off the rod. One time I had to take a swim in 40 degree water to unsuccesfully get my reel back and try to put it back on all the while the fish is yarding out line all the way to the backing. The only way I got it back was the backing finally got to the the knot around the reel spool and pulled the reel out of the water and smashed into the stripping guide so I could grab it and put it back on. But not before I got soaked up to my shoulders in freezing cold water and had my half frozen fingers busted by the flying reel. I'd put on an up or down locking reel seat for sure. That's what I did when I built my second 2 wt.
BjR

Brad -That doesn't sound good!
Surely there must be sliding reel seat that do work well, I've seen quite a few Orvis rods that use them? I'm quite confidant that these hardy fitting will hold the reel well as I have another cane rod that is functional. It has the same fittings and has seen a fair bit of use with my old Rimfly without any problems. I stuck a new photo up in my gallery that show how snug the fitting hold the reel. It's more of a sliding tube than a ring.
There are some issues with these fittings though; firstly theyre solid brass -so not as light weight as I intended the rod to be. Also the cork has to be quite wide at the reel end of the grip to fit the sliding band. Hopefully it will look good but might just turn out bulky.
J

I've come to dislike slide ring reel seats enough over the years that I used a fuji skeleton seat on the last 2 weight fly rod I built. Some slide rings work fairly well for some reel seats and some aren't to be trusted to hold any reel in a fishing situation. I will grant however that they do work well and may be esthetically pleasing on a light rod used mainly as a display.

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

The cap and ring is not nearly as bad about releasing the reel as double rings. Cortland has aluminum sets, as mentioned. You can get a set of .657 aluminum rings from Larson at Rush River. Doesn't advertise them though. I turn down a reel seat into a Kork-a-lon handle for these.

Uplocking.................the way to go......................Cheap insurance.
BjR

I've using double slide bands on three rods and have never had a problem with them. One has a cork seat and the other two have wood.