My son-in-law, who is a Virginian, wants me to build him a surf rod. I live in the middle of the Canadian Rockies and know nothing about surf rods. My question is: how long is the rear grip on a 101/2 foot blank. Also, any help with approximate guide spacing would be really appreciated. I have built a number of fly rods, spinning and casting rods but this appears to be completely different. Oh yes, any tricks with wrapping cork handles. Thank you for any help you can give me.

For it to be totally comfotable for him to use you should know his arm length, height. so that placement of the reel is made for him.If he has other rods have him hold one as he would be fishing it and messure from the butt to where his hand is. Nothing is worse then standing for hours in a surf with a rod that is not comfortable. Now when the reel seat is figured out you should know where the front grip and rear grips will be. Some people like a split grip in the rear some like a full grip. I have built both but if you doing cork I think a spit grip looks best.

As for the cork I have been thinking of doing an abolone shell inlay on one!

You will need to know first what he plans to throw with it, and what type of casting he does.
Spin or conventional, single rear grip or split rear grip, one of two hand cast etc.

Most surf rods I build have a pretty long butt end, mainly for a long two hand cast and on a bait tossing stick, to keep the reel out of the sand in the rod holder. I prefer to have some sort of complete rear grip on mine, as light as possible. Most prefer just cork tape or shrink wrap.
On mine and a few customer rods I put a lightweight gimble on the end to let the rod lock into the rod holder. A rubber cap covers it if not in use.

I build a lot of 6 and bait rods, and a lot of 3-5oz plugging rods in 10-11ft lengths.

I usually get the customer to choose where he wants the reel to sit, there's really no better way to figure it, everyone seems to be different.
Arm length has a lot to do with it.
You should also have the reel he plans to use so as to properly choose the guide size and placement. A surf rod isn't necessarily like a regular spin or casting rod, most don't use nearly as many guides in order to reduce line drag as much as possible to get as much distance as possible.

I can measure my 10 1/2 foot rod in the am and give you the measurements, I'm 6'1 and it works great for me.

Chris

My 10' and 11' surf rods are 28" from the butt to the top of the reel seat, as luck would have it 28" is the legal length to keep stripers in NY. I am building 2 travel surf rods and I kept the butt at 28". I do have rods that are a little shorter in butt length, but I find this to be the most comfortable for me.

Tony

Get the back issue of RodMaker that fearture an article on surf rods. I have them with everything from the very long handle to the rather short. It all depends on how he will be using it, but the RodMaker article covers all of that.

Hi I also have a question, do you cast a surf rod with one hand above the reel seat or both hands below the reel seat, or is this also a preference. thanks scotty.

I measure grip placement for surf rods by using the distance from the center of the chest to the wrist. With the arms straight out at the side - like being measured for clothes - I mesaure in a straight line from the center of the chest to wrist. For spinning rods I then subtract four inches and that is where the top of the reel seat goes; BC rods, the reel seat top is at the measurement. Have found (for me) this gives gives maximum leverage and is confortable for casting.

Scotty, I cast with left hand on the butt grip - why I like a large comfortable butt grip - and my right hand above the reelseat holding the line against the foregrip. I use 50lb braid so always have a fluoro shock leader to "grip". Don't want that braid slipping/sliding around with my finger(s) down there.

Eddie

Thanks eddie that will give me a place to start. scotty.