Has anyone ever taken a spinning rod and replaced the first few guides to make it a casting rod? I'm asking because I'm looking for an inexpensive way to get into finesse casting (I already have a Revo LT coming as a Christmas present :big grin: ) but I am in need of a rod that will throw at least down to 1/8 oz lures, if not lighter should be able to actually cast anything that light. Aside from my budget constraint, finding a 2 piece ML casting rod is looking very difficult. I have enough spinning rods which I use for light lures (inline Mepps spinners etc.) that I could re-purpose one to use as a casting rod. After talking with a few people, my concern about not having a trigger to cast with due to the spinning reel seat doesn't seem like it's going to be an issue. I don't have anywhere to store a 1 piece rod (no boat, truck or garage... yet), hence the 2 piece requirement.

Has anyone done this? Can anyone tell that I'm looking for winter projects...?! Thanks in advance!

If the rod action supports throwing the light baits you are seeking, it doesn't care whether you put a spinning reel or a casting reel on it. You'll want to play with the location of the first guide to get the optimum distance from the casting reel and best performance.

It's an excellent winter project.

Terry

To answer your question, of course you can do what you suggest. But is it worth it? You would be giving up a suitable spinning rod. For me, I typically use a larger reel seat (to fill my hand) for a spinning reel than a baitcaster. The running guides are often spaced shorter on a baitcaster to keep the line off the blank. Bottom line, if that reel is what I think, you have a high dollar specialized reel so why compromise by re-doing an old blank that might need a complete stripping down?

Depending on what you are casting, what you are looking to catch, and the waters you fish.....there are a number of blanks that could work....from spin/jig to popping to walleye to hot shot. Post more info and maybe we can point you towards the perfect blank to build on. This time of year sales abound and you might find such a blank at a bargain price.

FWIW I used to fish a shimano bantam and cast 1/8 ounce jigs on 8# mono with a 7' fenwick rod in the 70's. I'm sure you won't have any problem casting lighter (or at least I'd darn sure expect more out of that reel).

So much depends of what you want to do. Pinpoint casting with lures around heavy cover demands a very different setup than same lures used in deep/open waters.....and if live bait is in the picture that too changes things (IMHO).

You have an uber nice reel...be a shame to decide finesse baitcasting isn't for you because you cheaped out on the rod. Not saying you have to go SC5 and titanium guides (about what I think the reel deserves) but maybe a MHX sj9000-2 with minimas for under a $100 turn key could do?

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

Unless you are going to change the reel seat configuration to down locking instead of up-locking which most spinning rods are you may find the rod uncomfortable to cast with for very long.

Adam,
It is even more simple than you suggest.

Turn the rod upside down, put on a casting reel and go fishing. The casting distance will be very little difference with the spinning guides, than the casting guides. Over the years, many many spinning rods have been used this way to catch thousands or hundreds of thousands of fish.

Use it as you like.

Then, if you want to use a spinning reel on it again, go put a spinning reel on it.

Simply put, easy to put a casting reel on a spinning rod that will work about 90% as well as if it had low guides.
But, if you put a spinning reel on a casting rod, you will likely be under 50% effective. Also, if you are doing this with a trigger grip, the trigger will get in your way.

Be safe

Roger/Adam,
I think you'll find that on a light action, light line rod that you'll have surprising performance from small casting guides with a spinning reel. Almost 45 years ago I offered a buddy my Fenwick steelhead casting rod to finish a fishing weekend, his Mitchell 300 cast surprisingly well with 10 lb. Abu Bonyll mono, finishing the weekend with 3 more steelhead.

Thanks for all the feedback guys, I really appreciate your input! A little more input into what I'll be using it for is as follows: I'll be throwing anything and everything under 5/16 oz on this. I will very likely spool the reel with 20# Sufix and use different leaders depending on the actual lure being used. I was thinking of a 7' rod but I'm not against something longer like what Russell suggested. There are a ton of small mouth bass lakes a few hours north of Toronto where my parents have their cottage and this is where I'll be doing my fishing the coming season. The vast majority of these lakes are very clear, natural lakes which see fairly high pressure over the summer months where smaller lures are the only way not to get skunked. Hopefully that gives you guys a little more info and insight into what I'm trying to accomplish. I have a surplus of spinning rods (more rods than reels) and a couple of them are duplicates, all capable of throwing the lures I'm looking to throw.

Terry: I was hoping you'd say that, now I just need to borrow some space inside a friends heated garage a few times over the winter.

Russell: At some point, I would love to build a custom rod and if I were to go that route, I wouldn't be building a 2 piece, it would be a 1 piece rod all the way! That being said, that blank looks bang on and I especially like the extra length and fast taper. I will definitely allowing it to occupy the back of my mind for the next few months ;) Another reason that I'm not concerned with using a spinning reel, and particularly the guide spacing, is that since it's going to be a 2 piece rod, I'm going to make a simple spiral out of it by rotating the tip half of the rod and adding in a bumper guide between the butt guide and second guide.

Randolph: Is this because of the shape of the spinning reel seat or something else? I had never given any thought to the 2 different types of reel seats before.

Roger: I was thinking of doing that to test how the rod cast wit ha casting rod on it. I'm happy to hear that it'll give me a good measure of how effective it'll be.

Thanks again guys, I really appreciate your help!

You can also turn it over as said Change the first three guides and make it a spiral wrapped rod

OOPS
They are already at the 180 My bad Guides on top

Bill - willierods.com

You can turn the top section down, making a spiral wrap. If you have small guide for a bumper, you could put it at 90 degrees, but you could also let the line rub on the blank. When I was young my dad's casting rod handle was like a spinning handle. It was a telescoping copper rod that had nothing like a trigger. They were commen in our area at the time.
Gary

Gary, that's exactly what I was thinking of doing. I will definitely have to swap out the first 2 guides at least, depending on their height from the blank. I have a handful of #8's and #4's so the 8's will replace the first two guides and I'll use the 4 as a bumper.

Thanks guys!

Yep
just reread two piece That will work

Need more coffee

Bill - willierods.com

Adam, the reason for reversing the reel seat is because instead of your casting hand being on cork or EVA it will be on the threaded portion of the reel seat.

Bill, I know what you mean! It took me twenty minutes to write that last post!

Randolph, that makes sense. I think one of the rods I was considering using is down-locking though. I'll have to check to be sure though.

Thanks!

Randolph, it turns out that two of the rods I have are down-locking. Lucky me ;-)

You can also make a Spin / fly rod with a handle that is turned a round for either way of fishing

Bill - willierods.com