Can you extend a rod handel 6 inches ?

[Predator Bass Baits]

Hey Guy's nice thread you got going on here.

I have a couple kistler LTA med crankbait rods that are 6 6 and have short rod handles, I do not like short ones and I did not know this until I got these rods.

Can I extend these about 6" and remove some cork or would I be better off selling and buying new rods ?

Thanks for any input.

[Mattman]

You could extend.

Personally, I don't think it would be worth the effort. I'm sure there are a couple of ways to skin this cat but you could remove the butt of the rod. Use a spigot type joint from old rod blank and extend it out 6" longer. And install new grip that butts up to the old grip. It could even be foam.

[rxfish]

My son won a rod at a bass tournament and hacked off a bunch thinking it was to long. 6 months later he had a tackle shop add it back on. Someone good in this line of work should be able to do it for you if you really like the rod. Doing it yourself?, depends how talented you are.

[Troul Hawk]

Does the rod have a female screw in at it's base for the rod butt to screw into? If so you could just build a new longer rod butt section that would screw into the existing place, and that would make the rod easier to stow, and you could even have different sizes/weights for deep crankin' or flippin' etc.

Just a thought.

[bobv]

I have extended two of my rod handles, it's not real hard and works great. There was a do it yourself article in BassMaster Mag not too long ago that gave details. I cut the handle with a hack saw and took a piece of a broken rod and fitted into the two handle parts making sure it was a tight fit. I cleaned up the handle cork and shaped it with sandpaper. Use epoxy to glue the handle parts to the piece of blank. Once cured use rod tread to wrap the blank and coat with epoxy. Looks great.

[Predator Bass Baits]

Thanks Guy's,

I think I will try it this winter.

I will post my results when done.