Picked up a 7 piece fly blank that I am going to make into a UL spinning rod. Started playing around with it. Initially I thought I would get the grip on the first butt section. Not going work. So my plan is to do the fore grip and reel seat on the second section with the reel seat flush with the end of female section of the ferrule. Rear grip may or may not be a split grip undecided and obviously the male portion of the butt section ferrule will be exposed. I can't see any reasoning for not doing it this way. The female ferrule will be reinforced by a arbor and epoxy in a relatively unstressed area of the rod. Would wrapping the female ferrule with thread first be advised ? Anything I am not thinking about? Probably overthinking this but never done it before. Thanks.

What length is the blank? If it's a nine ft. than a reel seat like a 20 mm Fuji NPS would be long enough that you may not need a foregrip, just a small butt. I have built many 9 1/2 and 10 ft. light powered steelhead rods that way.

It is a 8 foot 3/4 weight. Want to keep it light plan to use a size 16 seat and carbon fiber grips. I want at least a three inch foregrip.

Best to make sure that a size 16 seat won't be uncomfortable in your hand. You may like it, but many people find larger diameter seats more comfortable.

Given the line I suspect you'll be using, I doubt you'll have any issues setting the rod up the way you describe. If you wish to put a snug "A" thread wrap on the female ferrule and fit a seat arbor over that, you'll be fine. Although if your arbor or bushing fits snug, the thread wrap on such a rod isn't likely to be necessary.

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My 9 1/2 ft steelhead rods using a NFC HM blank are a bit over 4 1/2 oz. Just how much lighter does it have to be? That reel seat just isn't that heavy and if you don't have to add parts to finish it off so you can fish it, how much have you really lost? Gary's builds from before Edge Rods were the same using that reel seat.

I run a size 16 on nearly all my UL have no issue with the size a size 20 is not quite a 1/4 inch larger which ain't a whole lot. Also have a reelseat insert for a skeleton seat I want to use on the rod. Running a 1000 series reel don't know how well a size 20 would even hold the reelfoot. If I need to get a real firm grip fighting a fish I can choke up onto the foregrip hence the desire for a larger foregrip. Also like to choke up on the rod when directing the fish to the net when I am netting fish by myself.

I am going to just go with an arbor and epoxy. Also did not think thread wrap was necessary.

My 1000 reels and 4000 reels all have the same reel foot, they all fit a 20 just fine, brand hasn't seemed important. The same with casting reel feet though they come in different sizes.

Michael,
Excuse me for being off-topic, but where did you find and what make and model is your 7-piece, 8ft fly blank? While there are many who consider a fly blank too sloppy for a spin rod, I would be all over it like flies on a meadow muffin!!!

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

Mark sent you a email. This particular blank seems like a real good one for fly to spin not near as sloppy as a typical fly blank.

I have no problem with size 16 seats.

I don't use 16's on any spin rods. I quit after getting sore hands after a long day with one. Now I use 17's, not a lot bigger by the scale, but the difference is significant to comfort. No comfort problems with 17's.