Counterbalancing a rod / reel

[appalachian angler]

Maybe try using a wrist support device or some kind of wrap that keeps your wrist alignment straight whilst holding that long rod up high for hours on end. Your forearm muscles are trying to compensate for your wrists' natural tendency to bend. Supporting the wrist should help. Just a thought...

[Silverexpress]

Here is a rod with this feature already a part of the package:
http://www.fishinglessons.co.uk/blog...-rod-review-2/

Batson Forecast Weighted Butt Cap System:
http://forecastrodcomponents.com/butt-caps/

I was looking at the $699 Sage ESN 10' 3wt + Sage 4230 reel, and it too seems to have this balance issue. Like my 10' BVK 3wt (with extension kit), the balance point is at the hook keeper, and I'm using an Orvis BBS II with Cortlands Competition Euro nymphing Fly Line 2-4wt. The sage balance point is mentioned in a few threads on the internet. For Example,

http://www.georgia-outdoors.com/foru...p/t-90820.html

[Buddy Sanders]

I'd not add weight to a rod in any fashion.

Folks have been trying to build lighter and lighter rods for years for a reason.

The isue here isn't the weight of the rod or the reel. It's the torque developed by holding a rod at angle at which it's not balanced. You can always adjust the angle you hold the rod at to get it balanced. It will balance at any place along it's grip, with or without a reel installed, at a certain angle. This angle will chnage based on the weight of the reel, the amount of line out the tip, and the currents pull (or lack of pull) on the line. Find that angle, and you will have the correct attitude to hold the rod at while you fish.

It's pretty easy to do this. For any given situation, just change the angle you hold the rod at until it doesn't feel tip heavy. Most of us do this automatically. You just hold the rod at the angle where it's the most conmfortable. Keeping the rod/reel/line combination as light as possible to begin with makes this easier and gives less fatigue.

Remember that by adding wieght you are not 'balancing' the rod, you are just changing the angle at wihch it balances and making yourself work harder in the long run holding up more weight.

Fly rod dynamics are not static. Constantly changing variables cannot be resolved with a static solution. You can change reels, lines, add or subtract weight, and it won't change how the system works.

Bottom line, if the rod doesn't feel 'right' to you, it's not a problem with the so called 'balance', it's just not the rod for you. Return it and try something that fits you better.

Buddy

[Silverexpress]

That's nice in theory, but in practice I find myself moving the rod tip almost constantly.

Dry fly fishing - From casting to mending, and when I'm following a drift the rod is usually low and parallel to the surface. I also cannot see the above being applied after a cast. Especially, if you need to pull the tip back after the cast to balance. This may cause drag, and poor line control afterwards. A lower tip also accomodates a better arc range in regards to setting the hook. The only time I would hold the rod high would be in straddling cross currentsto avoid drag, but I seldom do this - i just mend like crazy.

Streamer fishing - likewise my rod tip is close to the surface of the water for stripping.

Nymphing- I make nice arcs frm side to side as I follow the drift.

Euro Nymphing- I'm kinda new to this, and I think for French and Spanish your method may apply, but for Czech and Polish, it may get awkward. Then there is the question of reach, and varying depths.

I just can't see myself holding an angle to promote a balance point from an out of balance fly rod.

Can you provide us a video of how you do it? It maybe a technique I've yet to see.

[Buddy Sanders]

No videos, but that's not my point.

Physics tells us that the rod must balance at every point if it's at the correct angle. However, that angle must change as the weight shifts from using the rod.

Having the rod as light as possible means that the amount of weight you have to hold up is as light as possible.

If a rod feels 'tip heavy' while you are fishing it (almost all of them will if you are actually using the rod), and this feeling is 'wrong' for you, then you can alleviate that feeling by raising the rod tip until you find that point of balance for the current conditions. Again, this angle will change almost constantly and condditions change.

Practically, I just don't worry about it. I build my rods as light as I can and hold the rod where it needs to be based on how I fish. None of my rods feel 'wrong' in my hands.

So, the basic point is that a rod that feels wrong is probably wrong for that fisherman, and playing with weights won't really change that.

Buddy

[Silverexpress]

Hello Bud,

I find that it's not the "wrong rod for the fisherman" but "it's the wrong rod for the task at hand". I have a collection of multiple rods, and when I go fishing it's usually for 14-16 hrs with a break for food or the restroom. Thus, I've gotten to know all my fly rods very well from the time I've spent with them on the stream fishing. What I've conculded is that one rod cannot do everything well, but it can certainly be the best at what it was designed for.

The rod makers would be jumping with joy if they could sell each and everyone of us our "own" rods. So back to Euro nymphing, I'm finding that it takes a lot of wrist movement to lob those flies, and since it's short lining I'm also finding that often my arm is extended so I can place myself further away from the prey. I've just started researching this myself, and to this date the Hanak seems to be the only make that takes into consideration the importance of balancing.

Update: 10/31/2012 - I ended up taking off the weight I added to the end of the rod. It was PVC tubing with an end cap and filled with enough tungsten powder (from a Golf Shop) to balance the rod. I fished it like this for a weekend. It was no better than the heavy tip with the stock setup. With weight hanging off the back, swinging this rod was like swinging a dumbell with the weights concentrated off the ends. In the end I sized up the reel, and added enough lead wire so that the whole reel assembly (wire, backing, flyline) weighed in at 8.5 ounces. This placed the balance point about an inch below the top of the cork handle. With the weight closer to my hand it was a lot easier to swing now.

Since I had to chop up the original cork butt, I replaced it with a Pacific Bay removable fighting butt, model FM2. A much sturdier assembly.

I've also recently gotten into Spey casting, and in researching the gear setups for this type of fishing, I found that they (Experts at Spey casting) recommend that you size up the reel wt by 2. Thus, if you have a 6wt rod, you size up the reel to an 8/9 wt. With this in mind I sized up the TFO BVK 3wt 10' I've been trying to balance above to a 6/7 wt reel.