Where should a spinning rod balance at?

No particular point, but many feel the rod is easier to use and less tiring if it balances back towards the reel, near the rod hand. Of course, there are a lot of variables involved once you get into technique specific fishing.

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I like mine to balance right in front of the reel seat or within an inch or two from the front of it (no foregrip) without the reel mounted. That way, when the reel is mounted, all the weight is in your hand. It doesn't feel tip heavy.

David Dosser
Coshocton, OH

I know there are no hard and fast rules. But was wondering what fisherman prefer but heavy or tip heavy. Most store bought rods seem to balance at the center of the spool.

I can't stand one that is tip heavy. It tires me out rather quickly while fishing. I would rather it be a little heavy in the butt area if I could not change anything. Most of the time the components take care of that problem unless you are building a glass heavy rod like a boat rod or something. Bass, panfish, etc. will normally balance out nicely after the reel seat and grips are installed, even if you use a split grip. I used a split grip, fuji SK2 split seat and no foregrip on a spinning rod for bass and it balanced out very nice. Keep the guide weight down by using the smallest guides you can to get the job done and it will feel fine on most graphite rods. JMO

David Dosser
Coshocton, OH

I can't stand a tip heavy rod either but I also don't like long rear grips, 6 inches maximum.I want my rods to balance at the reel stem. I am using burl corck and an aluminum butt cap any other ideas to add weight to bottom of rod. And thank you for your input.

One or more of the sponsors to the left offer a balancing butt cap. It comes with washers that you can add or remove to add weight. I have one, but have not had to use it as of yet. They only come in black as far as I know. You might try Mudhole or Jann's Netcraft first for that.

David Dosser
Coshocton, OH

The closer to the point where the user grips the rod, the better in my book.

Paul, if rear grip length is your first requirement, and it's a 6" max, then you will probably be adding some weight to the butt to achieve that. I build more steelhead rods than bass rods and customers want a grip that hits them just in front of the elbow which is around 10" to 12". Tough to fight a 12lb steelhead with a 6" grip so it's all about your preferred method and building the right rod for it.

Terry

When moving something which doesn't balance it would seem advisable to move the handle rather than add weight.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/28/2013 09:29PM by Phil Ewanicki.

That is a rather short grip at 6". Even my ultralights are at 7 1/2".

David Dosser
Coshocton, OH

Paul,

What length and type of rod are you working with? Six inches is an awful short rear grip, unless they are relatively short rods.

A couple of ideas are the weighted butt caps from Batson: [www.batsonenterprises.com]

I've tinkered with an idea in the past, but haven't felt the need to use it on a rod beyond its first prototype. I've done the calculations to estimate just how much weight I can fit with steel and lead washers in the butt cap, as well as how much can be added underneath a woven graphite or texalium tube. I would have to go back and check again. The system as shown in the picture with steel washers adds about 1.5oz. total weight to the grip. A bit more could be added by swapping the EVA mushroom cap for rubberized cork or an aluminum butt cap. This could help you a bit on bass and light inshore rods 6'-7' in length, but would require the tubing and significantly more weight if your rods are longer and heavier.
[www.rodbuilding.org]

Joe

The rod is a 7 and a half foot Phoenix ultralight I only fish for trout and pan fish if I use a longer handle it catches on my coat when I try to fish underbrush and I have to cast side arm. It's a balanced now about 1 inch in front of real seat.

I ask how it's going to be used. Tip down twitching a jerk bait, balance just slightly tip down. Worming or using a jig, tip slightly balanced up.

TJB

Paul,
Generally speaking a 7 1/2 foot rod needs the butt grip on a rod of about 10-11 inches. If you find that your handle catches on your coat, then get a belt to put around your coat, so that the coat doesn't billow out to catch the handle.

If you do want to balance a rod like this with a very short handle, use lead tape.
Before putting on the last couple of rings on a grip, wrap the blank with lead tape.
You can use various widths of lead tape to add weight to the butt of the rod. Generally speaking on an ultra light rod, you can use a 1 inch rubber butt cap. The ID of the butt cap is .75 inches. The butt of the blank is typically about 3/8th of an inch.
So, you can essentially wrap a 1/2 inch thickness of lead tape on the last portion of the blank. If you use 1/2 inch lead tape, you can put on one row of wrap, or two or three rows of tape wrap to achieve the necessary balance.
Then, if the butt cap is long enough, you can cover all of the weight with the butt cap. If you need more, then ream out the last ring or rings, so that the last couple of rings, plus the butt cap will cover any weight.

You can easily add 1/2 to 1 1/2 oz of weight in the last 1/2 to 1 1/2 inches of rod butt.

Be safe
Roger


An example of a lead tape source:

[solutions.3m.com]

I may be missing something with every build I do, but if I balance such that the rod is not tip heavy the length of the rod below the reel (spinning-fresh water) is so long that it snags on my arm, especially if I'm wearing rain gear or similar clothing. I've found that balance is highly overrated, and I just build for best fit for the technique I'm using with the blank I want to use, and build it as light as I can. Don't tell me I'm using cheap, heavy, blanks, as that is not the case. I just seem to have missed the magic of balancing 6-7 feet of blank with 8-10 inches of butt section (even using composite cork for the butt knob). I would appreciate it if someone could tell me what I'm missing.

By the way, if I put any lure on the end of the line, my rod is tip heavy.

I'm with Mike!!!!!!

Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!

How a rod balances at any one moment depends upon the weight of the reel + line being used and the weight suspended by the line from the tip-top. These weights change constantly, unless you're still - fishing. Similarly, a rod"s sensitivity depends upon the mass of the rod + reel + line + terminal weight and the elasticity of the line being used. I'm convinced that the concepts of "rod balance" and "rod sensitivity" were created by advertising copywriters for factory built rods, not by practical rod builders.