WHY A REEL IN EITHER HIGH OR LOW POSITION

I have been asked why we build our rods with a conventional reel in the rear of the rod in South Africa and what the advantages are. This has now forced me to have a more in depth thought about it, something which was to me always obvious.

Firstly this reel fitting is not only used in S.A. but also in Namibia, the situation seems mixed in the UK and Australia and probably some other countries as well.

CUSTOM
I think for most people here it is customary and simply a matter of what you got used to. If you went to a shop to buy a rod & reel in S.A. 20 years ago, you got a rod with a reel seat at the back of the but section with a conventional reel. This would not really even be discussed. Since then some things have changed somewhat. We now also have rods for Spinning reels and they have their reel seats fitted on the forehand in the manner that is more familiar to anglers in the US. Even for a Spinning reel I would fit mine at the rear if ever I were to use such a device, I do not see the reason for having it on the forehand. I once borrowed a spinning reel and after experimenting with it on a field concluded that a spinning reel in the rear position works perfectly well. I think the long shark rods Jeri builds in Namibia are built that way?

I could not find much on the web to use as references, if you wish to search, the term used is high or low fitted reels which I refer to as rear or forward fitted.
I searched these sites:-
https://www.seaangler.co.uk/fishing-tips/casting/articles/john-holden-explains-the-difference-reel-positioning-can-make-to-your-cast

http://hwee_surfcast.tripod.com/Highlowreel.htm

Because the rear reel fitting balances the rig very nicely it is to me largely a casting benefit. I also looked at this site and I deduct that about ½ participants use a low fitted reel.
http://www.australiansurfcastingfederation.org/AsfForum/phpBB3/

CASTING
In S.A. a huge focus of fishing is on casting. This is because we do a lot of shore fishing often from a very rough and wild coastline with large swells and breakers which makes it difficult to get close enough to the water. Any discussion of fishing tackle or rods here will nearly always touch on the question "how far does it cast?" For spin fishing, accurate casting at moving shoales is just as important.

To me having the reel on the back was a no brainer, the rig is balanced far more efficiently by moving the fulcrum around which the rod revolves when casting somewhere in the middle between the hands of the caster. If the reel is in the forward or high position, then the caster needs to use more energy to swing the weight of the reel in addition to the weight of the rod. The same applies to pulling a fish, if the reel is above the forehand, you also need to lift up the weight of the reel when retrieving or pumping.

Even with competitive dry casters it is not clear which fitting they prefer, I was certain that the low (rear) fitting would have been favoured, but that is by no means clear from what I read. Youtube is another good source of casting videos and there the bulk of casters seem to use rear fitted reels.
Casters also move the reel seat backwards and forwards, to suit a given situation.

Attached is a simple diagram that I made a long time ago to illustrate the point of balance as affected by the weight of the reel.

SPIN FISHING AND USING A BUCKET
A "bucket" is a S.A. term for a rod holder around your waist to hold the but of the rod and protect your internal (or external) organs when fighting a fish.

When spin fishing we keep the tip of the rod down towards the water, this creates a better action in the lure and also keeps the rod tips away from one another when fishing side by side. Remember we usually use heavy 10 to 11 foot surf casting rods, sometimes up to 12"6'.

The but of the rod is then placed in the bucket (rod holder) while retrieving the lure. This would be hardly possible if the reel is fitted in the forward position, the angler would not be able to reach the handle or it would be extremely uncomfortable. For this reason I fit my reel seat 17 cm (about 6 ½ inches) from the but and we place the bucket comfortably just slightly to the side of the body.

Those who favour spinning reels usually place the long but section under their armpits. For years I wondered how a person could fish in that way.

FLEXIBILITY
With the reel at the rear, you have much more flexibility to change your leverage on the rod by moving the front hand (or both hands) forward or backward on the rod but for casting or pulling fish. A forward placed reel would probably limit this. The ability to do this is also a huge benefit with casting, but as much so when pulling on a fish. A fishing rod also has a sweet spot like a golf club or tennis racquet and to find that is usually an adjustment of casting weight or forehand position (or reel if you had an adjustable reel seat). If you consider that you can easily move your forehand by as much as 1 ft you can calculate how much it affects the leverage on a pole of 10 & 1/2 ft!

Often I had to point out to a newby fighting a fish to move his front hand way forward to provide himself more pulling power otherwise the fish will have the overhand.

I hope this has answered the question.

Reel Repair by Alan Tani

WHY A REEL IN EITHER HIGH OR LOW POSITION

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