Hey Friends,
I have a customer who wants a casting rod for spinner baits for fresh water bass fishing. I gave him several of my casting rods to try the action/weight, etc. He even picked through a dozen or so of my blanks. All seemed too heavy to him for continious casting during a tournament. Most of my bait casting rods are for salt water and the occasional bass plugger but I'm a little light on bass rod experience. I'm looking for suggestions for a light weight, 6-7 foot blank to be used exclusively for medium to large spinner baits. He likes a small diameter butt. The rod will be fitted with trigger reel seat, split grip, and sprial wrapped SIC single foot guides. This guy is pretty particular and I'd like to give him the lightest weight rod possible. Suggestons please.

Capt. Harold

I really like my Loomis MB804. It isn't what I consider a small butt diameter rod. Although it has a 1" diameter grip on it just like most of my other rods. I like smaller grips too, even on my Muskie rods. I fish Walleye, Bass, Muskie 95% of the time. It took me a while to get used to that blank for spinnerbaits because it was quite a bit heavier than my original spinnerbait rod, a Berkley Series One 6'6" MH. But now that I have, I don't like using any other rod. It really has the heft to pull fish out of the junk, which is right where they head when they get into trouble. Great sensitivity. Light weight. Love it with a spiral wrap.

I made a Loomis MB 783 for my brother and I also really like that rod too. But for medium and heavy spinnerbaits I like the 4 power rods better. The 3 is a bit light for my liking. I think it makes a much better buzzbait rod.

Look at a Loomis MB783 or 784 in the GL3 model. Custon Tackle has these or the SCV from St Croix and the Rain Shadow series.
I have used these for spinnerbait fishing and have made these for other people who are happy with them

If weight is the only concern, you cannot beat a Loomis. But as a custom builder, I sure hate to use them. I've owned Loomis rods since they come out, and I don't have a single one (15) that hasn't broke at least once. Most multiple times. Loomis is great, always replaced them no problem. But as a builder, you "will" see it again in my opinion. Be prepared for warranty issues. Admittedly, I fish 100 days a year, and my rods get seriously used.

Ray Alston
Goldrush Rods

Harold,
St. Croix has now the SCIII graphite series with a moderate tip.
Good for crankbait or spinnerbaits. Either in medium or medium heavy depending on size of spinnerbaits being used. For the buzzbaits you'll probably want the med. heavy.

A heavier blank, but good for the application is the SCI blank that is S-Glass which is less expensive but makes an excellent spinnerbait blank. For the lightest weight choice, the SCIII graphite is the way to go.

Rich
Richard's Rod & Reel

I've got to concur with Rich on this one. I'm just finishing up a St. Croix Avid 3C66MHM crankbait rod. This rod has a very nice moderate action. St. Croix has a reputation for underrating the power of their rods, but this one actually is a Medium Heavy power. The blank only weighs 1.90 ounces, and I'm looking for a completed rod weight of under 4 ounces. I'm using a split grip and no foregrip to keep the weight down. I did some test casting when placing the guides, and I really like the action of this rod. Looks like I may have to build several more of these.

OOPS, I forgot mention that I purchased the components for this rod from Richard. He's a great guy to do business with, the service was outstanding, and I love the current Canadian/US dollar exchange rate. Thanks, Rich.

Here's a couple to look into. The rage now with Tournament Bassfishing and spinnerbait rods is a more moderate action to keep pressure on the fish and keep him from jumping. Some are hot on the S-glass but I don't particularly like glass. The loomis CBR Mahogany line in an 845 is just an awesome blank for 3/8 to 1/2 oz Spinnerbaits. For heavier 3/4 to 1oz plus ledgbusters try the 847. The 783 CBR excells at 1/4 to 3/8 range. Before building on these blanks I had good success with the St. Croix's like Jim and Richard. I was building them on the Medium Fast Spinning blanks which has lighter line ratings than the casting blank - therefore giving a more moderate action - obviously less the power but for 3/8 to 1/2 oz spinnerbaits it worked very well.

Can you get him to pin-point the weight size of medium to heavy spinner baits he is refering to?? Someone's idea of a large or heavy spinnerbait, may not be as large as I would think. One fellow may think a 1/2 oz. bait is large/heavy, whereas a 1-1/2 oz. spinner bait is a large bait in my opinion. An exact weight range will, along with lb. test, will help with blank choice.

Bob McKamey -- Custom Tackle Supply

Don't forget the Loomis IMX series. Great lightness/$$ ratio. C723 works good for a couple of my bass cutomers, but they like the crisper actions and delay the hook set, rather than going with the glass or composite blanks. They really like the sensitivity to feel the spinner "roll" over logs and structure.