Rod builders?

Question for the custom rod builders and custom rod users. I’m looking to build a rod for pitching 1/16-1/8oz jig and shinners in spring. Thinking a ML 6’8” fast/extra fast rod. What’s your opinion on the most sensitive/lightest blank to build on? St Croix? Rainshadow? North fork? MHX? Lets hear it?

Hard to beat a SCV St. Croix Blank although North Fork makes a few really nice blanks as well. A lot of custom rod builders build off Rainshadow blanks and they are a good blank for the value but if you’re looking for a high quality blank I’d stick to the 2 options above.

I’m no expert by any means but one thing I’ve learned over the past couple years is that the guide train is almost as important as the blank itself so plan on investing some money into that component of the build as well. Fuji Titanium Single Foot Guides with SIC inserts are what I’ve used on my last couple builds and I have been very happy with them. Carbon Fiber split grip handles are pretty sweet too if your looking to keep things as light as possible.

Hi, I have only built a couple of rods but I am in the process of starting to build a 7′ 6″ crank bait rod with a Rainshadow blank. I am not using premium components as this is a crank rod but still my component cost is $176 and I went through Gary’s Custom Rods to order the components. I spent days looking at the components.
My take is if you go with the SCV and the Fuji Titanium Guides you will be close to what you can buy the rod for, but of course them it would not be custom.
Justin with SCV, Titanium Guides, and carbon fiber grips for your last couple of rods what was the cost?
For my first rod I went high end on components except for the blank and now have a throw away rod. If your first rod I wouldn’t go all out.

Elliot 6’10” ml ex fast…closest thing to my Loomis I’ve found I’ve built on rainshadow mhx and can’t ever get an answer from northfork so that’s the only one I don’t have experience with…Gregg Thorne one of the original Thorne bro founders operates that outfit and obviously very knowledgeable and very quick response time with any questions you may have…by far my favorite rod for pitching 1/16-1/8oz jigs w a minnow or leech rarely use my loomis..buddy has a high end st Croix that he rarely uses now that I made him an Elliot as well
Getrodblanks.com

gonefishin wrote:

Justin with SCV, Titanium Guides, and carbon fiber grips for your last couple of rods what was the cost?

I think my cost for my last build was close to $400 (this was with a high end Batson blank around the same price as an SCV blank that has now been discontinued) so not much cost savings over buying a high end finished rod. I only build a couple rods a year for my personal use so im not concerned about any profit margin or cost savings, moreso the satisfaction of building the highest quality rod possible.

Red Eye wrote:

Question for the custom rod builders and custom rod users. I’m looking to build a rod for pitching 1/16-1/8oz jig and shinners in spring. Thinking a ML 6’8” fast/extra fast rod. What’s your opinion on the most sensitive/lightest blank to build on? St Croix? Rainshadow? North fork? MHX? Lets hear it?

You’ll get a bunch of different opinions. What rod do you use now and what do you like/dislike about it?

Tuned Up Custom Rods makes a crazy sensitive 7’2″ MLF and 6’8″MxF spinning rod called the APEX Elite. They are amazing for walleye and bass.
Dan

tswoboda wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Red Eye wrote:</div>
Question for the custom rod builders and custom rod users. I’m looking to build a rod for pitching 1/16-1/8oz jig and shinners in spring. Thinking a ML 6’8” fast/extra fast rod. What’s your opinion on the most sensitive/lightest blank to build on? St Croix? Rainshadow? North fork? MHX? Lets hear it?

You’ll get a bunch of different opinions. What rod do you use now and what do you like/dislike about it?

I’ve built rods on Revelation, Immortal and Eternity blanks. Just looking for more input.

Dan Baker wrote:

Tuned Up Custom Rods makes a crazy sensitive 7’2″ MLF and 6’8″MxF spinning rod called the APEX Elite. They are amazing for walleye and bass.
Dan

Don’t think they sell their blanks.

Are you looking to build yourself or have someone build for you? If yourself, I would stay budget minded until you do a couple so your building confidence. Then….well the addiction begins!

I’ve been building rods for well over 40 years. There are so many options and tweaks you can do to dial in a rod to what you want. Much more than what I can type out here in a few minutes. However, your in the right track to be looking at quality components. You can build a pos out of the best quality blank, or enhance a cheap blank with great components.

For blanks, there is a huge selection out there if you put some time in looking. At Criox comes up around here only because they’re local to the Midwest. Jump a couple states over and you can’t give them away. They are not total crap, but a lot of better options out there. I’m not a fan of Croix and I believe the quality control is lacking there. But, local guys here like them so…flip a coin and see what you get.
For tossing jig/live bait you may want something softer than XF. It may be perfect for you, but many people like a bit softer action so they are not punching the bait off.

