Trying to pick appropriate reel and question about rod that I have

[davetclown]

Genneraly a long handle below the reel is for fighting the fish, it can be locked in to the belly button or under the for arm for larger fish and still give you access to manage the reel.

in addition, long handled rods are also designed for placing in rod holders for trolling, this is especialy inportant if you are trolling for walleyes. but is not realy nessesary for bass.

ok, I am guilty, I have to confess, I have different rods for different fish.

I have one I use for pan fish and bass
I have one I use for walleye
I have one I use for salmon
I have one I use for ice fishing

Ok, so I have multipules of each, the point is there are different rods that work best under specific conditions.

So before you decide to hacking of the end of a rod handle give concideration to how you intend to fish.

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now I was not sure if you were talking about the rod blank between the first eyelet or the handle,

if you were talking about the lenth of the rod between the reel and the first eyelet, Longer lenths are usualy for larger reels, The diamiter of the spool on an open faced spin cast reel requires a cirtain distance to not hang up on the spool it self or causing drag when casting.
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