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Posts: 496
| When adding weight to the butt of your rod to balance it ..... were is the balance point ? I assume just infront of your reel .
Thanks,
Dinver |
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Location: Grand Rapids, MI | The balance point should be the center of your grip on the rod. With the reel on the rod hold the rod as if you were reeling. Relax your grip so the rod rests on your middle finger and you'll have the balance point specific to you. |
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Posts: 496
| Thanks Will |
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Posts: 1141
Location: NorthCentral WI | So, if 90% of the time I palm my reels, the balance point should be in the center of the reel seat. Correct? |
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Posts: 8782
| And if you hold the front grip?? |
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Posts: 210
Location: VA | If you hold the front grip, you'd want your balance point to be in the front reel grip.
Balance is way overrated, especially when it comes to heavy-er rods like we all use Musky fishing. The only time I'd even consider balancing a musky rod is if the rod was to be used for some type of bottom fishing where the pick up from the fish would be very LIGHT. In this case you'd want the rod to "float" in your hand so you could feel/see the fish pick up the lure.
The key in my opinion is to build or buy the LIGHTEST WEIGHT ROD you can afford and never ever add weight to a rod unless it requires it for some specific technique like I mentioned above. Even something as minor as a reel change or hand position can effect balance greatly.
We're not drop shotting 3" lures here, at least not in my area, and I just dont see the need to add weight to any Musky rod. Many of our presentations are "tip down" style, where balance would not even be wanted! You'd want a SLIGHTLY tip heavy rod for a tip down presentation.
I build my own rods and I make them as LIGHT weight as I possibly can and wouldn't have it any other way! I'll bet my 7'3" Musky rod doesn't weigh more than 5oz which is less than most bass rods. Most musky rods are way over that number. My point is, build or buy it as light weight as possible and forget the word balance.
DR |
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Posts: 443
Location: Indiana | I had a heavier rod and decided to balance it. I thought what could it hurt. Even though this rod took almost 6 oz of weight, It now feels much lighter in hand than before. I no longer fight to keep the tip out of the water.
I do balance mine slightly tip down. I have now done all of my rods. IMO and it is only my opinion, it is well worth it. |
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Posts: 210
Location: VA | mseybert,
I think your post makes my point more more clear. The whole idea is to buy the lightest weight rod you can afford. With a lighter rod, the angler would be holding less weight.
Some rods are so tip heavy that folks just about have to add weight to them to make them fishable. The components used today by some rod manufactures are total overkill. They make them like tanks to withstand abuse and cut down on returns. The angler gets a rod that is nearly indestructible, but it's tip heavy as heck because the guides/wrappings/thread finish and such are 5 times the size they need to be.
DR |
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Posts: 908
Location: South-Central PA | DR, I'm with you. I build all of my rods (trout, bass, muskie) to be as light as possible. My LGM102XH has size 6 Fuji single foot fly guides for the runners. They are plenty durable and my rod is super light. I don't need a balanced rod for fishing crankbaits and bucktails.
jeremy |
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Posts: 443
Location: Indiana | This particular rod that began changing my viewpoint is a custom built rod on a high end blank. The blank and components do not carry a lot of extra weight. My brother in law weighed this rod and another that is known to be very light, and the difference was right at an ounce. Which comes in at about 9% of the total rod weight. Make your own decision at to whether that is a lot or not. I do not believe that is very much.
I do agree that buying a lighter rod will help. There is more to it than that though. Balance all goes back to physics. When viewing a rod from this standpoint it is a lever with your hand being the fulcrum. It is my opinion that I see no use in having a butt section that is 18" long (which adds counter balance and helps naturally move the tip up). I don't need it to cast with. By shifting the reel seat back I gain length where it matters, in front of the fulcrum (my hand). This gives me deeper figure eights with a rod of the same overall length. The down side is that weight is shifted forward and the rod becomes tip heavy.
