CV 79/40- To modify to uplock reel seat or leave as is

[Steele Hawken]

I have had a CV 79/40 for a few months now and after getting connected to some good G's I have decided I'm not a big fan of the foregrip, especially the exposed female ferrule. I just want the grip to be a little longer.

I work in a tackle store and my boss is also a rodbuilder and he is going to replace the foregrip to cover the ferrule. He also suggested taking off the downlocking reel seat and turning it upside down to make it uplocking. His argument was that the downlocking design carries the risk of loosening the locking ring as I am holding onto it whilst working lures. I haven't personally experienced this but the man has been GT fishing for years (Matty Gates from Bluewater Exmouth for anyone from WA).

Can anybody tell me what advantage there is in having a downlocking reel seat? I assume there must a reason carpenter and RF design their rods like this. And are there any disadvantages to having an uplocking seat?

I'd like to get an idea of how it's going to affect my rod before I let him rip it apart   

Apart from that all I can say is that the CV is an absolute weapon!

[Jon Li]

Down lock configuration avoids the reel to fall of from the reel seat due to loosening of the thread which can happen during casting / fighting and if it does , more noticable by the anglers and easier to lock down . In this I am of the opposite opinion to Matty Gates .

To cover the exposed ferrule , just cut a small piece of EVA grip and butt joint it with the old grip rather than ripping apart the handle .

Make sure the measurement of the center of the reel seat to the gimbal end of the handle approximates the width of your shoulder or slightly longer , too short of this measurement will affect your ergonomic of casting action .

Jon .

[Brandon Khoo]

To me, one of the more annoying aspects of most GT rods is the tendency for the thread to loosen during use but I have just gotten used to continually tightening it through the day so I don't even really think about it any more. Can I say, this happens irrespective of whether it is uplocking or downlocking. The direction it goes makes no difference in my view.

The most effective way to avoid this is with what Fisherman have which is a second locking nut. You also see this on some Zenaq rods but non fo the other manufacturers use this.

Zenaq do have a very useful little device which is like a small piece of tube which you can fit over the locking nut. It takes some getting on but helps a lot. My problem is I kept losing them so I gave up. I had a friend who use to put his reels on and then use some electrical tape to tape up directly behind the nut so it couldn't move back. That worked ok too.

I'm not quite with you re the exposed ferrule. You want to cover it up so you have a longer foregrip? This will only be about two cms at most!

[Steele Hawken]

Cheers for the replies. I know I'm not going to gain an awful lot of extra grip by extending it, but the exposed ferrule is exactly where I feel most comfortable gripping the rod whilst fighting fish. So by extending it that small amount I'm going to gain a lot in terms of comfort and grip on the rod.

As for the downlocking seat, I can see Jon's point about any loosening being more noticable by the angler in this configuration. As I said, I haven't experienced any issues with the downlocking seat as of yet. A second locking nut is a great idea and if I do end up flipping the seat over I will add one. However at this point I don't think I will, I just don't like the idea of my CV getting messed with too much, especially if i'm not really going to gain anything by doing so.

Thanks again

[John Ryan]

im surprised that secondary locking nuts arent more commonplace.
i build a few rods, and always fit a locking nut to popping and jigging rods. they cost bugger all and they do a great job. only thing i'd advise is that if youre gunna use a locking nut, get a reel seat spacer.

[Alex Jordan]

Interestingly I am changing the handle on my MH80H as I don't like the bog standard Fuji DPS and its the wrong way round for me!

[Corey Howell]

To me, one of the more annoying aspects of most GT rods is the tendency for the thread to loosen during use but I have just gotten used to continually tightening it through the day so I don't even really think about it any more.


yeah - would be nice not to have to tighten the bastard every few casts!