Reel seats

[Dave Taylor]

Just thought I'd ask for opinions on which types of reel seats / fittings that you prefer or have been lumbered with on your river rods?
For some years now, off the shelf rods have often come with 'screw down' reel seats which must be partly due to their popularity with anglers.
The first time I encountered one was on a Korum neoteric twin tip, and, although looking neat, I wondered why the change from screw up?
My immediate reservations were if the screw down forgrip had a weak thread ie.moulded trunkcated plastic for instance, it would be easy to assert too much force and strip it, given it would be tightened by hand and not finger and thumb as a winch fitting nut would.
The other hitch came on the first session with it when I picked up the rod to stop a good barbel only to find the rod and reel swivel towards the running fish because the forgrip wasn't tight enough on the reel. I thought it was, but was afraid of over tightening it!
Lesson learnt thought I , until I tried to release the reel at the end of a session a couple of years later only to find the plastic reel retainer attached to the forgrip was no longer attached but had parted company leaving it still on the reel.
The rod could still be used if a short length of 2 by 1 was at hand to knock the retaining ring off the reel,.... Ended up letting a mate have it for 25 quid, including timber accessories!
Must say that a similar rod, ( Greys prodigy) hasn't let me down yet, but I fail to see the merits of incorporating the reel securing ' nut ' with the part of the rod you hang on to when playing a fish.
I was more than happy to ask Bob G. to include a screw up ALPS seat on my last rod,...bliss.
Any thoughts?
Reel seat comments only!
Dave T.

 

[Bob Gill]

Positives and negatives on most types of reel seats that are out there. Various 'clone' types ranging from good to mediocre, in their design, functionality, performance, weight and cost.
Purchase a well known make of seat, fit it properly, and you shouldn't really go wrong. It's a pain to replace a reel seat on a rod - as it requires a partial strip down of the rod.

The humble so called pipe seat, either fitted in a wind up collar configuration is used on lots of rods. It can also be fitted 'tother way around (like Trefor West rods) so the screw collar winds down. Pros and cons about doing either, but generally on a pipe seat (Fuji DPS 16, 17, 18, and on) leaves quite a bit of pipe exposed – which may or may not be to your taste.

Enter the wind down/screw down type – this leaves less pipe exposed, as your collar is now part of your grip and obscures part of the screw portion of the fitting. So at first this appears to be a great leap forward BUT most screw down fittings will work loose and the collar/foregrip will require occasional checking and tightening. Bigger reels on slimmer flexing blanks can increase the need for tightening. If cork is used as the foregrip, this can present another problem or two. The wind down collar that the foregrip sits on is of larger diameter and therefore limits the amount of wall thickness that can be reasonably used. If a bullet shaped fore is used then it will get weaker. There are ways to minimise this, but I’ve noticed that most rod manufacturers don’t bother. I try to incorporate various ‘bits’ to minimise the risk of the foregrip breaking. Overtightening of a reel collar can lead to thread jump or stripping.

The main thing against aluminium seats is that while they generally offer a more stable reel platform, they are more expensive and heavier. They can also feel cold.

I’ll leave it at that for now – in danger of writing a boring book!

Cheers
Bob

 

[Dave Taylor]

Comprehensive reply Bob,
Maybe I was unlucky with the neoteric, but I suspect the reel seat wasn't top quality.
The guy I sold it to was quoted 80 quid for a replacement seat which is approximately two thirds of the new price, because as you mentioned the rod section would have to be stripped down.
Having that fitting break has made me pay special attention to ALL parts of a potential new rod. That's the beauty of multiplier beach casters,...no reel seat,...just coasters!
A bit over the top for the Avon though!!

 

[Peter Robinson]

Personally I'd always choose a screw down fitting in order to negate any thread/locknut in the vicinity of the reelfoot where the rod is gripped, so that effectively there's just cork either side of the reelfoot and therefore more comfortable to use in my opinion.

Pete.