I'm in the process of building a 10' Gator, Shark-Unlimited. 80 to Unlimited line class for a customer that I purchased from Mudhole. For the life of me, I can't find a reel seat large enough to to get down where it needs to be.
30mm is the minimum ID that it can be, a couple more mm would put it at the ideal position.

The second thing I may need advice with is, will a graphite reel seat be strong enough vs. a machined aluminum seat? He'll be running #300 braid, on several different big game reels for this rod. I know graphite is strong, but will it be strong enough in such an extreme setup as this?

They're not actually graphite - they're nylon with some chopped carbon fibers embedded. There are several different models along these lines so I can't say for certain that the particular one you're considering is going to be sufficient. For certainty, use an aluminum seat, or make very sure the "graphite" model you choose is built for rods that heavy. Use a full length arbor at any rate.

.............

I did some perusing of a couple of catalogs, and here are a few seats I found:

- Aftco Slip-over aluminum reel seat, model ARS4M, Inside diameter 1 3/16 inches (30.1625 mm)

- Pacific Bay graphite seats with cushioned hoods, model G-32C, inside diameter 32 mm

You could also use a reel clamp: in the old days, this meant something cheesy like hose clamps, but some of stuff that's available is pretty snazzy-looking. In particular, the Daiwa Accessory and the Accurate Pit Bull clamps look pretty sharp, and evidently work very well.

If it were me building this rod, I would definitely use an aluminum seat for this rod: it will probably work best. Aluminum is a bit on the heavy side, but for the beast of a rod that you're building, the weight penalty shouldn't matter much. If it were me, I think I'd call Aftco and see if they could come up with something in the right size. Good luck.

If you are using a conventional reel with bolt holes to accommodate a clamp, then a "Cork Puppy" made by Cutting Edge Tackle may work. It is a half circle clamp with flanges that receive bolts from the reel. They go up to 31 mm. They require a cork tape, or an equivalent bushing.

There is a 25 mm one here in my possession if you need to know any details about it.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/17/2011 12:25PM by Tom Kirkman.

You may want try calling Stuart tackle in Miami FL I believe they make a #6 reel seat just for those beast. Chaos Rods in pompano my also have one in stock. I just finished building two unlimited and one 80-130 for some sharkers and was able to get away AT28 reel seats because we trimed them down some. May also want to checkout the stuart large roller guides if your going rollers

Garrett Stivers Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You may want try calling Stuart tackle in Miami FL
> I believe they make a #6 reel seat just for those
> beast. Chaos Rods in pompano my also have one in
> stock. I just finished building two unlimited and
> one 80-130 for some sharkers and was able to get
> away AT28 reel seats because we trimed them down
> some. May also want to checkout the stuart large
> roller guides if your going rollers


Thanks guys, you are dead on, Stuarts #6 is a perfect fit. They pretty much made this seat, just for this application. And yes, I believe we will also go with their rollers as well.

Hey James, thanks for the lead on those "cork puppies", I can see where I can use those in future builds.