Rod building – simple tips you never see in print: reel seat alignment
by Mark Waldin Flycatcher Custom Fly Rods About the hardest thing to undo when done wrong on a fly rod is the reel seat. Once it is epoxied in place and dried, chances are you aren’t going to remove it without damaging either the rod on the reel seat. Uplocking reel seats like the Struble and Bellinger reel seats I use in building custom rods have a fixed pocket for the reel that sits in an inset into the cork grip.
It is important that the pocket line up with the spine of the butt section of the rod. I Zero Balance all my rods to find the spine, but you can do it less accurately with manual methods. Aligning the butt section spine may be more important than any of the other sections (depending on the rod) because it can hold a great deal of the power of the cast.
Make certain you don’t forget to align the pocket with the spine because once the epoxy dries you will be living with a misaligned rod without much recourse. I always put a reel on the rod, align the spine to the reel and let the whole assembly dry that way. In this way I am certain that the spine is aligned and the extra step of putting on the reel means I never forget to do the aligning.
