Ultralite reel for an ultralite rod

[fishinwrench]

Cabela's used to sell a graphite body reel, light as a feather.....ultra LOUD clicker (no drag), and a piece of junk.   

[tjm]

What is the importance of "balance"  on such a weightless rig? It's rather like balancing a cigarette or a pencil, isn't it? 

And do you really need backing on an ultralight?

[fishinwrench]

26 minutes ago, tjm said:

What is the importance of "balance"  on such a weightless rig? It's rather like balancing a cigarette or a pencil, isn't it? 

And do you really need backing on an ultralight?

A tip heavy rod will cause waves in the line during the cast, and those waves effect how much line you can shoot, and it negatively effects accuracy.  Makes backcasting weird too.....and you can't make a good forward cast without first having a good backcast.

A butt heavy rod negatively effects the sensitivity/feel of what's going on past the tip. Making it more difficult to do a good job mending line and feeling tension bites. 

Certainly the lighter the overall rig....the less the effects will be, but they are nonetheless there.   

So when buying a reel for a specific specialty rod.... you're better off at least trying to balance it as closely as possible (or feasable). 

[Flysmallie]

The Redington Zero doesn’t have a drag. 

[fishinwrench]

[quote]And do you really need backing on an ultralight?[/quote]

You only need backing to fill up the reel spool.  Increases line intake per turn of the handle. And keeps your line from coiling up like an old school telephone cord.

[tjm]

44 minutes ago, fishinwrench said:

A tip heavy rod will cause waves in the line during the cast

Have never read that before, can you refer me to an article or page where that is described?

That then brings up the question of, it the rod is balanced with all the line on the reel, isn't it way tip heavy when carrying 30-50' of line before the "shoot" ?

I have read that the longest casts could be made with no reel simply because the weight of the reel is an energy loss.  I've never really thought about balance until I read about it on the 'net. Fished for years switching between reels weighing ~4.5 & 7.8 oz empty and it never seemed to have a noticeable effect. I had never though of weighing  a reel prior to interweb either.

[fishinwrench]

1 hour ago, tjm said:

 

 

1 hour ago, tjm said:

2 hours ago, fishinwrench said:

 

Have never read that before, can you refer me to an article or page where that is described?

I'm not sure that I've ever read it anywhere either.    But give a tip heavy rod a good snap, then see how long it takes for the tip to stabilize and quit bouncing around.    

Try the same with a rig that is better balanced.....and report back. 😊 

Everytime that tip bounces....your line does too.

[fishinwrench]

If anything can be made to work....

Then why do we buy specialized rods/reels/lines ?

[tjm]

idk, Marketing? too much time, too few real problems?

I'm really interested in the science of how weight in the reel changes the mechanics of the rod taper and the designed in damping. I did a couple of searches just now and so far am striking out. I keep looking. Perhaps the weight helps prevent a  "snap".  I think I've read that a cast should be " a smooth acceleration to a stop" or something like that. I always just used a dynamic roll and never needed real distance casting methods.

But that balance is gone with the first foot of line out the tip top isn't it? So at that point the rod becomes tip heavy and begins to oscillate/bounce? maybe I'm overthinking this but it seems like the more line carried in the air the greater the unbalance would be.

Does a two handed rod need a really heavy reel? how do they balance?

[fishinwrench]

4 minutes ago, tjm said:

idk, Marketing? too much time, too few real problems?

I'm really interested in the science of how weight in the reel changes the mechanics of the rod taper and the designed in damping. I did a couple of searches just now and so far am striking out. I keep looking. Perhaps the weight helps prevent a  "snap".  I think I've read that a cast should be " a smooth acceleration to a stop" or something like that. I always just used a dynamic roll and never needed real distance casting methods.

But that balance is gone with the first foot of line out the tip top isn't it? So at that point the rod becomes tip heavy and begins to oscillate/bounce? maybe I'm overthinking this but it seems like the more line carried in the air the greater the unbalance would be.

Does a two handed rod need a really heavy reel? how do they balance?

You're probably right.  But if your gonna spend 3-600 putting together a fishing pole, you might as well at least attempt to make a finely tuned instrument out of it, right?