Chop my butt off

On a side note Gra I picked up a 3 piece travel rod with a reel I bought but the guy had modified it to end up with the line curving around the rod on the 2nd and 3rd runner from the bottom to make it end up like a spinning rod, WTF would he do this? and how would this perform. I am guessing as long as the line is running through the runners OK under load then it will be all good. I think it would affect the casting distance though.

If it is a typical grafite rod with a cork handle and a rubber butt cap you should be able to remove the butt cap and with a fine bladed coping saw cut the excess length off. With only removing 3" there should not be enough of a taper that would prevent you from reusing the butt cap. Two things to remember while doing this: 1st make sure the blade is as fine as you can get and not one of the twisted blades and that you go slow and steady. It may be wise to do a "pratice" cut about 1" in to get the feel of it. 2nd you want to wrap the handle with some tape for support. Wrap it first with some blue painters tape so as to not mess up the cork and then tightly with some strong duct tape( just 2 maybe 3 wraps) to prevent fraying. I would still recomend discussing this with your local shop, espically if this rod is worth more than 30 dollars, and also if you are not familar or comfortable with tools. A copeing saw and blades can be purched pretty cheap at Home Depot or the likes.