I am new to rod building and have been lurking about this forum and have learned alot. After a few weeks of practicing wraps and other techniques I recently bought my 1st rod kit. It is a 7ft med/fast 1-2oz. split butt will be used mostly for pier fishing,everything from catfish,redfish,trout to small shark. My 1st question is placement of reel seat in relation to butt of rod. I have read some posts on the issue and am just looking for clarification. Changing how far the reel seat is from butt,how will it affect rod or performance. 2nd question is about guide placement , this kit came with 7 guides plus a tip, I have a similar rod (7ft split butt with 6 guides plus a tip) What is a ggod formula for placing guides, what should I be looking for and how will different placement of guides affect rod. Again I have read some posts on this subject and just need to understand it better as I'm pretty dense,(just ask my wife). Thanks everyone appreciate your help.

Casting or spinning?

Oops sorry, Spinning

[www.rodbuilding.org]

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Tom, Thanks very much,alot of really good,useful information,very helpful. Any guidance on reel seat placement with a split butt?

Hi Jon,
Tom's method will give you a nice setup but the guides you got in the kit probably won't conform to the 27x method. You probably have got one or two guides of a lot of sizes and the larger guides may or may not get the reduction train correct. You can still get a reasonable setup with what you've got but next rod get a lot more guides, they won't go to waste. You'll need a lot of the smallest size you can use, say size 6, for running guides but you need to check that your line and connections will pass through. For the reduction train you need options to get everything lined up. Measure the spool diameter and get the largest guide to be half that diameter, eg a 50mm spool will require a size 25 as a stripper. You then need at least one of every size from 25 to 6. You can use smaller guides but they need to be high framed, so get some of the same make if available or something that is very similar to what you are using for running guides.
For what you have got now you need to do a static test to get the positions as best you can. Start with the first guide at about four inches from the tip then slowly increase the spacing until you get all seven guides taped to the rod. The stripper should be 18 to 24 inches from the reelseat and the tip needs to be glued on, make SURE it's straight. Tie some line to the tip and get a bucket and put a fair bit of water in it. with the reel on run the line through the guides and tie a hook on. Attach the fixed line to the bucket handle then put a working curve in the rod, DON'T exceed a 90 degrees bend and you'll be better if your a few yards away. Then wind the line on the reel so it is just tight. Check that the line is following th blank curve as good as it can and the angle the line makes on each guide is the same or very similar. You'll have to move the guides around to get it as good as you can but it's worth the effort.
You'll end up with something that will cast fairly good but will be 5 - 10% less than the 27x method and the blank will have the weight evenly distributed which gives you a better fish fighting tool.
Sounds like a lot of mucking around but as you get accustomed to it doesn't take that long
Set your reel up in a position that suits you for fish fighting and/or casting. For a spinning rod the seat should be 10 to 14 inches from the butt. Tape the seat on and put the reel on and do some "casting" and "fish fighting" to see what suits you. No hard and fast rules for seat placement so do it how it best suits you. A longer butt will improve casting distance while a shorter one will be more comfortable for fish fighting, so you have to come up with the best compromise that suits you. Know you now why they're called custom rods.
Good luck on your first build, don't expect too much but it will be ok and you will improve quickly as you get more experience.

ESFNEM Col
Port Kembla, NSW
Australia



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/22/2012 03:13PM by Col Chaseling.

Hey Col, Thanks for the great advice. As much as I want to get started building rod I don't want to rush into things half cocked. I'm of a mind now to pickup some guides and try concept system as I don't have a rod like that now. If I'm gonna dive in lets go for the deep end, worse case if I don't like it or it's not quite right,I'll strip it and start again and learn alot in the process. Hope all is well is Aus, I was down there in Aus and NZ about a year ago, never got to do any fishing thou, Maybe next time. Thanks again for the help

You need to decide how much butt length you need and install the seat accordingly. For most of the common fishing down around here with 7 foot spinning rods (outside heavy sea fishing) there is little reason to have the butt length any longer than the length of your forearm. For fish fighting, any length beyond your elbow isn't being used for anything.

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Hi Jon,
Your welcome. A well set up guide train can make all the difference in rod performance and gets the blank loaded evenly. Stuff is ok is Oz but it could be warmer, won't be long before it's our turn. Pity you didn't get a fish over here as there is still some good stuff about. I'll be in the States next year for the Expo so if your there we might meet up.

ESFNEM Col
Port Kembla, NSW
Australia

Take the blank outside and PLAY as if you are fishing This will give you a good idea of where the seat should go Just make sure if you are casting a lot you do not want the BUTT of the rod to catch your belly or clothes

Bill - willierods.com

sounds good Col, thanks again

Thanks Bill, Will do.....gotta laugh about butt catching my belly thou, with my ever expanding belly may be an impossibility!

The bigger your belly gets you can always trim the butt __ LOL

Bill - willierods.com