Ok, another flyrod question - I've searched the archives, still hoping for better info. I now have another flyrod to build, a 5' 3wt for close quarters stream work - for a friend's father. Anyways, obviously weight is a major concern here - I'm kicking around the idea of a skeleton size 16 seat with a cork insert - I think this may be the best combo of lightweight and durability/functionality. I'm leary of cap/ring style seats - esp.for a brushbusting type rod. So has anyone done this, and if so, what do you use on the butt end of the reelseat to finish it off - does fuji, batson, etc. make an endcap that fits a sz 16 seat? I suppose I could turn a short wood fighting butt, but that seems a bit ridiculous for this rod....

Thanks!

Rich...If you haven't already done so, I suggest that you invest in Andy Dear's Lathe video. You will see how to make your own reel seat inserts and end caps.

I can't imagine that the small difference in weight between a wood insert and one made of cork is significant. In eihter case, you can still turn an endcap out of whatever material you find appropriate for the rod.

Cheers...Rodge

If you haven't bought the Reelseat hardware you should look at the nickel silver reelseats and hardware at REC Components at the left. I agree with Rodger about Andy's DVD. He saved me more than the price of the DVD in thrown-away mistakes the first week I had it. I like cork & 2 rings and cap & ring seats for fly rods 3wt. and lighter. I also like wood & cork insearts, both. Ralph

If at first you don't succeed, go fishing, then try, try again.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/28/2007 03:22PM by Ralph Jones.

rich, why are you leery of cap and ring seats? personal experience? i love them although i don't do much brushbusting. i DO scramble over granite a lot and have not had a problem by the design in of itself. for lightweight i think they are great, maybe even double slide bands would be nicer. i think aluminum bands grip better than N/S. some woods are extremely light as they are. and if you choose one with a large inner bore, then use a graphite arbor, light enough in my mind without having to go to cork, which i have found not such a great idea for me. i had one cork insert reel seat which didn't hold the reel well even before mounting on the blank and so never used it.

eric
fresno, ca.

Eric, I've never used or seen one - not alot of fly fishers around my area, but from what I've read in the archives, they seem to be more prone to loosening up than a threaded seat. I guess I just want to make sure I build my customer a rod that won't be a pain to pack through the brush with - fiddling with the reelseat streamside after poking his way through 500' of underbrush and tamarack to get to his favorite hole. I could be in error, I don't know. What are your experiences with them? Do you have any models/brands you like over the others?

I just replaced a cork reel seat with rings on a 7' 3 wt rod. The customer hated it and said the reel was constantly falling off. I used a down locking struble seat with a maple insert. A tad heavier, but still balances well. The insert had a pretty large ID so I filled with a foam arbor. Worked great. The cork insert would be lighter. A fuji or similar skeleton graphite seat with a cork insert would be lighter yet. You could finish with a black butt cap or a wood end cap.

Good luck.

Terry

Rich,

I don't know if it's in your budget, but REC makes some EXTREMELY light weight reel seats with aluminum hardware. I built a 2 wt. about 5 years ago with an REC AUSL (uplocking) with a California Buckeye Burl wood insert. I used single foot snake guides with one light coat of epoxy and still, the rod balanced Tip-Heavy due to the extremely light reel seat hardware/insert. In fact, I had to use a slightly larger reel with more backing than I origionally intended for this rod to get the proper balance. REC also makes a downlocking version of this seat.

Torin.

hi rodger paul where i get one of these Andy Dear's Lathe video. You will see how to make your own reel seat inserts and end caps. what tackle shops

rich. from my perspective, cap and ring reel seats have been used for a very long time. consider all of the bamboo fly rods that have been fished for the last 100 years, many using cap and rings seats. for those in the know, bamboo isn't that delicate of a material either, so i imagine some did bushwacking. i could be wrong on the bushwacking though.

personally, i HAVE had trouble with two cap and ring seats. both downlocking, both using nickle silver hardware. the first is a bellinger 660. i usually have to insure it's tight a few times during a day's worth of fishing. it loosens a bit. the other reel seat i had problems with was a struble D27 which i installed last summer. i had some problems with it loosening when i used a redington CT 3/4, which is a small reel with thin footing. with a different reel attached, an orvis battenkill, slightly larger/more normal footings, no problems whatsoever. it stays tight through an entire day's fishing.

on the other hand, i have used a couple of cap and ring reel seats with an aluminum band. very inexpensive. one was a cortland, a couple others were from landmark. these seats were $15 or less each. they hold the reel very well, and like i said, i scramble/slide/fall with grace over granite boulders and such while fishing sierra streams all day long. i think the softer metal of the aluminum helps seat the footings better.

there are a couple of nickle silver cap and ring seats which have an inner taper to the ring which supposedly helps grip the reel foot better. golden witch and jim bureau offer such design. i imagine they would be better than my experience with the bellinger 660 which as far as i can tell, offers no such inner tapering of the ring.

i realize you've read in the archives of problems, i might have been one of them. but i stilll like the design for 4 wt and under fly rods. keep in mind the longevity of the design and the typical scenario that for each person who writes of a problem, there are countless others who never write about their successes. kind of like color preserver or thread finish.

some other lightweight options include the all cork grip and reel seat combo offered by janns netcraft. some people love the lightweight aspect of that design. and it's fairly inexpensive. and i also know of a guy who's experiemented with making his own reel seat hardware out of solid titanium. he offers both screw and cap and ring i think.

by the way, if you go with a cork insert, some deigns have a flare at the butt end and the manufacturer includes a cap that fits on the end. i just saw that golden witch offers such caps, really just a disc, one version in a hex shape, which gets attached to the butt end as a finishing piece. you could even get creative and use a special coin, embedded in the cork.

hope this helps. and good luck.

eric
fresno, ca.

I would pick a downlocking reel seat (or up/down locking). The following would be ones that I would look at from REC;

Aluminum: CRAS, ADSL
Nickle/Silver: CRNS, NSDSL

Some other REC ones that would be fine are; PLRN, PLRW, and any of the smaller uplocking reel seats (NBGS, NSGXL, NSUSL)