South Bend 336 reel seat

[Scarfed Mind]

Has anyone seen a reel seat like this on a SB? I am thinking it was an add-on. It will only accept the thinnest of reel feet. The rod casts a 7 DT beautifully, and handles an 8 WF decently, so tiny reels don’t cut it. I thought I read that pre war SB reel seats were all up locking, which means this would be a replacement.

[bluesjay]

Hi Guys, I just replaced one of those on a SB. They just don't work.........

Jay Edwards

[Scarfed Mind]

So that is the standard reel seat. What could they have been thinking? Only a pop sickle stick fits in the upper screw lock. Other than that, a very fine rod. Lovely wraps on it as well, but only 8 guides on the 8 1/2'. I read someone identified the 336 as a 5 wt, but mine, an 18/fat 11 ferrule, is definitely a 7 wt, and a damn good one. This looks like a rod I will dial in for the fishing I want to do with it, and forego originality.

[bluesjay]

Hi Guys, I don't know what they could have been thinking. I had two of the reel seats, and couldn't get either one to do anything. I had another type of SB seat which I used.

Jay Edwards

[jeffkn1]

It seems like an oversight to most of us but (and this is without having a catalog in front of me) I think most of South Bend's fly reels utilized a stamping for the foot, one that would fit all their reel seats.
Conversely, I have a letter from Pflueger to a complaining Australian importer suggesting that they reconsider and make some changes to their tackle to accommodate the too-wide Medalist foot, one that has been mangling fine nickel-silver sliding bands for nearly a century. That's why there's a market for One Pfoot.
There's no one-size-fits-all solution, unfortunately.

[wrong66]

Has anyone seen a reel seat like this on a SB? I am thinking it was an add-on. It will only accept the thinnest of reel feet. The rod casts a 7 DT beautifully, and handles an 8 WF decently, so tiny reels don’t cut it. I thought I read that pre war SB reel seats were all up locking, which means this would be a replacement.

Most pre-war reel seats were down-locking. Check out the catalog images.
viewtopic.php?f=67&t=99151

[Scarfed Mind]

Thanks for the information. Not sure what a stamping is, but it apparently makes the reel foot thin enough to fit in the this SB reel foot. Looks like I will be replacing the seat as I want to use a modern disc drag reel.