Fly Fishing Forum banner

Detachable fighting butt

5K views 10 replies 8 participants last post by  artb 
#1 ·
Soliciting opinions/recommendations.

I'm putting on a detachable fighting butt on my rod.

All things equal w/ a 2 pc blank (i.e. without touching/cutting the blank), the butt adds roughly 1.5" to the butt end of the rod (therefore making it longer than the tip end). Before I cut down my rod to accomodate the butt (and 'even out' the two pieces) I wanted to solicit board opinions

Are equivalent sized pieces necessary/required/recommended? Is it performance related or asthetic?

Any and all advice appreciated.
 
#3 ·
Purely aesthetic to have one section longer than the other, unless your rod tube or holster doesn't like it. I've repaired rods with new tips making the top shorter, never bothered me to have it.

The SunDog rod/reel case has a nice pocket for an extension if you wanted to remove it for travel or storage.

My blank is on the way!
 
#4 ·
Having the butt-piece a little longer can be a real advantage when you break your rod down to carry it. Having the tip section shorter gives automatic protection to it as it won't be sticking out! In fact when spacing my guides I always do it so as to make sure that when I carry it in two pieces while it is strung up it "naturally" folds to this position. It is one of my pet peeves with factory rods that this type of thinking doesn't go into them.
 
#5 ·
Thanks gents. In talking w/ Smitty @ Rodbuilders my sense is that it was more of an aesthetic/practical issue as the butt wouldn't allow the rod to fit in a standard 2 pc rod tube.

I imagine I could make the butt permanent, but given that it's detachable & I can easily make/obtain a rod tube longer than standard, I think I'll go with the advice here.

Thanks again!
 
#9 ·
Not to mention a whip finish...:devil:

On a more serious note, how do people handle the "exposed" butt end of the blank when the fighting butt is detached? I've taped up my blank so it fits snugly inside the reel seat. The butt end of the blank is set about 1.5" inside the end of the reel seat (to accomodate the "male" end of the fighting butt). As it stands now, the hollow end of the blank is exposed when the fighting butt is removed (though the blank is inside the reel seat).

I know I'm probably being a bit anal (or dense) about this, but my inclination is to fill it in w/ epoxy when I affix the reel seat to the blank. Don't suspect this is any issue w/ a fixed butt as the blank is totally encased.

As always, thanks in advance.
 
#10 ·
Butt Plugs

Hi Tod D Most reel seats that were sold with a but exrension had a screw in cover that filled that void. if not put a nice wine bottle cork in to it. Ther are also sold vinel hole covers that are use to plug hydraulic lines etc that should be readily aviable to you. Hope this helps.

-----saltRon
 
#11 ·
:) Out of all the rods I have, I only have one rod with a detachable butt, that is a Heddon Riptide, 9 foot bamboo cirra 1950. It was one of the first rods speciflcally designed for salt-water flyfishing. A few years ago I bought 2 rec reelseats which had afighting butt which retracted into the handle, the best butt I have seen. $55 about 10 years ago, today I think they are about $90. The first rod I built using one, I forgot to take a piece off of the bottom of the rod, so the 9 foot rod became 9 1/2 feet.
:eyecrazy: Two piece rod with one pice about 6 inches longer than the other. The second one I took a piece off the bottom of the rod, so that it remained 9 feet. The problem with the detachable butt is I always forgot what pocket it was in.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top