Planning to build a surf rod for family vacation at the Gulf of Mexico this June. I want a rod to cast 1-2 oz. as far as possible from beach.

Please help with questions below.

1.) What about A St. Croix (3s11oh2)? Blank looks about the right specs and price(11ft , .800butt ,12 tip, 15-20lbs test)
2.) Which FUJI SIC guides and FUJI reel seat would you suggest? 3.) What grip lengths would be best?

Any help or comments would be very helpful as I live in Tennessee and their are not many surf rods around to get information from.

1-3 oz rating and will outcast any other rod in it's price range.My friend Big Lou,11 time national distance casting champion,has been raving about that rod the last two times I saw him down at the beach.If he likes it,it's gotta be good.Good luck....................Kyle

Ps,the sweet spot on that rod is probably 2-3oz ,so if your going to be chunking 1oz most of the time you might lighten up a little.The 11'6" is rated 3/4 - 2oz.

I talked to a highly experienced surf rod builder the other day and he said he likes to use a 9 or ten weight fly blank. But then he uses Spinning components

i have built a spinning rod on the loomis 1324 blank.
set it up with a shimano stradic 6000 & 15 lb. test and you can throw 2 oz. a mile and it will handle large fish.
handle lenght to fit your style but you can try ~24" on the butt.
i believe the blank has come down in price.
good luck.