I have a 5 wt graphite rod from Cabelas that I bought for my son several years ago, as part of a combo set up, the "Letort". Pretty inexpensive, but I would like to keep it running a few more years if I can: here's the problem: The bottom part of the up locking reel seat fell off, and into the water, and is forever gone. The wood insert is still in place, but the lower half is missing. Can anybody tell me how would you go about making repairs on this or whether it is worth it? I hope I can keep it running for a few more years, but I only paid about $100.00 I think, for the whole combo, so an affordable repair is what I'm looking for, if practical. I really appreciate your thoughts, thanks.
Jim, your closest resource for a replacement part would probably be Greg's Custom Rods in Lake Stevens. He'd probably even bond it on for you...
Roper, thanks buddy, Greg's is in the book and I gave them a call to drop by and have them look at it. One more project off of the "to do" list.
greg's helped me out with a similar situation, and i got the impression they had seen it before. you could go through cabelas, letting them know when you bought it so they could match you up with the same seat. they would not charge much, course neither would greg's and its a nice drive up to lake stevens and a fun store to look around.
While not particularly esthically pleasing, a hose clamp would secure the reel and electircal tape over the clamp would hide any sharp edges.
I really appreciate the help from everyone. I figured by the time I spent money on long distance phone calls, and the time on hold trying to speak to the right person at Cabelas, packaging, transport there and back, I could have driven to Lake Stevens from my office in Everett, and deal with a local builder one on one. So that's what I did yesterday. It was a sunny day, a nice drive, and of course, fishermen don't like to look around fly shops much do they. We picked out a new reel seat from several they had in stock, matching up the color. They will be "whittling" down the wooden seat that surrounds the graphite rod butt, to get a fit for the new hardware, and have it done in a week. Cost me $12.95 for the new seat (I could have gone lots higher on the seat quality and price) and $12.00 for labor. I have a second identical rod for my other son, and they suggested I bring that one in when I picked up the other, and they would add some epoxy to the bottom of the reel seat to prevent that one from coming off. Nice folks; I am thinking about taking a rod building class from them when next offered. Thanks again to you all.
Glad to hear you made it out to the shop...you must have showed up not to long after I left for the day. :thumb:
