Heavy duty reel seats on a spinner

[oc1]

Double foot guides make a dead spot in the blank.  Has anyone ever had a single foot guide break (except by stepping on it)?

[JasonGotaProblem]

So I bought my parts. I got an ATX 30-50# live bait rod on sale half price. I went with fuji MN series reducers (25-16-12-8) and did decide to go with sz6 LDB runners and a UX tip with as 8 ring. I got a fuji deluxe reel seat and ordered the locking ring.

Now I gotta decide grip material. Everyone seems to say no to cork in this range, so I guess its EVA or paracord and shrink wrap?

Also the rod I got is 7' but I figure I want it a bit shorter. Is it legit to hacksaw 6-8" off the butt of this thing?

[boon]

How many guides total? Guessing 2 runners?

[JasonGotaProblem]

How many guides total? Guessing 2 runners?

However many seems appropriate when I lay it out. I bought 4 I'm expecting to use probably 3, which may turn to two. I suppose it depends if I trim the blank. We'll see.

[jurelometer]

Regarding cutting off some blank:

Agree that bottom is (nearly) always the right choice.

They don't always make a different mandrel for every blank, so sometimes a shorter blank is just a long blank that was made shorter.

Having said that, you are cutting from the backbone side of the blank.  Spinners, typically have the first guide farther from the butt, and farther from the blank, so they already don't load the butt section as well, especially as the blank gets shorter.  If this is a fish fighting rod, you might want to see how much backbone would be left.  If the action is already moderate, you could turn it into a bendy rod.  You want a long enough butt section to act as a high drag shock absorber and lifting tool, when you have the angle just right.

-J

[JasonGotaProblem]

Regarding cutting off some blank:

Agree that bottom is (nearly) always the right choice...

Sorta what I figured. It seems most the bend of the rod is in the top foot of the blank, and I assume that this portion is needed for it to perform as designed. But ive learned by now to question all assumptions in areas where I lack firsthand experience. Thank you.

[thorhammer]

Regarding cutting off some blank:

Agree that bottom is (nearly) always the right choice...

Sorta what I figured. It seems most the bend of the rod is in the top foot of the blank, and I assume that this portion is needed for it to perform as designed. But ive learned by now to question all assumptions in areas where I lack firsthand experience. Thank you.

Did you get my PM? Also- before you whack the blank, think about how you'll fish it. If you're using bait, I expect you have to use circle hooks like we do....will the resulting action help or hamper that? If you're jigging and need to set the hook rather than reeling tight on a circle, should you cut 3 and 3, or not at all ( I prefer a 7' doing this, I can get more sweep for jigging and hookset due to longer radius, also helps A LOT getting around outboards when anchored, vs. the stubby 5'8" jigging rods popular now). There are a lot of days where we work to stay in the boat period, and not going out the tuna door on the transom to clear engines. Food for thought.

[JasonGotaProblem]

Regarding cutting off some blank:

Agree that bottom is (nearly) always the right choice...

Sorta what I figured. It seems most the bend of the rod is in the top foot of the blank, and I assume that this portion is needed for it to perform as designed. But ive learned by now to question all assumptions in areas where I lack firsthand experience. Thank you.

Did you get my PM? Also- before you whack the blank, think about how you'll fish it. If you're using bait, I expect you have to use circle hooks like we do....will the resulting action help or hamper that? If you're jigging and need to set the hook rather than reeling tight on a circle, should you cut 3 and 3, or not at all ( I prefer a 7' doing this, I can get more sweep for jigging and hookset due to longer radius, also helps A LOT getting around outboards when anchored, vs. the stubby 5'8" jigging rods popular now). There are a lot of days where we work to stay in the boat period, and not going out the tuna door on the transom to clear engines. Food for thought.

I did. And thank you, useful info as always.

I guess in my mind I'm just thinking the torque equation (the same 50# fish feels heavier on a 7' rod than it does on a 6' rod) which is balanced out by casting considerations on everything else I've built. But this one likely wont do much casting. Didnt think about maneuvering around the prop, etc. Again, no experience here.

[jurelometer]

Regarding cutting off some blank:

Agree that bottom is (nearly) always the right choice...

Sorta what I figured. It seems most the bend of the rod is in the top foot of the blank, and I assume that this portion is needed for it to perform as designed. But ive learned by now to question all assumptions in areas where I lack firsthand experience. Thank you.

Did you get my PM? Also- before you whack the blank, think about how you'll fish it. If you're using bait, I expect you have to use circle hooks like we do....will the resulting action help or hamper that? If you're jigging and need to set the hook rather than reeling tight on a circle, should you cut 3 and 3, or not at all ( I prefer a 7' doing this, I can get more sweep for jigging and hookset due to longer radius, also helps A LOT getting around outboards when anchored, vs. the stubby 5'8" jigging rods popular now). There are a lot of days where we work to stay in the boat period, and not going out the tuna door on the transom to clear engines. Food for thought.

I did. And thank you, useful info as always.

I guess in my mind I'm just thinking the torque equation (the same 50# fish feels heavier on a 7' rod than it does on a 6' rod) which is balanced out by casting considerations on everything else I've built. But this one likely wont do much casting. Didnt think about maneuvering around the prop, etc. Again, no experience here.

Not torque (rotary) so much as plain old leverage, but yes, a seven foot broomstick will give the fish more leverage than a six foot broomstick.  But on a real blank, the force required to bend the blank is progressive, so the effect is not always so dramatic with the right technique and th tip section bending out of the lever process.  You also need  a decent length of  stiffer lever, so it is not like trying to lift a brick with a rubber band.  Every bending/ unbending when you attempt to lift he fish is mostly wasted energy.  You applied and released  force, but the fish did not move. So it is more about right sizing the leverage, rather than just minimizing it.

Plus the reasons John mentioned.  Length and a bit of stiff butt means you can get around outboards (no bracket please),  and a longer stiff butt allows you to  control  a larger  fish next  the boat more easily.

Cutting  shorter might work for you better, but it might not.  It is not guaranteed to be a better fish fighting rod.

[Swami805]

Cutting a blank is a crap shoot, sometimes it works but mostly doesn't. With so many blanks to choose from get the length you want   I guess that cows already left the barn though.  Look on the bright side if it doesn't work out either way you've got a good reason to buy another blank

[philaroman]

why cut...  why not just put seat 6" higher?
not like it needs to be balanced for repeated/prolonged casting
space components for hand+armpit horizontal comfort...  longer, more comfy rear-grip
& you still have a little extra total length to maneuver around "protrusions"

[DougK]

the only reel seats I've had fail, were aluminum.. not under load, but over years, the hoods cracked. Wrapped with A thread and epoxied as a quick fix, ten years ago..
To be fair to aluminum, my 8wt steelhead/salmon fly rod has a heavy aluminum seat, once fell six feet off a cliff trying to climb round to land a fish, whacking the reel on the way down. The reel seat held but the foot tore off the fly reel..

The Fuji imitations save a paltry couple bucks over real Fuji so I've never seen a reason to buy them. Original Fuji is what I use on everything except light trout fly rods.. my brother in Australia builds rods that get tested in surf/rock and on boats for tuna, sailfish, sharks etc, with Fuji, never heard of a problem.

+1 on not cutting. I figure the rod designer had an idea in mind when they started and finished, me randomly trimming the blank is unlikely to improve anything..

[JasonGotaProblem]

Seems logical re: cutting the blank. I'll likely leave as is and choke up on the reel seat a bit. I got long goofy arms anyway.