My favorite jigging rods have been hybrid Kevlar and very high module carbon. Many rod blank manufacturers only give you a simple description of the blank composite and you can get frustrated trying to compare different manufacturers. Additionally, there are not that many companies that roll their own. Company X will roll blanks for 10 different manufacturers and possibly to their specs.
Few other blank companies to consider:
Seeker
Batson
DIAMONDBACK
PHENIX

If your not fishing a lot in freezing temperatures, consider doing micro guides. Years ago there was a stigma about line slapping the blank and reducing casting distance and so on. I got very educated on that when I was redesigning some Quantum EXO rods. The micro guide designs reduce a lot of weight – especially in the upper 1/3. Cast much further and significantly increases sensitivity.

For guides I try to stay with American Tackle. If your doing stand off, check out the nanolite A frame guides. Foot print is a little smaller so less wraps and less epoxy – again reduces weight.

So anyways, there are a few things for you to check out

Exactly the info I’m looking for Randy. Thank you.
It will be for myself. Built several for myself. Just keep trying to build something better. Like you said its hard to know what you’re gonna get in your hands by picking out of a book. Shipping aint cheap if you don’t like a blank and want to ship it back. Trying to shorten my learning curve.

For shipping, see if Spee Dee is in your area /destination.

If your in the metro, Gary Wicks in Anoka has about 300 Batson rod blanks in stock for you to handle and Gary is a old school stand up guy.

Also, if your serious about building better, build yourself a Morton chart to get your initial layout. They are specific to spinning, casting, fly rod, and micro. Also, learn how to test load a blank to see that your truly pulling the tangents. Dial this in, and the performance of a rod goes way up. Google Morton guide spacing chart

You can lay out 3 manufacturer’s 7’ blanks that are all medium fast and have 3 different spacing. The generic spacing charts that component companies put out are just that – generic

As mentioned in my previous post, I am currently starting to build a crank bait rod on a 7″ 6″ Batson Rainshawdow blank. Rainshadow on their web site provides recommendation for guide spacing. For this particular rod their recommendation is 9 guides which I felt was a little light on number so I put some paper on the wall and traced out the rod action and marked the suggested guide locations. As I suspected the line would slap the blank in numerous locations. So since the blank is a moderate I did a little math with 11 guides and starting at the tip at 3.5″ spaced the guides out with the stripper 21″ from reel seat. With this guide spacing I don’t see any line slap.
Question for you experienced rod builders. As this is a moderate blank, the bend basically starts at the reel seat so from my thinking a lot of guides are needed as there really isn’t a straight section to the blank. Will adding guides reduce casting distance or is it mainly keep the line slap to a minimum no matter how many guides it takes.

Red Eye wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>tswoboda wrote:</div>

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Red Eye wrote:</div>
Question for the custom rod builders and custom rod users. I’m looking to build a rod for pitching 1/16-1/8oz jig and shinners in spring. Thinking a ML 6’8” fast/extra fast rod. What’s your opinion on the most sensitive/lightest blank to build on? St Croix? Rainshadow? North fork? MHX? Lets hear it?

You’ll get a bunch of different opinions. What rod do you use now and what do you like/dislike about it?

I’ve built rods on Revelation, Immortal and Eternity blanks. Just looking for more input.

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Dan Baker wrote:</div>
Tuned Up Custom Rods makes a crazy sensitive 7’2″ MLF and 6’8″MxF spinning rod called the APEX Elite. They are amazing for walleye and bass.
Dan

Don’t think they sell their blanks.

Oops, you’re right, I missed the build part.

gonefishin wrote:

As this is a moderate blank, the bend basically starts at the reel seat so from my thinking a lot of guides are needed as there really isn’t a straight section to the blank. Will adding guides reduce casting distance or is it mainly keep the line slap to a minimum no matter how many guides it takes.

I am assuming your building it as casting and not spinning based on your description. Compare your spacing to micro and concept guide spacing. You’lll probably find that is closer to what your laying out. I have a half dozen ML-& Mediums in moderate actions and did similar to what your describing. A big advantage to casting Vs spinning is how the line comes off the reel. A spinning reel tends to “coil” off and casting reels spool off straighter.

Under normal use, you usually wont bend that blank all the way down to the reel seat. If you do, you might be over loading the rod. Bowing that rod to get the tip to 90 degrees will give you close to what your fully loaded rod should look like. I’ll often shift the guides up 3 to 5% towards the tip to slightly advance the curve away from the seat. Additionally, Ill also play with the seat placement a little to tweak the balance point of the rod. Especially true when I know exactly what reel is going on it. Comparing a Shimano, a Quantum , or a Diawa can give you possibly ounces difference in weight. That can be an advantage or disadvantage in balancing and utilizing 100% of the proportional limit strain of the blank while casting. I’m not an engineer and been taught enough to know when to ask questions.