I’m feeling pretty stupid right now. How do you determine the size reelseat you need for the foot on a reel? I have a new Penn Spinfisher 6500 and the Fuji seat I bought is too small for the reelfoot. Pretty much every dimension I see seems to be ID and OD related.
Thank you,
Steve

Too small lengthwise or widthwise?

I size the seat to fit my hand, not the rod blank. In most cases anything size 20 or larger should easily accommodate just about reel foot length out there. If the width is an issue, then again, the 20 and up should handle it.

..........

Thanks Tom, the reelseats are too narrow. Guess I need to order a size 20. I guess this applies to any of the aluminum seats too?

Maybe and maybe not. Aftma tried to standardize reel seat feet some years ago but not everyone got on board. Usually, the foot size does not necessarily enlarge just because the reel does. Fly reels have gotten better in this regard but other reels still have a way to go.

Regardless, I'd be surprised if a 20 won't accommodate that reel.

...........

I too like to have the reelseat fit my hand. I am building an XH rod to use for tarpon and it will sit in a rodholder floating live baits but I also hope to be able to throw some big artificial baits with it too.

Thanks again Tom,

Steve

A 22 might be even better for that purpose unless you or the customer has smaller hands.

.........

I have been known to dress (file down) the foot of a reel to fit an existing rod.

If there is no drastic material removal required there should be no danger of compromising the integrity of the reel.

If the existing reel seat fits you well and you can trim down the reel foot then go for it. Don't compromise by using a larger uncomfortable reel seat to satisfy the reel..

Have fun

There was a good article in Rod Maker Magazine about measuring your hand for an ergonomic fit with regards to reel seat size.

If I remember right, a normal hand for a normal man is a size 18mm or 20mm. I found the "standard" size 16mm much too small for my best comfort. (Not to mention if I were going to attach a large reel to it!)

Tom can correct me here!

Actually, even a size 20 is ergonomically incorrect for all but the smallest hands, but you have to work with what's available. There is a formula based on U.S. Military research for handle and grip sizing per the distance from your wrist to tip of middle finger. That 6 part series is way too much to go into here but suffice to say that your reel seat diameter should not be less than 11% of the distance between your wrist to the tip of your middle finger. This provides the greatest grasp for the least amount of grip strength, and the least amount of muscle fatigue for the time the handle or grip is in the grasp.

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

FYI, I ordered a couple more reelseats, a CRB standard spinning seat size 18 and a couple Fuji Ergonomic NPS seats size 20 and 22. My Penn Spinfisher 6500 fits all 3 of these seats. Thanks for all the input.

Steve

I recently built a 6' 40-60 spinner on an American tackle blank for a friend of mine and used an American Tackle 3k carbon size 18 reel seat and fit a 6000 penn perfectly. But I wouldn't of expected a Fuji 18 to fit it. We ran into an issue with the Van Staal VR50 not fitting properly in a Fuji Deluxe size 18 so now I fit every reel to its reel seat before I start building the rod from now on.