Hi all! I am about to start my next build. It will be a CTS 10'6" 3wt Euro Nymphing rod. I built the 10' version a couple of years ago and will essentially repeat the same but the 10'6" Euro Nymphing series (FY) has a slightly softer tip section. My 10' 3wt has an REC up-locking reel seat with a fixed fighting butt. The reason I went with an up-locking reel seat is due to the REC down-locking reel seat and my Ross reels are incompatible. The down-locking REC seats are 100% compliant with AFTA standards whereas the Ross reel seat foot is slightly thicker and the feet won't fit inside the reel seat hoods. For some reason the REC up-locking hoods have a larger hood for the feet to slip into. Overall the 10' with a 5/6 Ross Animas reel balances at the tip of the grip.

So my question is with the 10'6" 3wt I will have a little more weight on the tip section due to the length. If I use the same setup with a REC up-locking reel seat & fighting butt and a Ross Animas 5/6 reel, the balance point will move forward. Ideally I would like to have the balance point move towards the center of the grip. My thought was to add some lead split shot (epoxied) into the butt section of the blank to move the balance point back. I was curious if anyone has tried this and how did you like it (pros and cons). Unfortunately a down-locking reel seat with a fighting butt is hard to find. I do like have the butt to help protect the reel and with a lighter weight rod you can brace the butt on your forearm when fighting bigger fish.

Thanks, Mike

All you have to do is turn the uplocking seat around and recess the hidden hood in the fighting butt, and swap the plug for a finish ring for the grip transition

Hi Mike,
Herb here.
Yes - adding weights is an old thing - especially with Spey rods. Some reels have ports for added weights - Galvin.

But why not convert the up-losking seat to downlocking - depending on the model you used on the 10' blank.
Lose the hood that gets ported into the cork grip.
Epoxy an additional sliding hood to the non-threaded end of the seat. Get an extra cork check to use on both ends. Presto - a down locking seat.
Herb

Herb - Let's talk later this week. If I flipped the up-locking around could I add a fighting butt? I'll also check with Ryan and REC to see how I can do that with the ABGS reel seat (I know those fit my reels)

Yes - you can use the REC fighting butts - or extend the blank beyond the seat and build your own on that.
Herb

Hmmmmmmmmmm
That spacer won't be compatable to the REC FB hardware.
You'll have to extend the blank through th seat and install a different REC FB.
[reelseats.com]
Herb

Mike,
You know what - you can easily ream the spacer to accept the REC 1" FB extension. Just have the threads extend out of the seat and screw on the FB.
[reelseats.com]

That will gain you about 2" in effective rod length. But the butt section will be 2" longer than the other 3 sections. You could screw off he FB - but it will still be about an inch longer.
Let's talk later.
Herb



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/03/2023 12:12PM by Herb Ladenheim.

Just went through this with a NFC 11’ 2 wt nymph rod that is basically finished. I used a Lemke reel seat and asked the supplier if I could have an uplocking seat but with a cork check from a down locking seat and they could keep the butt cap. I am sure REC would be more than happy to help with a similar request. They may be able to bore one of their fighting butts to fit the inset retainer hood if you don’t have a way to to turn and shape your own cork.

As I didn’t want to mount the fighting butt till the very end, I used a sharply tapered and curved fighting butt similar to a lot of Sage fighting butts, I was concerned my flex coat wrapper/dryer wouldn’t hold well. I instead bored the cork I used for the fighting butt to accept the recessed hood. Glued my rubberized Burl cap to the end of the cork. After that was dried, I epoxied the recessed hood into the cork. I then used a machinist transfer punch and built up a masking tape arbor so that the recessed hood fit snugly on the transfer punch. I then chucked the punch and turned this on my lathe but it could be accomplished just as easily with a power drill. Worked great.

