What's the first thing you notice on a fly rod? I bet it's the reel seat. It sure is for me. The most beautiful and classy reel seats manufactured for rod builders in the last 20 years was Genuine Bellinger. They made traditional reel seats in nickel silver hardware, with the finest wood spacers you could hope to find on the market. I was surprised when the owners announced their retirement at the beginning of 2025, along with the sale of their business to Mike Mcfarland.
About ten years ago, I purchased three reel seats from the Bellinger company. One of them, a sliding band seat was used in a custom build by Ben of Flat Creek Rods. I had a vintage Winston build kit with 7'6" 4wt blank, cork handle, sock and tube that I had sitting in my closet for a few years. Ben took those components and built a fantastic rod that is perfect for my home waters. Yeah, it's a Morgan-era kit that one doesn't run into but rarely. And, that Bellinger sliding band seat was in perfect concert for this Winston custom build.
Another Bellinger reel seat, used for a custom upgrade, was a sliding band in an up lock design that has a gorgeous stabilized spacer. I asked Ben to upgrade a special rod of mine with this reel seat and it worked perfectly with the rod. The rod was a wedding present from my wife. It is an impressive 8'3" 3wt rod that is an excellent fit when fishing meandering streams through open valleys here in New Mexico. I had the reel seat changed because the factory reel seat just didn't seem right to my eye...now, with the upgrade, the aesthetic is more aligned with the high performance of the rod. It's a fly fishing beauty!
I still have one Bellinger reel seat for a future custom build. It's a sliding band seat with a beautiful stabilized box elder spacer, and I hope to find a special rod blank, for one last rod build. No, I don't know what blank will do the Bellinger seat the justice it deserves? I'm sure something will come up for a great build one of these days.
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