Advice needed: reel seat problem

[tigfly]

I am having trouble with an Orvis CFO I reel secured in a sliding band reel seat. Any suggestions? My Hardy reels do not have this problem, so I think that the shoulders of the CFO reel's foot are a little too thick or steeply tapered. The sliding bands definitely are at more of an angle to the rods reel seat with the Orvis reel, where the Hardy's fit a lot straighter on the rod's reel seat. I tried the CFO on another rod with sliding bands also and had the same problem with it coming loose.

[Buddy Sanders]

TigFly,

I had a similar situation with that exact reel on a custom rod I built for an aquaintance. What I did was remove the reel seat from the reel and then ground it down to thinner taper. I repainted the reel foot and it worked fine for my application.

Whether or not you want to do this is up to you. This 'fix' saved my customer the cost of another reel, and the as modified CFO is still working fine. Another option is to buy a reel that fits the sliding bands better and use the Orvis reel on the screw lock seats it was made to fit.

Good Luck!

Buddy

[ScottP]

Tough taking a file to a reel that goes for $175+ but, unless you can replace the bands (maybe Orvis uses a band that's a bit bigger because their reels have feet with a high instep), or are willing to tape the reel down or go to another reel, it's not much use to you; I'd do it. Maybe check with Orvis to see how much a replacement foot would cost (I'd guess a fair bit of change) before you try any modifications.

Regards,
Scott