Flyrod conversion

Here's a technical question for you builders out there. Since I can't seem to sell my St.Croix Avid to purchase a smaller rod I'm wondering about converting. Can a grip/reel seat be constructed with a dowell in the end to put the first 3 of 4 sections onto. Does anyone think this will work or would it not be strong enough at the grip? Also, would it change the line wt? For example, my rod is a 5wt. Would it change to a 4wt? This would be fine but I can't afford multiple lines just to find out. Let me in on some of the expertise out there. Thanks and God Bless!

Replacing the bottom section will not change the line weight of the rod - only the length of the rod (shorter). If you were to cut from the top then the line weight would become heavier.

Just before J Kennedy Fisher disappeared from the picture he marketed some interesting rods that were double length. I have one similar that is in six sections - the 7ft rod is built with the butt section and three other sections - the 8 1/2 ft rod is built with a different butt section another section and the same three sections as the 7 ft model. All the same rod, six pieces - two are butt sections. It assembles either as a 7ft or 8 1/2 ft.

For what you want to do the seat/handle assembly CANNOT be made of any material except that of the rod itself. In this case graphite as the Avid is a graphite rod. If you were talking a glass rod then it would need to be made of glass. Each material bends a little differently and therefore are not compatible when mixed.

What I would do to accomplish what you describe is look for a piece of scrap graphite that would slide into the female ferrule of the third section. Then simply install the reel seat and handle on it. It then becomes a shorter fourth section. If you need to go shorter than that locate a piece of graphite identical to the third section (from the top) and build the reel seat/handle and likely a stripper guide on that - You then build a shorter three piece rod. The rod "as is" - a bit longer 4 piece. The rod with the new third (butt) section - a shorter 3 piece.

The line weight may not change but the relative action will be slower. You might prefer to use a lighter line to adjust the casting characteristics just a little bit.