# Balancing a Rod



## saltysurfman (Feb 23, 2011)

I am currently working on a 13'-6" CTS 8-12 Heaver that I will be using for chunking. Rod casted like a dream on the football field when setting up the guides and held up pretty nicely in a 15mph headwind with the guides held on by electrical tape. Biggest problem I have with this currently is that the rod is tip heavy. Balance point of the rod with reel is about 10" above the reel seat. Rod casts nice but feels a bit funny due to the tip weight of the rod. Also, I like to hold my rods when bait fishing and it is a bit uncomfortable after some time. I would really like to get this balanced to within an inch or 2 of the seat so it is a bit nicer on the back when I am putting in a long session. Never had this problem with any of my other rods and they are balanced a bit better. I am currently using a Daiwa Saltiga Surf 30 on the rod.

I was thinking of trying to fit a few small sinkers in the butt and epoxying them before putting the butt cap on, but not too sure how that would hold up over time and I don't want lead clunking around inside an almost $400 blank if it gets loose. I have looked into a larger butt cap, but I don't think the extra half ounce is going to close the gap much.

Anybody else ever have this problem and how did you get the rod balanced? Any help on this is greatly appreciated as I am stumped.


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## sunburntspike (Oct 4, 2010)

wiil the rod balancing butt caps made by fuji work? or is the blank to large? might be worth ordering one just to see how it would work and if you could modify it to your rod


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## saltysurfman (Feb 23, 2011)

The Fuji weighted cap is way too small for this rod. Its about 24 or 25mm at the butt section. I don't think it has enough weights either.

I was trying to find the Shimano counter-balance system used on the Tirajelo surf rods, but can't seem to find anything other than the weights. I may order the weight kit and try to glue them together and then into the butt cap if they fit with the taper. I think I am going to need at least 2 ounces to balance this out, so a sinker epoxied into the butt cap may do the trick. I would rather have the rod be heavier in the rear than in the tip. Going to have to play around a bit and see what happens. I was hoping somebody had a similar problem with this specific rod, but I know that there aren't many out there.


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## narfpoit (Jun 16, 2004)

First you need to find out how much weight it takes to balance it out this is easily done by taping weights to the butt of the rod until it feels right (keep it as far down the butt as possible). Then find a drill bit that fits the inside diameter of your rod butt fairly snug and drill a hole in a block of wood large enough to except the amount of weight you have. Drill close to the edge of the block. Then melt the lead a ladle or small pan and a propane torch or gas grill will get it done. Pour this into your block of wood all in one melt. Once it is cool cut the block away and you now have a lead plug that will fit your rod butt nicely add some rod bond and you will have no worries of it breaking free and causing any damage. It sounds like a lot but it only takes me about 10 minutes to do all of this and since it is cast to fit you get more of the weight further back in the rod so it needs less weight.


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## saltysurfman (Feb 23, 2011)

Thanks narfpoit. I will give that a try when I take the rod off the dryer after the third coat or finish on Saturday morning. I will post back up in this thread to let you know how it comes out. Thank you so much for your help on this!


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## dawgfsh (Mar 1, 2005)

Probably going to take 6-10 oz in the butt.


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## Don B (Jul 28, 2001)

We use stainless steel butt caps to protect our rods. They are 12" long and of various diameters. The weight is about 6 ounces and will vary by size. You may be able to find some stainless locally and have a disk welded into one end. Ours are polished and look like chrome. If you are going to add weight, you may as well get some function from it.


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## saltysurfman (Feb 23, 2011)

Thanks guys. 

Don B, do you have a picture of the butt caps? I did cord grip on this rod already and don't want to mess with the diameter of the grips too much because they are fairly large with this grip. I also am really liking the feel of this grip, but I feel it may be my downfall with this weight issue because the cord is so light compared to other grip materials.


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## Don B (Jul 28, 2001)

Here's what they look like in sizes 22, 24, and 26 mm (ID) 12" long.

http://www.donstacklehawaii.com/images/ButtCap222426.jpg


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## saltysurfman (Feb 23, 2011)

Thanks Don. Are you putting grip over that or do you leave the stainless as is? I have never seen something like that here in the Northeast and it seems very functional.


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## Don B (Jul 28, 2001)

The function of the stainless steel is to take abuse and is therefore bare. The down side is that once installed, it is next to impossible to remove. The area above the butt cap usually has a 5 or 6 inch wrapping. This wrap matches the upper and lower grips. The wrap may be made of 3M rubber safety grip or a space grip (cord). I'm sure you could use cork as well. I'll try to post a couple of pictures tonight.


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## Don B (Jul 28, 2001)

Here's a picture of two rods with stainless steel butt caps installed.

http://www.donstacklehawaii.com/images/InstalledButtCaps.jpg

The top rod has cord spaced at even intervals.
The bottom rod uses 3M Safety Grip tape.

The butt caps can be purchased from most tackle shops in Hawaii. Sizes usually come in diameters from 20 to 30 mm in 2 mm increments.


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## saltysurfman (Feb 23, 2011)

Those look pretty cool. If I can't get the lead slug to work I will definitely check it out. I hold my rod all the way down at the butt cap when casting that is why I was asking about the grips. I am not too sure about holding a piece of stainless with wet slimey hands and being able to get a good grip on it for a cast though. I guess I could split the cord grip and put it just on the stainless and then up near the reel seat to get a good look.

Thanks for all the help Don B.


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## Don B (Jul 28, 2001)

There are SS butt caps made that have a cross hatch pattern cut into them. The top and bottom 1 inch of the butt cap is smooth with 10 inches made in the cross hatch pattern. It is like the wrench/handle for socket sets.


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## saltysurfman (Feb 23, 2011)

Thanks Don. I didn't see that from the pictures.


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## Furball (Sep 20, 2002)

Once you have figured out what weight you need, you can take a bank sinker wrap the thick part with masking tape so it will fight snugly into the bottom of the rod (the masking tape will keep the lead and blank separate and serve as a cushion), then take the butt cap, fill it with 5 minute epoxy (or you can even use contact cement if you want a less permanent setup) and put the weight halfway into the blank, with the small end down. Then place the butt cap on the blank and stand it up as straight as you can for a bit. 

This is how they do it at hatteras jack. You might want to give them a call to be sure since it has been 6 or years since I did it on my own rod. Ryan is the one who showed me how to do it. It was not hard to do. Good luck. Tom


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## saltysurfman (Feb 23, 2011)

Thanks Furball. I think I am going to need a much larger sinker than can fit in the butt section. I am going to play with it a bit this weekend since the forecast is calling for rain. Been busy fishing the rod as is so I haven't really put much time into balancing it since I started this thread. I am guessing I will need probably 4-6 ounces now that everything else is finished. Balance point is still about 10 inches off or so, but it feels much better now that the rod is wrapped and finished and not electrical taped.


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## Furball (Sep 20, 2002)

I was building a Allstar 1389 (11'6" 6-10 oz) mini heaver) when I first put a 4 oz weight in the butt using contact cement. I then dropped it down to 2 oz which works well. Good luck.

Tom


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