Hi guys,
Would like to know if it makes a difference if you use
uplocking or downlocking reel seats on a fly rod.
The reason I ask is a buddy of mine...not a rod builder
says 5wt and down should use downlocking & 6wt and up use uplocking. I was just wondering??

Thanks
All the best in the new year.
Shayne (Petey) Petersen
Canada

It is not set in stone and other than how the rod will balance there is little difference. I prefer all my seats uplocking, others like them downlocking.

It sounds like your friend is just giving you what he is used to seeing on commercially available rods.

..........

Petey,
It's a preference thing mostly. Maybe also one may want to differentiate between two closely weighted rods and an easy way to tell the difference?
Seems more requests are for uplocking from where I stand, but both types of reel seats are designed primarily to hold the reel in place, and both will do the job, but a slight positioning of the reel forward or back is mainly the 'effect' given.

Rich
Richard's Rod & Reel Service
www.rodreel.com

well good idea tell your buddy that if he drives to his hot spot on a mon , wed , or friday in a chevy with a down locking reel seat he is out of luck might as well stay at home but drive a ford and use an uplocking and the skyes the limit ...... just a little new years humor ..... like those before me and some after me if u are happy and productive with your rod use and wrap it as you se fit just remember tight wraps and always keep an extra striper guide in your pocket .....John T Burford

Some want up locking, because it gets the reel away from
there body when playing a fish on the reel. more room to crank.

I'm just wondering on the reasons some of you prefer uplocking or downlocking .I tend to prefer downlocking on freshwater rods myself just because the line tends to wrap around the end of the uplocking seat when I am short line nymphing.

I remember when all the major rod companies used downlocking and now just about all of them are using uplocking.Why the change ? Do they hold up better ,are they easier to assemble or are they prefered by the majority of flyfishers?

I would think using a downlocking would help to balance the rod more towards the butt which I would think would be a plus but I realize that inch or two difference really doesn't change the balance a great deal.

Having a heavy reel close to your hand results is less wasted momentum to rotate the reel when you rotate the rod to cast. The longer the lever from the hand to the reel the more force it takes to rotate it. Uplocking makes it feel like you have better control of the reel most of the time.

A downlocking seat allows a light reel to static balance a long or heavy rod just a little better. When I use a rig with a downlocking seat I usually find myself holding the rod below the grip, with my hand down on the screw part of the seat and as close to the reel as I can get it when I cast. I then slide my hand up onto the handle while "fishing".

I think a lot of the tradition of downlocking seats comes from the bamboo days. Those poles are heavy! Have to put the reel way back there to be able to hole the tip up all day.

A sliding ring seat takes less space and allows the reel to be mounted closer to the end of the rod and to the hand both since you loose about 1" of thread space. The best of both worlds. I really like Bob Venneri's upslide ring seat with the top ring under the cork for very light, small rods.

A downlocking seat makes the rod effectively 1" or so longer if the hand position is down near the seat.

Bottom line: Build them with an uplock unless you have a request for a downlock or a specific idea in mind that the downlock accomplishes better. And I would probably never use a downlock on anything heavier than a 5 wt because the reels are pretty large and heavy from there up.

I like uplocking. I think factories use them as that's how most seats that accept a fighting butt are made. So the factories have to buy uplocking seats except in the lighter styles which seem to be made downlocking.

I do feel that just an inch or so of reel position affects the balance greatly. That much weight right at the end of the rod doesn't have to shift much to change the balance point.

In one of the last issues of Rodmaker they showed a seat you could make that featured two moveable hoods. Similar to the sliding band type seats but positive hold with the two screwing hoods. I may try one. Makes a lot of sense when you think about it.

I keep hoping Don Morton will post on this thread. I have seen a reelseat Don made that allows you to position the reel up or down locking. Seat is threaded at both ends and that allows you to move the reel up or down to obtain better balance between reel and rod. I don't think Don ever sleeps and he spends every minute thinking up another rod building devise.

Frank,

I'm not Don by any stretch of the imagination, but I have built a similar rod. I'll have it with me at the Guild Conclave next week, and all who wish to are welcome to try it out. This particular rod only moves the reel an inch or so, but the difference in feel is dramatic. Bob Venneri makes a commercially available seat that is very similar. In fact, I "borrowed" the idea from Bob.

For the record, I like downlocking!

Harry Boyd

Tom Kirkman made such a seat and it is the one that he had in RodMaker a while back. Neat idea. Photos were with the article.