I am building a rod on an NFC LMX hybrid 705-1 7'0" Moderate action , MH power. The rod will be used for trolling bottom bouncers for walleyes. The rod will be held in my hand, not placed in a rod holder. The rod will be held horizontal to tip slightly down when trolling. So I am trying to choose a reel to match the rod. I have done a lot of this fishing but never really paid attention to the weight or balance of my setup. So I am just looking for advice on how to match a reel (weight) to the rod. Do I want this to balance out as tip heavy? Butt heavy? even? I still have to add another coat of thread epoxy. A 12 oz reel balances the rod just in front of the reel stem. a 9 oz reel is tip heavy but not enough to touch the floor. What should my goal be here? I could get a 7+ oz reel that would be sized right (line capacity/drag etc), but should I even bother going so light given the rod weight?

A lot of builders balance rod and reel alone without lure hanging off tip. Some balance with lure weight hanging from tip. But if you are trolling with it, then balance is not really relevant since tip is constantly being pulled.

Basically how you balance out a rod and reel is your choice and what is most comfortable to you.

To me balancing is more important for constant casting rods and reels.

Bob,
Put on the 12 oz reel that balances the rod level and don't look back.

Be safe

I wouldn't be concerned, I do it all day with longer, heavier, and larger presentations and I'm 70. I'm don't know how my granddad half my size survived it with gear twice the weight or better of stuff today.

I vote for the 12 OZ flat an level is the way to go ,

William Sidney
AK

I don't see balance as being much of an issue here. Build it to suit the way you fish, and use the reel of your choice.

Just like crankbaiting the consistent drag on the rod tip is something you will have to fight against, in my opinion balance becomes irrelevant as it is in any tip down presentation method.

Build a longer grip to produce a wider range of balance points - and you can build a rod with a movable reel seat, allowing you to to achieve a wide range of balance points for many different reels.

Like Lynn and others have mentioned, I wouldn't be concerned with the balance point of a trolling rod, or pretty much any rod that is used for a cast and wind retrieve. The line is under tension, and different baits and in the case of bottom bouncers, different weights load the rod differently. I would be impossible to balance a rod for so many variables. Simply changing line weights will add or subtract load from a blank just because of the different water resistance of the different diameters. .

I'd just build it and put on the reel you want, and not worry about it further.

If it were a rod being used for slack or semi slack line, rod tip up presentations and techniques, it would be a different story. Those types of rods are where I believe balance shows its' benefits.

For many years the most common reel seat on a spinning rod consisted of a fairly long cork grip with two aluminum sleeves which could be moved to any position on the grip you wished. You would mount your reel anywhere on the grip and easily move and mount the reel anywhere on the grip - to suit different reels and different casting styles. Complicated and expensive reel seats can't do this - but do spur anglers to buy or build more rods.

I hope I was correct in thinking that the rods most often used for this type of fishing are casting rods.