I built my first stand up rods a few months ago using Shakespeare blanks and Stuart Slick butts. Being my first offshore rods I wanted to keep the costs low. They turned out pretty good so now I'm on to my second pair.

For my second pair I choose a pair of 6ft Seeker Long Range stand ups. I'd also like to use the Stuart slaick butts again. The problem I'm having is that the rod butt is too thick to fit into the slick butts.

The way I see it my options are 1) Sand the last six inches or so of the rod but down to get it to fit in the slick butt (doesn't seem like a good solution). 2) Get a set of Aftco butts and cutt the blank down so I'll still have a 6ft stand up rod. 3) Get a Aftco reel seat and gimbal and use a foam butt.

I really don't want to use foam because I also troll with these rods. I really don't want to use the Aftco uni-butts either because of the cost and the addittional weight.

Does anyone have any other suggestions or which of the above three should I go with?

As I recall the butt of those rods are pretty hefty. If you can sand just a bit, and still have an unsanded portion of the blank (2 or 3 inches minimum) contained within the butt, all will be well. If you are careful in fitting the slick butt to the blank, you should have an integral unit that will be very strong.

I am not, however, advising you to sand off 1/2 inch of wall thickness.

Make sure also that you have looked at all the available slick butts. There may be some to be had that are a bit larger in diameter than what you are using now.

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Help!!! just put the finish on a rod .But it looks like it has fish eyes.What happened here can some one tell me ? Iam thinking the finish some how was contaminated some how am i right or wrong here ? And can i put heat to it with a lamp to fix this ??? Thank you Marcel

Sounds like a common silicone contamination. Silicone is found in many products and can travel some distance in the air. What have you had in your house the past few days that might contain it? I once had a fellow come in my shop and almost instantly fish eyes appeared on a just finished rod. After some tests, we determined it was his cologne! Took a few days to put two and two together, but I could duplication the problem by a squirt of his cologne in the shop air. That's all it took.

You are in for some trouble. You can recoat but will have to remove the silicone from what you have now. This is not easy.

Ralph may have some better tricks than I do in this regard. All I know to do is to clean with a solvent and try again. I have put down a coat of CP to seal the mess and then refinished. Luckily this has only happend to me a couple of times.

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Tom,

I'd have to sand off about 1/16 of an inch at the base of the rod. I'd have to go up about 6 inches before it fits in the butt. That would leave me a good 8 inches+ of unsanded rod in the butt. I guess I have to see if I've got the equipment to do it before I attempt it.

The Seeker's do have a think butt .895. What other Slick Butts are out there? The only one I saw at mudhole was the Stuart model.

Thanks for the advice!!

AMTAK makes some as does Pac Bay. Check both sites for their sizes.

What you would have to sand would not affect anything that you would need to be worried about. However, it'd be a lot easier to get a larger butt than to sand down a blank. If you need to sand it, a lathe would be the best bet.

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John, one thing you can also do to keep it light is to use foam for the butt, but cover the foam butt with the heat shrink grip (its advertised in the mag I recall). Then when the heat shrink gets worn (if it does) just remove it and shrink on a new one.

Chris-flying fish

John, I would go with the slip on AFTCO reelseat but instead of hypalon, just order the slick butt graphite sleave to go over the butt section. Mudhole has the the sleaves sold separately from the aluminum butt.
Jim Racela
aka J.AkuHed
aka Chef Jim