[Alan ward]

Right, I appear to have made my first schoolboy error..... I have brought my first dedicated beachcasting rod and reel. I got the dawia windcast and the Abu Garcia 6501 C4.

The rod has a sliding reel seat. The issue is that the foot of the C4 is not big enough to apply pressure on the base of the seat to lock it into place so even with it wound down fully it still slides. Is there any reel seats out there that I can replace the standard one with that will fit the rod and work with my reel?

Ideally I would like a sliding reel seat rather than the alternative fixing method. Input would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Peloquin]

Bit of tape around the reel feet?

 

[sniggle]

Put a shim off plastic tube under the reel seat ?

 

[Alan ward]

I will have a play around with trying to pack it out over the weekend. The foot profile is very slim so would assume it's likely to be a common issue if I was to get another.

Cheers guys.

 

[doctor fish]

I did versus similar to you when I came back to fishing after years ‘off’
I ended up the same, my movable ‘tighten & clamp’ seat wasn’t pressed down enough by my 6500CT reel Foot so I ended up making it worse by fitting one of the huge bulky Penn Coastal seats which locked in place with a collar at either end . To be fair it did what it was supposed to well but It made the set up so bulky I could barely get my thumb round the reel spool :Oo:
Tried the Penn Talon , ABU Grip Loks, coasters, in the end I bought a Zippy 4500S from a lad on here and he’d ‘fixed’ his seat ( standard glue on type Fuji) in place solidly but not permanently by doing as you’ve said & packing under the seat with tape til it was a really tight fit and ALMOST unmovable but JUST about movable with perseverance & patience !
I get no movement in it, ever, cast multi pendulum reel down & fixed spool both up & down the butt and just use this set up every time on all my rods that don’t have fixed reel seats.

Sadly not all tailor made clamp down seats work as well with every reel foot as you’d expect but often seating on a bit of tape can help . Coasters are pretty foolproof but many don’t like them as they do tend to carve up reel feet which can be a pain in pretty painted ones

There’s no right & wrong really & no one size fits all , you’ll settle on what suits you best . I’ll get a new rod, take it out & establish where the reel placing works best then lock it down there but movable seats are useful particularly if you cast reel up and fancy a try with it lower down the butt .
If you’ve got a decent shop nearby pop in with the butt section & reel & see what they can show you , chances are with a bit of tweaking the factory one will do the job but it doesn’t hurt to have a look.
We all end up a right bunch of bodgers :laugh: rings held on with tape, rubbing candles on worn spigots , some lads fix FS reels on with wraps of old inner tube .. whatever gets you fishing :thumbsup:

 

[jackjock]

Change the reel seat, plenty of decent ones about, you want your reel solid on the rod.

 

[morbius]

Just wrap a turn or two of insulation table around the butt where you want the reel. If you want to move the reel to a different position later just move the tape.
Works fine for me and cheap as chips.

 

[Mr Fish]

Agree. Bit of tape as packing will soon fix that.
I guess you could shop around for the perfect reel seat, but if the tape fixes it, jobs a good un and you can get out fishing.

 

[kenpm]

Cut a shim out of something like a baitbox lid,softish plastic type to fit under the reel foot and that should be enough to allow the fitting to tighten up.
I am surprised you did not notice the slackness in the shop when you put the rod and reel together,we normally cut a shim there and then to suit if the customer wants to stick to the combination.

 

[Alan ward]

I didn't get to put them together in a shop. Unfortunatey as I live in Nottinghamshire tacle shops that stock sea gear just don't exist. I can't imagine why lol.

I purchased them from Glasgow angling center website. Ideally I would like to get hands on prior to purchase but it's not always possible. Had to rely on reviews from users and put trust in mass opinion and the hope that if you pay reasonable money you get a reasonable product in return.

Managed to get it sorted now though thanks guys. Just been extending the pond at home so had plenty of liner off cuts and put a couple of bits under and it seems to of worked well. Locked in really tight now and doesn't slip.