It sounds illogical that adding a bunch of weight to the rod makes it feel lighter, but in my opinion it does. I think it boils down to the fact that there is less torque on my wrist keeping the rod tip up. I am sure not saying my way is right for everyone, but I was trying to give the original poster my experience. |
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Posts: 210
Location: VA | Not illogical at all. It makes perfect sense. The lever arm with your wrist as a pivot allows your arm to carry the weight.... not your wrist carrying the rod tip weight trying to hold up the rods tip. Basically it makes the rod easier to fish with less rod fatigue.
If adding an ounce makes the rod more comfortable to fish, I see no reason why you shouldn't add it and create a more comfortable rod for yourself.
Rarely can you "get by" with adding only an ounce. I see bass rods every day that require much more. The more you add, the heavier rod you'll get....and a heavy rod is....well......just a heavy rod 
DR |
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Posts: 8782
| I can't imagine that guides, thread, and epoxy add much weight to a rod. And does it really matter if your rod is 1/2 oz lighter when you've got a 16 oz reel strapped to it so you can throw double 10's all day?  |
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Location: Contrarian Island | I add rod balances to all my rods....walleye rods as well....imo it makes a huge difference....whenever I make a few casts with buddies rods w/ out balancers I think to myself..."this feels like sh*t"....add balancers to all rods imo and you will be more comfortable in the long run |
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Posts: 245
| Balance > Weight
I put 4 Oz of lead on the back of my Shimano Compre (that i will be selling) and it felt LIGHTER just because it vas perfectly balanced. |
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Posts: 210
Location: VA | Guides, thread and epoxy make a BIG difference in rod weight/feel. Think about WHERE that weight is at: the end of the rod. The more weight you add to the end of a rod, the heavier the rod feels. Hold a rod with no lure on the end, then add a SMALL spinner to the same rod, huge difference. Think of that spinner as larger guides, more wraps, more epoxy.
Why do you think all the new bass rods are all going to micro guides? = Less weight = better performing rod. The more weight you add to the tip of a rod blank the worse it performs.
DR |
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Location: Latitude 41.3016 Longitude 88.6160 | So you add say 3-6oz of weight to your rod but to balance it out, now you add your 8oz bait and now your rod is out of balance again, ???????? |
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Posts: 4343
Location: Smith Creek | Generally the balance point is the trigger if you palm and the top of the r/s if you hold the fore grip. Everyone has a different opinion on this, I don't ever weight rods, but I use light blanks. What a person should do is make sure the rod casts well with a variety of different lures before making a permanant change. |
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Posts: 427
Location: Wausau | What brand balancer' would people recommend? |
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Posts: 1141
Location: NorthCentral WI | I just added extensions to a couple of my older rods similar to what Bob Turgeon had wrote in the latest MH magazine. The added weight of the dowel used and the wrap really balanced the rod. I did not add any extra weight with lead or anything. Instead of using cork rings though, I wrapped the dowel with a rubber material and then used a piece of heat shrink tube over that. The heat shrink tube covered the extension perfectly and gives the rod a great feeling handle, I imagine something like a split grip. |
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Posts: 427
Location: Wausau | Thanks - I'm looking into the Bass Pro Shop ones - BN stated to trim down the last few inches to make them fit over the over-sized handles. |
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Posts: 210
Location: VA | What ever you decide when adding weight to the butt end of your rods, make sure to add that weight as FAR BACK as possible, preferably in the butt cap itself.
DR |
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Posts: 909
| Try the Bass Pro that uses quarters to balance! I have them on rods from Trout to muskies!
Brian |
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| drill a hole in the center of your butt cap. 1/2 hole will do. Your blank is hollow. I jam cotton balls into the blank to make a dam. Then i put lead in. Pencil lead works fine. I ldont balance it out all the way. I leave it a tad tip heavy. Now i mix 2 part epoxy and put it in with the lead. When cured the epoxy not only adds weight it also stops the lead from rattling around. You are left with a hole in your butt cap though. You can just leave it with a nice cured epoxy look. Or you can jam a piece of cork in there and sand it down some. |
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Posts: 32886
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Balancing the rod removes stress from the wrist, forearm, and hand. Big difference. I won't fish a muskie rod that isn't balanced to my grip. |
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