Rod blank for walleye/pike

Hello. I’m looking for suggestions for a rod blank. Normally fishing outside, 6 to 12 feet in pothole prairie lakes and targeting walleye. Lakes I’m in are thick with pike. For every walleye caught I catch a pike. Most days I end up fishing a medium heavy rod to handle the pike. I’m seeing the walleye on the flasher but having trouble detecting the bite with the medium heavy rod (Ugly Stick gx2). I’ve down sized lures but the pike are still all over whatever I drop down. Just getting into building my own rods. Does anyone have any suggestions for a blank that has enough backbone to handle 10-15 pound pike but has enough tip sensitivity to feel and see the walleye bite. $50 budget for the blank. I love fighting the pike but feel like I’m missing walleye too often with my current set up.

I don’t have any suggestions off the top of my head but maybe if you tell me what lake you are fishing I might be able to come up with something…

Sportsmen’s direct sells a decent assortment of M-MH blanks and their blanks are very budget friendly. I’ve used their extreme taper blanks and they’re top notch for the price, but may not have the backbone you’re looking to get.

You could always get a Mudhole MH, but they’re pretty spendy. If you’re just getting into rod building, I would buy from direct,strictly based off price if you mess up a blank. You could also experiment into making your own taper for a sifter tip.

Thorne bros walleye sweetheart blanks are pretty sweet. Very sensitive tip with nice backbone for fighting bigger fish. I’ve built several rods on them and love em.

Bass Khang walleye carbon 36″ – $7, Sportsman Direct extreme taper carbon lengths 32″-48″ $13-18, Sportsmen Direct IHS carbon 32″ “heavy” $16

I’d quit targeting the rough fish and get after the Pike!!

Thanks for the feedback. I’m new to this forum and new to rod building and appreciate the answers. I’m going to do some research on the suggested blanks and pick a couple to start out with. Happy fishing!

Gonzo – I’d tell you what lake I’m fishing but you too would be burdened with trying to find a balanced approach to felling the walleye bite and having a rod that handles nice pike at the same time. It keeps me up at night – I just couldn’t do that to you.

Aaron Drier wrote:

Bass Khang walleye carbon 36″ – $7, Sportsman Direct extreme taper carbon lengths 32″-48″ $13-18, Sportsmen Direct IHS carbon 32″ “heavy” $16

DH, Thorne, Mudhole, Bass Khang, SD all have good choices. TUCR doesn’t sell blanks yet, but I bet they could sell a lot if they ever did. Of those, I’ve only handled MHX and Bass Khang carbon fiber blanks. Best bang for the buck would be the Bass Khang. I have the Perch Carbon and the Panfish Carbon. The Walleye Carbon seems to be out of stock often. They are all 36″ blanks, so just cut to suit.

I just had some Bass Khang walleye carbon blanks show up at my door step. They feel like they would do the trick for you. I will be making the rod soon and could bring it up to you to test it out so you can finally sleep well.

I built mine at full 36″ length, and absolutely love it! Great hole hopping rod if you are over 6′ tall, will handle the smallest tungsten jigs to #5 rippin’ raps.

I wasn’t able to order from Basskhang last year when I originally posted this – they were sold out. This fall I ordered their lake trout, perch and walleye carbon blanks as well as a medium heavy glass dead stick. I’m very happy with all the blanks. I have the walleye stick on the rod dryer now and have to say it is a super nice blank. Nice, light tip and solid backbone – exactly as advertised. I’ve built on blacks from Mudhole, Jannsnetcraft and Basskhang. I would highly recommend the Basskhang walleye carbon if anyone is looking for a blank for chasing eyes. Thanks again for the recommendations everyone. Tight lines – the ice is almost here!

If you’re interested in an off-the-shelf rod, consider the Fenwick Elite Tech 36″ M. Sensitive, fast action rod with a solid backbone for bigger fish.

A Basskhang walleye split grip I did.

Attachments:

1. 

   053635FF-1E2C-48D1-8532-C4E60832B840.jpeg
   

2. 

   906C4EC7-C655-4788-8E4D-44125E17473F.jpeg
   

Sportsmens Walleye Special – has more backbone than an Extreme Taper
https://sportsmensdirect.com/shop/Ice-Rod-Blanks/extreme-taper-soild-carbon-ice-blank/

If you need more than that step up to the mh/h rods

This database will help you select a blank – download the excel sheet or view in Google sheets via the link https://matpeirce.wixsite.com/peircecustomrods/rod-blank-profiling

Just got my Basskhang walleye carbon and I would pick that one over the Sportsman Direct extreme taper for what you are looking for. The couple inches of added length would help also.

DH makes a really nice carbon walleye blank.

11bluenose wrote:

Hello. I’m looking for suggestions for a rod blank. Normally fishing outside, 6 to 12 feet in pothole prairie lakes and targeting walleye. Lakes I’m in are thick with pike. For every walleye caught I catch a pike. Most days I end up fishing a medium heavy rod to handle the pike. I’m seeing the <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>walleye on the flasher but having trouble detecting the bite with the medium heavy rod (Ugly Stick gx2). I’ve down sized lures but the pike are still all over whatever I drop down. Just getting into building my own rods. Does anyone have any suggestions for a blank that has enough backbone to handle 10-15 pound <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>pike but has enough tip sensitivity to feel and see the <em class=”ido-tag-em”>walleye bite. $50 budget for the blank. I love fighting the <em class=”ido-tag-em”>pike but feel like I’m missing walleye too often with my current set up.

Read this thread: https://www.in-depthoutdoors.com/community/forums/topic/gettin-the-itch-custom-rods/. There’s a contact in there that I would suggest getting ahold of. Good luck!