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Thread: balancing rod and reel

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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
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    Las Cruces, NM
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    2,097

    Default balancing rod and reel

    I bookmarked a link to this subject, but now cannot find the thread. Did I mess up the bookmark, or does anyone remember this subject a few weeks ago - I was going to look into it deeper, but can't find it. It had something to do with a helios rod and what reel to get for it.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    SE MN Driftless
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    460

    Default

    I don't recall the thread.

    However, ideally you want to rod and reel to balance at the point where your index finger curls under the cork when you grip the rod. This is with rod strung about and a normal casts worth of line hanging from the rod tip.

    Many people seem to prefer to have the reel end slightly heavier, so that holding the rod in a tip up manner (as you typically would during a drift) is more natural.

    My personal opinion is that perfect balance isn't too important. If I'm way out of balance -- eg, with a oversized, heavy reel on a very light rod or with a light reel on a very long (10') rod -- it's bothersome and I would change reels. But if it's reasonable close, it's not worth worrying about for me and certainly not worth adding weight to the reel or rod butt (as some folks like to do).

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
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    NE Gwinnett Co., GA
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    I think I move my hand up or down the grip to a point where it is comfortable without really thinking about it. I know I had one rod my hand always end up down against the reel.
    Want to hear God laugh? Tell him Your plans!!!

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
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    Rothschild (Wausau), Wisconsin
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    Default

    http://flyanglersonline.com/features/bamboo/part29.php

    Rod/Reel Balance is not important for casting but it is for fishing. I believe this is what johnstoeckel is saying. You want the rod to "naturally" assume the position at which you normally fish, when you have the amount the of line out that is your normal cast.

    If you tight line nymph with the rod tip up, you want the rod to to assume that position when you have the average amount of line out of the guides. If you most often fish streamers with the rod tip down at the water level, then you want the rod/reel to balance tip down.

    As Jesse says, you can adjust the grip point after the cast to get the rod to balance more tip up or down.
    Regards,

    Silver

    "Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought"..........Szent-Gyorgy

  5. #5
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    Dec 2003
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    Default

    Thanks! Will experiment to see if this is all instinctive.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
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    shenandoah valley, va
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    I dont know if this is the thread, but it has good info from fly fish ohio
    http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/s...g-rod-and-reel
    "Fishermen are born honest, but they get over it"
    Ed Zern

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