I see a lot of discussion regarding which reels balance which rods and am just curious to know if everyone checks the balance in a similar fashion.

I mount the reel, string the rod up, and just pull enough line through so that the fly line touches the floor when I'm standing and holding the rod horizontally at about my waist. I'm like the balance point to be right around an inch from the front end of the cork grip--about where my index finger is when my thumb is in casting position.

In the case of my new 7'6" Orvis 1 wt, I'd like it to balance where the red arrow is. Right now it balances a couple inches forward of that with the 3.8oz Lamson reel in the photo. I have plenty of room on the reel to add backing to move the balance back a hair. With the 3.2oz Orvis BBS I the balance point is even further forward meaning the reel is lighter than *my* ideal weight for this rod.


I think I read the stringing up the rod part in a Dave Whitlock book that came with my first rod way back when. It makes a difference.

Jerry

I try to use reels that measure four ounces on a 7.5' rod, heavier for longer, and lighter for shorter...Yeah, this is really subjective.

Jerry, I like to have a balance point as you describe. A reel that's too heavy kind of throws my casting stroke off.

J.

I don't really balance them either in any way other than holding the rigged setup with line off the reel and seeing if the reel wants to dip. If it does, that's bad - light reels help casting, heavy ones cause your tip to swing like a pendulum and will kill a good cast. If the rod tip dips, no big deal. If it's a trout rod and the tip dips aggressively... excellent

In the old days, even now sometimes, tournament casters often had no reel at all but instead laid the line out in big open coils. I've done that, and it feels weird at first but you can definitely cast better. It'll also tell you how good a caster you really are.

What he said!

And all of that balance theory goes out the door with the amount of line out or on the reel. It is tip heavy at the start of backcast and tip light at the forward cast. Also if line is in the water, take into consideration the resistance caused by water drag

The amount of line out is relatively insignificant. A 2,3,4 wt line weighs around an ounce. So, if you have 30-40 ft of line on the water,the water takes care of that 1/3 ounce. You don't have to hold that miniscule mass up,except to cast. When you cast the flex of the rod on the dead cast adds force to balance the line.And the force vector of the line during the cast is perpendicular to the swingweight. All hypothesis based on observation. I am sure the big companies like Shimano/Loomis have computer software to create models of this. Nasa ,too!Cheers,Chet