I have a couple of vintage spincast reels (most notably a Abumatic 170), and I keep entertaining thoughts of fishing them. If you're an old fart like me, you'll remember the day when baitcasting/spincasting reel seats did not have a "blank through" design. The blank ended in the foregrip, which allowed the reel seat to sit below the axis of the blank. Essentially, all this means is that as the line exited the spincast reel it was more "in line" with the first guide. With the components that are available today, I don't think this is possible. I would like to reduce the angle the line must follow between the reel and the first guide, but I am unsure the best way to accomplish that goal. I would really like to hear if others have addressed this issue. Thanks!
Slainte,
Hunter

From ghoulies and ghosties,
and long leggedy beasties,
and things that go bump in the night,
Good Lord deliver us!

A Fuji pistol grip may be all you need to do what you want to do.

Hunter,
Simple design of a rod using a spin casting reel.

[www.amazon.com]

The problem with the old style pistol grip spin casting rods, is that unless the rods were very short, they almost always were very tip heavy. With a conventional setup as shown above, it is easy to have a balanced rod.

Some of todays casting rod reel seats that have very thin or no space between the bottom of the reel seat results in the type of recess that you would like to have on such a rod.

The "spout" at the front end of a spin-cast reel minimizes the importance of the size and alignment of the first guide.

Roger, I have different lengths of pistol grips that take care of the rod being tip heavy.

I think Phil's comment is valid, but if you want to better align the guides and the reel you can put some tape under the rear foot of the reel to tip it forward (point it at the guide) and/or use taller guides. I'm not fond of going very tall as they are more prone to damage. Since the reel controls the loops coming off the reel very well, I don't think you have to go anywhere as large on guides as many of the older designs did. Should be a fun project.

I remember using those reels, and they worked very well even with fairly heavy mono. I always wondered how they did it, and should have persued it more deeply. I might have invented the Microwave!

You already have the microwave in the reel A cone and small ring You can probable start with the same ringed guide and then the runners
We had a discussion about that here using a spin reel with a large ringed guide close to the reel then a small one Never did play with that Hmmmm

Bill - willierods.com

Hunter,

I'll echo the comments of the others. The line is pretty well controlled after it exits the reel, so the rest is about getting it down to the runners. I tend to use taller guides than I do with baitcast reels, whether it is just bumping the ring size up a bit or going to a taller frame double foot. With the larger reels, a single taller frame butt guide will help bring the line down to the blank, and then on to the runners. With Bill's analogy, think of your butt guide as the transition guide in the MW.

Joe

I certainly can't write from experience on this one but my gut tells me much what other have already suggested.

i wouldn't normally comment on a build like this cause it is way far from what I normally build, but one idea that hasn't been mentioned as a possibility yet is attempting a spiral wrap. It might provide a different frame height / ring size opportunity compared to a traditional top guide build. Just a thought...

What do you guys think?

You might try offsetting the reel seat or installing the reel seat so that the rear is higher than the front.

Chris Richer
Iroquois ON

I have an older St. Croix (Fuji casting reel seat, I believe) and recent cabela's (like the Fuji) two piece rods that I have done spiral wraps on that work well with the Zebco omega reels. The cabela's rod came with one of the Zebco reels mounted on it, and it casted well with the original set up as well.

Thanks for all the comments, everyone. Sorry this has been delayed in coming, but I have been otherwise occupied in recent weeks. I will be using a number of these ideas. I hope I have time to do so before the summer is through!:)
Slainte,
Hunter

From ghoulies and ghosties,
and long leggedy beasties,
and things that go bump in the night,
Good Lord deliver us!