Hello all. I am building a Winston Boron IIIx 10' 4wt. It is a massive blank for a 4wt. When it arrived here, I thought there must be a mistake, as it literally feels like an 8 wt. This rod is for me. I have a Lemke reel seat from Snake Brand (which is awesome, btw) I have chosen a Bauer Lohr reel to go with this rod, due to it being on the heavier side. With the reel, the rod is still going to be tip heavy.


I am wondering if it would be a bad idea to use about 10 grams or so, of tungsten powder in epoxy in the butt of the rod, to help with balance. Is it better to keep the rod lighter? Or is a balanced rod worth a little extra weight?


Thank you all.

I suggest not adding weight. I assume you checked out the specified butt and tip diameters to be sure you did get a 4wt blank. A downlocking reel seat will help with the balance issue, otherwise I'd build it out using lightest single foot guides, especially in the top sections.

Yes, I even called Winston to confirm. The person I spoke with said that he owned one, loved it, and said that I probably would too. It does have a good feel to it.

I am using Snake Brand guides, though definitely smaller than what Winston builds this rod with. I was planning on using size 1 guides for the first 4 or 5, in the lightweight wire.

Chris

The lighter the rod the better, so no weight addition.

You can use light wire 1/0 snakes instead of 1s - every tiny bit helps.

Keep the wraps as short as possible, and no tip top wrap.

if you just gotta add butt weight, lead tape under the line backing is a better option than adding weight to the rod.

If you haven't already, remember you will be adding weight in the form of backer and fly line as well. I would do that first and fish it for a few days before I commit to adding more weight.

Rather than adding weight to the rod just install a longer grip in front of the reel seat. There is no reason you must grasp a fly rod immediately in front of the reel, and allowing the angler to grip the rod closer to the tip will greatly alter the balance of the rod. Maybe use an 8" full wells grip with a hollow for the thumb, although I can not think of any reason I would not want my fly rod to be tip heavy.

Thank you for the replies. I got my answer. No weight.

Phil hit it right, the longer than 9 ft. Winstons no matter the weight, all have full wells grips from the factory which I like a lot.

Absolutely yes on the full wells.

I am making one from foam and carbon fiber. It is on the spinner, wet with epoxy right now. After is is all dead flat, it will be finished in a clear, velvet feeling industrial finish that feels like cork, but lays out like a fine 'hot rod' flat, only it is tough as nails. It does not even scuff with abrasion from metal. After fishing the composite grips, I prefer them. I love the look of cork, but good cork is expensive, and I find any pores that open up in the cork to be distracting, after fishing composite, annoying even if they are deep. An inconsistently textured cork grip becomes a place where my mind catches, rather than a full extension with the rod. A nice composite grip is pretty easy on the eyes, too, though an obvious break from tradition.