[www.rodbuilding.org]

This is a pic of a spinning rod I just completed for my own use. It is the first split grip rod I have built. It is a 6'-6" M action graphite blank. I am more used to boat rods due to the type of fishing I do so my handles are usually longer. This is the first time that my reel seat placement wasn't dictated by the size of the butt cap and grip I was using...and on my boat rods I never worried much about the balance.

On this rod, however, I notice it wants to tip slightly forward when I grip it in my one hand. Should I have anticipated this? Do you guys attach a reel and measure the balance point before deciding on reel seat location?

Thanks for your help.
Joe

If the rod is very light, a little tip forward balance isn't likely to hurt anything. In fact, you can argue that adding weight to the butt results in other more pressing issues that would be detrimental to the rod's performance.

I wouldn't use the balance point as the criteria for reel mounting. Most likely you'd end up with a very long handle that wouldn't be appropriate for the rod's intended purpose.

Rod balance is something where you won't find many hard and fast answers. It comes down to personal preference and perhaps technique specific use.

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

Joe,
I generally like to have a balanced rod.
In years past, I would add weight to the butt of the rod. However, after careful consideration and experimentation and testing, I have come to the conclusion that it is better to balance a rod, by increasing the length of the butt grip - within reason.

In some cases, with very heavy rod blanks, it is not practical to consider a balanced rod, so then one simply lives with the fact that the rod won't be balanced.

Everyone has to make their own choice on this item.

The one thing that everyone can do, is to build the rod with the lightest components possible - especially in the front 1/2 of the rod. The lever length of the rod, gives the most help by decreasing weight from the front of the rod.

Good luck

Great topic! - Would love to hear from guys who build bass rods what they think about this.

If handle is too long to get balance andyour belly too large you going to have a bad day fishing.
Especially if you also cast right handed but need to wind the reel with right hand too: that shuffle can cost you fish and makes for frustation.

I prefer a tip heavy rod for some presentations, if i am fishing tip down it just makes sense for that to be the position the rod wants to sit.
Jerkbaits, traps in current, inline spinners i fish tip down.

take it fishing and see how it acts If you can't live with it then change it You can do a simple butt cap with weights to adjust it to fit you

Bill - willierods.com

I build mostly bass rods and I don't take balance into consideration. Like Tom said, doing so usually ends up with a handle that is too long or adding to much weight to the butt of the rod. I choose to just make the rod as light as possible.

You can also keep how long the butt handle is - but - build it from the heaver cork or even wood to add the proper weight needed
BUT
You don't want to make the rod TOO heavy to handle

Bill - willierods.com

I make my rods as light as possible and don't worry about balance (bass casting, spinning, salmon/steelhead rods). As stated above, too much butt length can be poor for ergonomics. For me, the only way to improve balance is to use lighter guides and wraps, premium lighter blanks, and you know we're about as light as it's going to get on that end of the rod. Maybe some future magic blank will still make some significant gains, but at less than 2 oz for most blanks, we're about there. Seems I remember balancing casting rods with butt weight kits and had trouble with the rod torquing in my hand on one-handed casts.

What about using a different reel?

The 9-10 foot shore rods on the right side of this picture have about 7 inch fore grips, down-locking reel seats, and 6.5 inch rear grips.
[www.rodbuilding.org]
Two handed casts are followed by moving the rod holding hand to the middle of the fore grip where there is a balance point provided by the reel being mounted close to the rear of the rod counter-balancing the weight in front of the rod holding hand position. This kind of handle has been referred to as Skamania or Michigan style with fore grips longer than rear grips. It works well to create a balanced long rod.

That is a nice looking rod.

I don't build as many rods as some here but I don't bother balancing my bass rods. The only thing that matters is that you like how it feels and you feel confident that it will catch fish. After all if you don't like it you wont fish it. Just my opinion.

Ross,
I just built an 8 foot float rod for a client. He asked for a 24 inch Tennessee handle.

With that type handle, you can put the reel where you want for balance and hold the rod where you want to for the best cast.

Be safe

roger wilson Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Ross,
> I just built an 8 foot float rod for a client. He
> asked for a 24 inch Tennessee handle.
>
> With that type handle, you can put the reel where
> you want for balance and hold the rod where you
> want to for the best cast.
>
> Be safe

Roger,
Even with blanks weighing around 3 ounces, 10 feet long, and size 8 running guides to avoid icing up for winter shore fishing on Lake Superior, I haven't seen any need to have total handle length longer than 18 inches to achieve balance in a 7 inch fore grip with down-locking reel seat and a 6.5 inch rear grip. The further up toward the tip that the reel is positioned, the shorter the length of rod that you have left to work with and setting the hook with 70 yards of line out becomes more problematic with shorter lengths. But as custom builders know - the customer is always right (even when they're wrong). I will usually try to suggest my opinion of how the rod should be built but the choice is still up to the customer.

