I put a Z bend hook holder on my new St Croix MLXF spinning rod. It is about 10 inches or so in front of the reel face and roughly on top of the rod. Using a 2500 sized reel and 7 pound Sniper FC the line will hang on the hook hanger on a fast retrieve. I know this is telling me to move the holder but I find it hard to believe that the line will wrap around the blank enough to catch the keeper? Is this a product of the stiff FC or am I missing something here? The rod was built using the KR concept and performs great other than that. I will add that a sister rod with a holder placed differently has NO issues at all.

change line

It needs to be positioned so that any line that gets around it will drop off. Take another blank and using the same reel and handle configuration try positioning the keeper in different locations. You may find that putting it right on the bottom negates any further problem.

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Why put the hook keeper so far in front of the reel face?

That's a good point too and no doubt has something to do with the line being able to get to it.

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One thing I learned long ago... No open style hook keepers in front of the reel.

_________________________________________
"Angling is extremely time consuming.
That's sort of the whole point." - Thomas McGuane

Cut the keeper off the rod.
Install a new closed loop keeper about 2 inches in front of the reel. Offset the hook, so that the hook keeper is on the side of the blank - not the bottom of the blank. If the rod is set up for a right handed user, then position the keeper on the left side of the blank.

If the rod is set up for a left handed user, position the keeper on the right side of the blank.

This will mean that the user when holding rod, can simply swing the bait back, grab it with his non rod holding hand and slip the hook into the keeper with no hassle or even looking.

Bill -

Yes, moving it closer to the reel will help negate hang ups.

I'll also use this as a plug for our hook keeper. Line hanging up was one of the key things we went for when designing the XLA Hookkeeper for Kigan. It allows the use of an open style hanger in front of the reel.

They are in stock at Bingham, Merrick, and Swampland.

[www.rodbuilding.org]
[www.rodbuilding.org]
[www.rodbuilding.org]

The flared design helps shed line and with the "semi-closed" tip, you really have to work to line up underneath it. Can it happen, sure. But it's going to happen a lot less than with our competitors "drop shot" style keepers..

Hydra Fishing, LLC

Online: [www.hydrafishing.com]
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There are a number of reasons to install a hook keeper on a rod. #1 to keep the hook from swinging around during transport and possibly getting all tangled up in the line or #2 sticking itself in a tender portion of your body and #3 to hopefully keep your customer from sticking the hook in the cork or EVA grip that you spent so much time working on. There are other reasons I am sure but these are the primary reasons. If the hook keeper is placed as close as possible to the tip end of the fore grip you should have no trouble with line slap getting caught on it, any line slap will be against the fore grip if at all.

How the heck does a line that - on a spinning rod at 180 degrees get involved with a keeper that is at 0 degrees Makes no sense ???

Bill - willierods.com

Bill, the hook keeper was not properly positioned for one thing and for another it sounds like it was, as you said on the wrong side of the rod. Line slap with the hook keeper in this position could easily catch and hang up.

By the way, as you all know; many folks like to keep in close contact with their blank and as a result, tend to rest a finger on the blank when using the rod.

So, when you place your hook keeper, be sure to place it far enough from the fore grip, so that a sensing finger can not touch the grip and get upset with its position.

I once put a small standard closed loop hook hanger on top of one of an ultra-light spinning rod and have had the same trouble with braid occasionally.
Now I off set all styles of hook keepers to one side.

If you have not tried the XLA Hookkeeper from Kigan give them a try. I picked up a couple of dozen from Karen at Bingham Enterprises and everyone of my customers that sees them wants one on their rod. I have even switched out a couple of rods for clients after they saw them. They work great for drop-shot, worm or crankbait rods. Kigan has a winner there!

Don Campbell
don@sensorfishingrods.com