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Old 03-28-10, 08:40 AM   #1
Bassboss
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Default Balancing my spinning rod with a reel!

Ok, so as some of you may know, I'm looking to maybe buy a new spinning reel some time with the the next year or so.

My current reel balances the rod about 4.5" above the reel seat, it's 8.7oz reel (a pretty light weight reel). I wanna keep this a pretty light combo, but I will sacrifice weight with balance, to some extent.

So I'm wondering what weight reel do you think it'll take to balance the rod out to like 1" above the reel or right on the fore grip! I'm looking at Garcia spinning reels and they're pretty heavy, but if it'll balance the rod out, I'll defiantly not hesitate to get a heavier reel!
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Old 03-28-10, 09:10 AM   #2
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bassboss, I think you should have saved up more and gotten a reel you wanted instead of just getting a cheaper reel just to have one now. Now you've got a reel you don't like and want to replace, so you'll be out the money for the reel you have now AND the reel you're going to be saving up for.

Anyways, balancing a spinning rod really depends on where you place the fulcrum (well it does on a BC combo as well, but not as much). If you hold the reel with your index finger in front of the arm, more of the reel will be above the fulcrum, making it heavier towards the tip. If you hold the reel with two or three fingers in front of the arm, more of the weight of the reel is behind the fulcrum, balancing the rod better.

If you hold it the first way (index finger above the arm), then I think all you'll be doing is adding weight to the rod. If you hold it with two, or preferably three fingers in front, getting a heavier reel and having more weight behind the fulcrum may help to balance out the rod.

Honestly, 4" isn't too bad.

BB
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Old 03-28-10, 09:21 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BigBassin144 View Post
bassboss, I think you should have saved up more and gotten a reel you wanted instead of just getting a cheaper reel just to have one now. Now you've got a reel you don't like and want to replace, so you'll be out the money for the reel you have now AND the reel you're going to be saving up for.
If I bought the rod, I got the reel free! So, way would I get the rod and not the reel if it was free!

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Originally Posted by BigBassin144 View Post
Anyways, balancing a spinning rod really depends on where you place the fulcrum (well it does on a BC combo as well, but not as much). If you hold the reel with your index finger in front of the arm, more of the reel will be above the fulcrum, making it heavier towards the tip. If you hold the reel with two or three fingers in front of the arm, more of the weight of the reel is behind the fulcrum, balancing the rod better.

If you hold it the first way (index finger above the arm), then I think all you'll be doing is adding weight to the rod. If you hold it with two, or preferably three fingers in front, getting a heavier reel and having more weight behind the fulcrum may help to balance out the rod.

Honestly, 4" isn't too bad.

BB
Thanks, and I hold them with three fingers above the reel.
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Old 03-28-10, 09:24 AM   #4
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Yeah, I guess if you got the reel for free...

Anyways, I got in the habit of the three fingers above when I got my Crucial Dropshot rod with the exposed foregrip. I had to hold it that way to comfortably have my index finger on the blank there. But it just kinda became a habit and I do it on all my spinning reels now.

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Old 03-28-10, 10:06 AM   #5
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I've balanced by smashing some fair sized split shot flat and putting them in a 7/8 inch chair tip and pushing that onto the butt to balance the rod and reel perfectly at the desired point.
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Old 03-28-10, 10:48 AM   #6
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I'm with Bigbassin on this one, 4" in front of the reel isn't that bad. I wouldn't go out of my way to buy a heavy reel just for that. For a rod that is way out of balance you can take off the butt cap and add weight inside the blank or buy one of those bps weight balancing kits. They are kind of ugly but they work. Either way though I wouldn't pick a reel based solely on weight.
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Old 03-28-10, 12:07 PM   #7
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Thanks guys! I guess you're probably right about 4" not being to bad, but I guess I'm used to my XML, bps JML combo, which is balanced perfectly!!
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Old 03-28-10, 01:06 PM   #8
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Get the Extreme for your reel. With the balancing kit. its a little heavy but works great!
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Old 03-28-10, 05:18 PM   #9
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Get the Extreme for your reel. With the balancing kit. its a little heavy but works great!
Naw, the reel's a cheep plastic reel w/o anti revers, it's not gonna last very long! I love the rod I have on it now so much!!
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Old 03-29-10, 06:35 PM   #10
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Can I ask what the rod will be used for?

If its tip up applications then yea I feel rod balance is very important so your not fighting to keep the tip up,plus not wasting valuable energy in your hand causing you to focus less on feel and decreasing your bite detection.

If its cast and retrieve (tip down) application then balance is less and less important...and in most cases I wouldnt bother worrying about it.

Do keep in mind that adding weight may take away sensistivity in the blank.
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Old 03-29-10, 08:09 PM   #11
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Originally Posted by WaffleJaw View Post
Can I ask what the rod will be used for?

If its tip up applications then yea I feel rod balance is very important so your not fighting to keep the tip up,plus not wasting valuable energy in your hand causing you to focus less on feel and decreasing your bite detection.

If its cast and retrieve (tip down) application then balance is less and less important...and in most cases I wouldnt bother worrying about it.

Do keep in mind that adding weight may take away sensistivity in the blank.
Hey! Tip up, shaky head, DS, wacky rig!

btw, you have a TD Exceler right? How you liken it?
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