I made my 2 year old son a 3 ft rod with an 8 inch texas style handle with the graphite rings to hold the reel seat.
What do you wrap around the reel and graphite rings to hold the reel in place? I could use electrical tape, but I don’t really want the black ugly tape wrapped around the handle.
If I understand what your doing I might use rawhide strips soaked in water tied tight then varnished when dry. if you ever wanted the reel off you would have to cut the strips.