Mark I am with you on the 5' blank I usually don't do anything less than 6'6". I believe the reel placement and handle length is going to absolutely effect the guide and stripper placement. I would guess a shorter handle with the reel set back more toward the butt and a tall guide for a stripper very close the reel. 5' blue water rod with a longer fighting handle / grip in a simple spiral, no problem but a 5' UL casting, your goal is to get more rod in front of the reel with perhaps a pistol style grip. Ben bait casters will always backlash if you want to get the most distance out of them. Just a lot of thumb control and UL lures against the wind; time for a spinning rod reel. I can cast a fly rod better against the wind.

i couldn,t agree more Lance..my casting days are pretty much limited it,s mostly fly or spin anymore..almost forgot, tenkara too..lol. maybe Mo can bring casting back with his new research..

Ben, a low cost BFS casting reel that can cast 2 grams (1/14th ounce) reliably is the Tsurinoya XF50. It comes in left and right handers, and can be had from @#$%& for under $50. By all accounts, very high bang for the buck. It can't go down to 1 gram though.

Yes, I realize that spiral for short rods may not make as much sense - but I'll take 1% gain. :) I'm not always practical and one of the joys for me is to push performance as far as I can in the technical sense so that my 'art' if you want to call it that, is to improve technical performance as much as possible. I don't ever do fancy wraps as those does not float my boat in any way. But I do enjoy and admire looking at gorgeous rod wraps.

the science fiction writer arthur c. clark once said you,ll never know your limits until you try the impossible..your getting close to your limits Mo..lol. that xf 50 sounds interesting but 1 gram is a lot..i,ve been working on a project to build an ultra light spin rod to cast flies..don,t laugh, i,m casting a fly called the zonker about 30 feet when it gets soaking wet..it,s on a #8 hook..i,m working with grains of weight..there is about 15 grains in a gram..so maybe there are no limits..lol. thanks for the info.Mo..

Mo,
Quit reading and typing and get busy on the rod build! I am anxious to learn how it turns out and certain I am not the only one.

Mark Talmo
FISHING IS NOT AN ESCAPE FROM LIFE BUT RATHER A DEEPER IMMERSION INTO IT!!! BUILDING YOUR OWN SIMPLY ENHANCES THE EXPERIENCE.

Thanks Mark. yup - have to get all the parts lined up. I ordered some low cost BFS rigs to fish with first to get a sense of what they feel like. Then I'll start building for a higher end rig. Thanks.