Hi, I am new to the forum. I currently have three rods in progress for my own use. A 15-25 lb line boat rod (spiral), a 13'-6" match rod on a 10 wt. spey blank and an 8' pier/jetty rod on a gator u696XH blank. My question concerns the gator.

The blank is one-piece and with the addition of a fuji graphite gimbal/rubber cap the resulting length is 8'-2". I am considering converting this to a two piece blank. would aheavy duty brass ferrule cause any dead spot issues if it is mounted roughly 3 feet fromt he butt end? The rod is fairly stiff in that location (tip is a size 10 and the butt dia. is .975.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

I wouldn't recommend such a ferrule type in that location. Metal ferrules don't flex much, and in that location you could have a failure waiting to happen.

If you need to break the rod down, I'd look into doing it at the handle. This is how most multi-piece boat and trolling rods have traditionally been done, and for good reason. There are still some reel seats out there made for this exact application.

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I already have the gimbal attached, so I will probably keep it as a one piece rod.