About to cut my rod down... any advice?

[ivanputski]

I have a 9' and a 10' that I want to shorten... I love the rods and theaction, but I like a shorter length from reel to the butt... I usually rest the butt at the top of my thigh rather than in between my legs... any advice on removing the rubber end, cutting, and finishing? I was going to use a hacksaw, but not sure if cutting it will make it splinter upwards and destroy the rod..

[maddog2020]

Hacksaw is fine. Wrap few layers of masking tape over the end (I leave it on when done) and it acts as a guide as well. You can't reuse the butt typically - that is just my experience. Buy a new one - couple of dollars at most. I like to jam the hole in back with piece of wine cork or something just so water doesn't go up in there when I use my rod as a wading staff. 5 minute epoxy will work or 30 min epoxy (slower drying but stronger) will hold new rubber butt cap fine.

REMEMBER - you can always cut MORE off. It is a PITA to have to add length back to the rod !!!!!

Most factory rods butt ends are too long for me, but I typically never cut them down in case I end up trading/selling the rod later on it really kills the resale value of it. Most folks are a bit taller than I am as well. One of my favorite factory rods - St Croix Premier 8.5-2pc (my go to trunk rod) the butt end is just about perfect so no worries there.

FYI - M&D's in Wareham (mikecc here in S-B) stocks most flared bottom butt caps by Fuji or PacBay. Some prefer the slim caps without the flared ends. I have also seen guys use end caps from hardware store made for chair legs.

[Back Beach]

Originally Posted by maddog2020

REMEMBER - you can always cut MORE off. It is a PITA to have to add length back to the rod !!!!!

Good point. My only advice is to be perfectly clear on what you're trying to accomplish by cutting the blank. Many guys I've known have cut blanks to change the action of a blank without really understanding what the outcome would be. Cutting the butt is no big deal as you can add a piece of butt section back on if it’s not quite what you want. Once you cut a tip back, you own it.
I've actually done the same thing you're describing a number of times. In fact, I cut 2" off the butt of my 1205 recently and am very happy with the added room.

[439elf]

I did this to a pair of tica's and a lami.grab the rod as you would geting redy to cast when the grip feels right mark the back of you'r bottom hand the one not on the reel seat.wrap with masking tape make cut put on new butt cap and be happy.

[JohnR]

Originally Posted by ivanputski

I have a 9' and a 10' that I want to shorten... I love the rods and theaction, but I like a shorter length from reel to the butt... I usually rest the butt at the top of my thigh rather than in between my legs... any advice on removing the rubber end, cutting, and finishing? I was going to use a hacksaw, but not sure if cutting it will make it splinter upwards and destroy the rod..

Tape it off like mentions and use a finer blade on the hacksaw and take your time. A coarse blade runs a greater chance of ripping up the blank. Keep in mind, any cutting will change the action, but especially off the tip.

Originally Posted by 439elf

I did this to a pair of tica's and a lami.grab the rod as you would geting redy to cast when the grip feels right mark the back of you'r bottom hand the one not on the reel seat.wrap with masking tape make cut put on new butt cap and be happy.

Elf - welcome to S-B

[ivanputski]

im not cutting it to change the action, Im just cutting the butt to shorten the distance from reel to butt... its just too long... I have a 9' tica dolphin that has a shorter butt, and I love it... I want to cut down my other 9' rod that has a but that is needlessly 5'' longer... I also want to cut down my 10' about 5'... more convenient to handle... I know I'll love it on the 9', i HOPE I like it on the 10'. But the tica 9' is the rod I fish 99% of the time with a quantum boca50... first fish on that rod was a 43.5# just hope I never get spooled... I HATE huge reels...

[Brother Brian]

Everything depends on the taper of the rod and whether the Butt is reinforced. Either way the result will be to slow down the action of the rod. The lure weight range will stay the same but the action will change. I'd cut off about an inch at a time and test it.