Jamie Midgley Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Just went through this with a NFC 11’ 2 wt nymph
> rod that is basically finished. I used a Lemke
> reel seat and asked the supplier if I could have
> an uplocking seat but with a cork check from a
> down locking seat and they could keep the butt
> cap. I am sure REC would be more than happy to
> help with a similar request. They may be able to
> bore one of their fighting butts to fit the inset
> retainer hood if you don’t have a way to to turn
> and shape your own cork.
>
> As I didn’t want to mount the fighting butt
> till the very end, I used a sharply tapered and
> curved fighting butt similar to a lot of Sage
> fighting butts, I was concerned my flex coat
> wrapper/dryer wouldn’t hold well. I instead
> bored the cork I used for the fighting butt to
> accept the recessed hood. Glued my rubberized Burl
> cap to the end of the cork. After that was dried,
> I epoxied the recessed hood into the cork. I then
> used a machinist transfer punch and built up a
> masking tape arbor so that the recessed hood fit
> snugly on the transfer punch. I then chucked the
> punch and turned this on my lathe but it could be
> accomplished just as easily with a power drill.
> Worked great.

Jamie, was this a personal rod or for a client? I'm curious if you've fished it and what you've thought of it. Also (if it is your rod) what reel did you use to balance the setup? The reel I currently use on my 10ft 3wt is going to be too light and I'm trying to plan ahead.

I know this topic is somewhat old, but when I built my nymphing rod (11' 3wt CTS Affinity MX) I did what Ron mentioned above. I used a lemke up locking reel seat and had Ron make me a fighting butt that accepted the recessed hood, and then added a down locking seat finish ring to put behind the cork grip. It has a 6.5 inch cigar grip on it and balances about an inch from the top of it when paired with a Lamson Guru II 5/6 reel. Mine's built with REC recoil single foot guides (lite wire, size 1 for runners) all the way out to the tip. In hindsight I may have done a snake guide as the last near the tip to try to mitigate line wrapping around the tip.

Nick McCasey Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I know this topic is somewhat old, but when I
> built my nymphing rod (11' 3wt CTS Affinity MX) I
> did what Ron mentioned above. I used a lemke up
> locking reel seat and had Ron make me a fighting
> butt that accepted the recessed hood, and then
> added a down locking seat finish ring to put
> behind the cork grip. It has a 6.5 inch cigar grip
> on it and balances about an inch from the top of
> it when paired with a Lamson Guru II 5/6 reel.
> Mine's built with REC recoil single foot guides
> (lite wire, size 1 for runners) all the way out to
> the tip. In hindsight I may have done a snake
> guide as the last near the tip to try to mitigate
> line wrapping around the tip.

Nick - I'm interested in you thoughts on that blank. How does it compare to any commercial euro rods that you've fished?

Thanks,
Mike J

Back in "the day" we used to install a bigger reel to fix this, can't be done?

Most of the ESN reels have removable weights to let you balance with multiple rod lengths

Move to a larger reel to get more weight on the butt. This also benefits the angler by effectively increasing the line retrieval rate per turn of the handle.

I'm not a fan of simply adding weight to the rod for the sake of balancing it.

...........

Like Tom said, I'm a big fan of K.I.S.S.

Mike,

The only commercial euro rod I've ever fished is a T&T contact II with a guide on one occasion, and it was my first time tight-line nymphing so I honestly didn't have a great appreciation for the feel. The CTS is light in hand, sensitive, and has a ton of backbone. It's very good for throwing heavier nymphs and jigged streamers, and remarkable at being able to control big fish in current while protecting light tippet (I always use 5x or smaller). Recovery and tip tracking are good, but since it's an MX, it loads a little deeper in the blank on a cast than a faster action rod would. While fighting fish, it loads very nicely and progressively deep into the blank.

I were to do it again though, I would probably change the configuration a little bit and go with a lower powered tip, and probably a lower rod weight to help throw lighter nymphs (I've been debating just building another one for this reason specifically). In the warmer months, the bugs here are pretty small and throwing the really light stuff (I'm talking size 18-22 nymphs with 2mm beads or unweighted) is more difficult on this rod than it would be on a lighter one. That being said, this is the rod I want when the fall rolls around and the browns get aggressive and are packing on weight for the spawn, or in early spring using big nymphs (hendricksons and stoneflies).

As an aside, I let one of the guys at my local shop use it while I was on my honeymoon last year, and he said it was probably the best rod he's used for jigged streamers, and he was impressed by the amount of power it has, but said he wished it was better with lighter nymphs.

If all you really need to do is add weight, wrap lead tape to the reel spindle then wrap on backing and line. Super simple. Used this technique to balance an 8 weight bamboo rod long ago.