I live in Arizona, so as you might expect, I don't do much saltwater fishing (nearest ocean in the US is 6 1/2 hours away in San Diego).

However, I've learned that not only is Rocky Point on the Sea of Cortez only about four hours away, the fly fishing from the beach there is supposed to be exceptional. I've been asked to go a few times, but I haven't had the tackle....(my three weights won't work?????)

So, since I don't own a rod heavy enough for this type of fishing I'm going to build one (The guys at the fly shop tell me that my 6 wt. bass rod might be a bit light for some of the saltwater fish that might be encountered...).

My question is, what kind of reel seat should I use for this rod? I have three; an all aluminum 'heavy duty saltwater' one, a plain Fuji graphite, and a 'woven' graphite with Tich hardware on it.

Will one of these 'graphite' seats be superior to the all aluminum one with regard to handling the salt water environment. I bought the aluminum seat for this rod initially, but some of the info I've seen here has made me wonder if the other seats might handle it better.

It's a nine weight rod blank, and while the intent is to make longer casts with heavier flies, and hopefully catch some fish, I won't be using it for truly 'powerful' fish like tuna and such.

Thanks!

Buddy S.

Buddy

With proper care and washing off after use in salt water, all three should work. The aluminium seat will be prone to pitting more. But, you say that you already bought and paid for all three? Well the "woven" graphite with titanium hardware would be my choice. At this point, lightest weight vs. strength would be my biggest concern. Do you have the reel you plan to use yet? It might be helpful to check the fit in each seat. You did not mention the sizes of the seats or weights. If the Fuji and the titanium seats are the same size and both fit the reel, go for the titanium. Just make sure you wash everything off in fresh water after each use, reel, rod, seat, baits, everything. The Fuji probably does have some stainless parts on it? So care would be the same. Even if it's all graphite you still should clean after use.

Bill Doherty