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Problem- nine year old that is 4ft. 3in. He cannot handle a nine foot rod. my thought was to modify an old five weight three piece. I would discard the butt of the rod and build a butt section onto the middle piece of the rod. Has anyone done this before, my guess is that after altering the rod, it would effectively make it a three or four weight? Any comments would be appreciated.
Hey 2LH,
I am always seeking older/damaged rods
just to see what they will do when I make
them shorter. Some have been quite pleasing
and some have been disappointing. I use a
dremel motor with a cuttoff wheel to chop
the rods where I desire, match up sizes and
create ferrils from the scrap. After cutting, I use fine wet/dry paper to remove
sharp edges and wrap and epoxy exposed
outside joints. The mechanics of the process is quite simple and enjoyable.
Predicting finished results is less of a
science. Good luck. Warm regards, Jim
You can also pickup a forecast 7'6" blank for about $25. I just finished a 9' blank. These are nice blanks
Allyn
Hook and hackle also has some shorter forecast blanks...I think they have the 5' blanks like JP Ross uses for his beaver meadows rods.
Dropping the butt section of a multiple piece blank will slow the action down, but that's not always a bad thing. It sure is fun to experiment though!
dropping the butt section from the assembly won't necessariyly change the line requirement for the rod. it will impact the action but the line wt will probably remain the same.
I just built a forecast 7 1/2' 4 wt 4 pc. for a 7 y.o. and I have to say it's a really nice rod. Casts a 4 or 5 wt line well and the kid can actually cast it into a 3' circle with regularity at 20'. The rod will throw 45 - 50' of line easily. I might get one for myself to keep in the car. put single foot guides on it using sage guide spacing and had a reelseat laying around the house. I don't have more than $35 in the rod. Got the blanks at HookHack.com for under $15.
Cabelas has a 6'-6" 4wt 'Stowaway' rod blank for about $30...might be a simple solution.