Hello all,

Is there any location guidlines for surf rod reel seats, or can they be placed where they feel comfortable to the caster? I'm building a surf rod (10' spinning) for my brother and he is quite shorter than me, I noticed that where the seat feels good for me my brother feels that it is too cumbersome for him.

Ray Hasiak

It should be located per the individual user. Have him hold the rod blank and make a few casting motions. Watch where he naturally grasps the rod. Mark that location.

Now have him hold the rod as if he's fighting a fish. Pull on the rod a bit and see where he puts his rod hand. Note the location of his rod hand. Mark that location.

Now work with those marks. Compromise between them if possible. You may find that they're fairly close together.

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When casting a conventional reel the thumb needs to be at the rear of the reel to operate the spool release and control the line. This places the reel a bit further from the butt than would be needed for a spinning reel. The spinning reel needs to be directly under the hand so the line can be controlled by one's trigger finger.

Thus, the type of reel will determine the optimum placement of the reel seat.

A good start for measuring is to have the rod placed into the armpit of the client on the side he will use to control the line. With the rod held directly out to the side mark the place where his grip is most comfortable. This is where I would place a reel seat for a spinning rod... subject to minor adjustments after test casting.

For a conventional rod I would place the reel seat just forward of this spot. How much forward will depend on the size of the reel. The optimum will be where the thumb most comfortably can operate the spool. This, again, can be fine tuned with some test casting action. It does not require actual casting to determine.

Whether for spinning or conventional rods It's helpful to have the rod at full length for test casting to get a sense of the actual heft and balance; as opposed to just testing on the butt section.

Take a look at the Lamiglas Surf Rods. You will note this difference between their conventional and spinning rods. It makes good sense.. but the specs of any particular build depend entirely upon the needs of the client; that's why we call it custom rod building.

The "standard" for the location of the reel seat on a conventional built surf rods is 28" from the butt. This typically suits 90% of the people.


If building a surf rod specifically for someone I use the same method that Tom described except I hang the casting weight off the tip on a 5-6’ length of line to emulate the rod’s balance during a cast. The reason is that people will hold the rod very differently depending on the cast weight and the rods action.

On my personally surf rods my reel seats varies from 28" on a Lami 1502 (6-12 oz) to almost 32" on an Alstar 1418.(2-5 oz)

Thank you all for the input, I'll post photos of the rod when finished.

Ray

IMO it depends on what you use the rod for. If it is for tossing 8 n bait then I would lean to something in the 28-32" range as I use a longcasting style and like the leverage.

If it is for lightweight useage such as tossing iron and plugs of the 1-21/2 oz variety, I go with a much shorter length, with the starting point for measurement being to hold the rod in such a way as the butt is touching my elbow and the reelseat is where my hand will naturally fall as if I'm grasping it and a reel. Then adjust to suit. There really is no substitute for the personal measurement on something like that.

Good luck!

Whit