Home | Rod Splint | Reel Splint | Reel Mount | Reels | Spin Fishing | Fly Fishing | Spincasting | Bottom Fishing Extra Notes | Links | EMail Reel mount Option 1 This reel mount is suitable for fly fishing, spincasting, and bottom fishing. To build the reel mount, you will need somebody who is somewhat skilled in woodworking. The reel mount consists of a spare armrest, pieces of lumber including a wooden dowel, a reel seat, and a single foot rod guide. The base is a piece of wood approximately 2 inches X 1 inch X 20 inches. Have someone use a router to create a curved groove centered along the entire length of one side of this piece. Drill holes through this piece so that bolts can pass through the wood and through the screw holes in the armrest. Obtain a wooden dowel with a ¾ inch diameter, and purchase a reel seat that snugly fits over it. Create two, two inch squares with a ¾ inch hole drilled though each. The back end of the wooden dowel sits in the hole of one of these squares, with the back of the reel seat against the square. The front of the dowel slides through the other square until it meets the front of the reel seat. From underneath the base piece of wood, insert screws up into the two squares in order to stabilize them. Insert a screw into the top center of each square to stabilize the dowel. Insert a screw through the each side of the reel seat to stabilize the real seat. All that is left to do is to attach a single foot rod guide to the front end of the dowel. That can be done simply by wrapping some thread around the foot of the guide and applying some crazy glue. The main thing to remember when building the reel mount is that it does not have to be a thing of beauty. All it has to do is be functional. Reel mount Option 2 This reel mount is suitable only for fishing with a spinning reel, specifically, the Quantum Hypercast. It is built with similar specs to the first reel mount with some obvious differences. Normally, I would recommend building it with a reel seat on a wooden dowel as I described above, but mine was built on a whim with a sawed of end of an old fishing reel and some scrap wood we had available. One obvious difference from the first reel mount is the raised eye. Because the reel is mounted upside down, it stands tall, and the eye should be set even with the reel spool in order to guarantee proper line retrieval. The most glaring difference from the first reel mount is the raised hinge that lays across the reel’s trigger. You will need to raise the hinge to the proper level that works for you based on how you construct the rest of your reel mount. I cut a paint stick down to six inches and attached it to the hinge. This creates a lever, that when depressed, flips the bail and holds the line in place. When you remove pressure from the lever, the reel should release the line. However, if you use something other than a paint stick for the lever, it may be too heavy, and after you remove pressure, the reel’s trigger may not be strong enough to raise itself – thus the line won’t release from the reel. The main thing to remember when building the reel mount is that it does not have to be a thing of beauty. All it has to do is be functional. Designed, Hosted, and Maintained by Sportsman's Resource, Inc.