I never paid much attention to balance until I started building rods. I build mostly walleye and bass rods and now try to balance them out within reason depending on how they will be used. It can be difficult with split grips, but the easiest way is to start with a good light blank and use micro guides of some sort. I typically use micro/tidal wave, nano micros, minimas, or Kigans depending on if a leader knot needs to be passed through the guides. I have an older loomis imx that has been my walleye rod for years, I recently built my son a similar length, weight and action rod on a Batson RX8 blank with nano micros, aero spinning seat, pro tour split golf grips and paired it this a Shimano stradic ci4+ 2500 series reel. This combo feels amazing in your hands, the whole combo weighs just over 9oz and is balanced right at the spool. It makes my old loomis feel like a broom handle. I will be building this same combo for myself this month, and will probably strip my old loomis down and updated it with some micro guides of some sort.

When "balancing" a rod/reel outfit don't forget to account for the added weight of whatever you intend to cast. This weight at the tip of your rod is highly leveraged, so any difference in the weight being cast will be magnified five or six times at the fulcrum - your reel seat. Most of the proficient anglers I am acquainted with ignore trying to balance a rod by fiddling with the reel seat placement. I go old-school: cork grips and two simple sliding rings. I can easily and quickly move the "reel seat" securely anywhere I want any time I want - and two sliding rings are wicked cheap.

Phil,
I have to respectfully disagree with your comment about considering the weight being cast.

The reason is simple. I want a balanced rod, when I am basically fishing on a slack line, with the bait cast out away from shore or the boat.

When jig fishing I typically do a lift drop technique, where I will lift the jig, drag it a bit and drop it back down, Then, I slightly lift the tip of the rod, to take up slack and feel for a bite on a just tight line.

So, my need for a balanced rod to get the best sensitivity, is when I am fishing with the bait actually sitting on the bottom on a semi slack or near slack line. In these cases, the lure or jig is not on the rod.

I want my rod balanced at this time, because this is where the bulk of my fishing is. i.e. jig on the bottom and the line nearly tight.

Be safe

Roger : I seldom fish bait except with circle hooks where the rod stays in the holder and the fish hooks itself, so I did not consider your style of fishing. I appreciate the need for sensitivity while jigging with a tight line. I have never had much luck using a rod's sensitivity to feel a hit on a slack line. I usually watch the line instead. Anyway, the ease and speed of repositioning the reel seat using sliding rings allows me to use one rod with different reels, different terminal weights, and for different fishing methods.

Hello,

Joe-
I am working on a 14 1/2 foot surf spinning rod with a 28" long split grip butt section. I have long arms and position the reel where I know it will be most comfortable for me when casting. If I fiddled around with moving it up or down or adding weight, I may gain better balance but at a loss of comfort and casting performance. Like others have mentioned, building light and keeping the weight in the upper half down seems to help offset any tip heaviness from using split-grips. Does the rod and reel as a whole perform well for your style of fishing? If so then I wouldn't worry much about a reel's balance point unless it was impeding upon my fishing in some way. In fact the very first rod I built has a horrible balance point on paper, (way up above the fore-grip and diamond wrap), but for what I do it fishes well and I never even noticed where it balances until I checked it one day out of curiosity.

Ross-
Great looking rods! Forgive me if I'm unfamiliar with your style of shore fishing, but are there any differences or special measures to take when casting two-handed with a 6.5" rear grip compared to a grip of longer length? I take it you are still casting with the reel held in the upper position and not down as in tournament casting? In any case I can definitely see how a short rear-grip may help with comfort and fatigue especially in a long day's worth of casting and fishing.

-chad

"Ross-
Great looking rods! Forgive me if I'm unfamiliar with your style of shore fishing, but are there any differences or special measures to take when casting two-handed with a 6.5" rear grip compared to a grip of longer length? I take it you are still casting with the reel held in the upper position and not down as in tournament casting? In any case I can definitely see how a short rear-grip may help with comfort and fatigue especially in a long day's worth of casting and fishing.

-chad"

Chad,

The rods are used for casting weighted bobbers or weighted bottom rigs with floating baits like spawn bags. There is about a hand width of distance between the hands (one at the reel and the other at the end of the rear grip) to allow for good control and distance when casting. Under the right conditions (getting up high on the rocks with offshore winds), casts close to one hundred yards are possible at times. Spinning reels are what we use primarily so they extend away from the caster. There are long periods of bobber watching so having a balanced rod makes it easier on the hand and arm. Here is the Rods page off our Kamloops Advocates website if you want to learn more [www.kamloopsadvocates.org].



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/27/2014 06:10AM by Ross W Pearson.