Chris Brown,
The action on an identical blank purpose built with the rings facing upward for a multiplier will be no different to that purpose built with the rings facing downward for a fixed spool reel. The small difference that might be noticed if you simply turn the rod through 180 and start casting with the rings uppermost are caused by the spline of the blank now being on the other side. The spline is the point on the blank where the wrapped carbon or glass is at its thickest and therefore stiffest. If you look at the cross section of a swiss roll you'll notice where the pastry is cut, the roll is at it's thickest, it's the same with rods (please don't take this literally, a swiss roll is a useless casting device) The rings are aligned along or opposite the spline depending upon whether it's a bait/lure casting or flycasting rod. If you get it the wrong way around then you might notice a difference, but only slightly and it's more noticeable on light/ultralite rods. Therefore if the blank is rung correctly according to the spline position there will be no difference in the action, rings up or down. Please don't buy a closed face reel unless you are intending to lure fish only for small perch or chub. The dynamics of these reels make them unsuitable for pike, they simply don't have the balls to continually handle heavy lines and big fish and the clutch will be of little value on say 30lb plus line. These reels were originally intended for what the americans call panfish-bluegills, crappie, small trout etc. They were also used by UK match fishermen in the 70s with some success. They also seem to have a limited life span.
If you are already into lure fishing with a fixed spool reel then consider a multiplier like a Badger, Banax, Marado or any of the ?30-?40 reels, that way you won't waste too much money if it's not to your liking. If you go to
www.ebay.co.uk (fishing)and type ABU into the search engine you'll find a dealer with some excellent ABU Black Max right hand multipliers which will probably cost you only ?20-25. If you are coming into lure fishing for the first time then start with a fixed spool reel which you probably already have and concentrate on technique. When you are happy with that, then consider changing to a multiplier.
ie don't give yourself too much to learn at the same time. You can still use the same rod, particularly if it's a soft action rod like the Uglystik where the spline position isn't going to make any difference.
Chris Hammond,
Pump, wind and stay in contact with the fish is the name of the game particularly with the shorter lure rods, if you want to get the pike out and get it back into the water quickly. But you need to make sure the clutch is properly set up for that kind of firm action. It's seems like yours could do with slackening off just a shade. With the exception of my very light reels, the clutch on my multipliers is usually set at around 8lb pressure irrespective of line weight and that works very well on everything I catch, providing the line is at least 30lb and is in good nick. It's even more important to get it right with braid since you don't have the 'stretch' safety factor of mono. The other problem with setting a clutch to high is that on the retrieve the line goes back on the reel under excessive pressure and you may find that with the very next cast the line has bedded in.