I've been asked by a friend of my wife's to build a spinning rod for her to give her father. He travels to Arkansas a couple of times a year to fish for trout on the White River. I'd prefer to ask the father what he'd like, but his daughter wants it to be a surprise. I've never used spinning gear for trout fishing or fished the White River. Can anyone recomend a good blank for this type of fishing? And, what lure weight and line size do people use there? Thanks

There's some pretty good trout in those waters but I can't say for sure exactly what the average trout he fishes for would be. But, I think you'd be hard pressed for him not to like a 2-piece 6 foot medium to medium fast light power spinning stick. I'll let some of the sponsors give you their recommedations on actual model numbers, but I'd have to think the guy will be fishing light tackle for these fish. At least if he wants to have the maximum amount of fun.

There's another way to go - give him a gift card good for one of your rods. Then, after he's gotten that, you and he can sit down and discuss specifics as to how he fishes the river and what rod would suit him best.

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Tom's suggestion of a gift card is the way to go. You can even argue that a rod built without the angler's input is not a true custom rod. And most fishermen beyond novice level (and even some of those) would greatly appreciate the opportunity to discuss the details of a new rod with the builder, and then they have the pleasant anticipation of waiting for it.

That is an interesting thought that Tom mentioned, I just had a request for a fly rod for a father from a daughter. The only info she could give was he fished 2 times a week , and in rivers.I was concidering doing the same type of thing, making a nice certificate on one of my programs redemable for a rod .The only snag is setting a limit and then the cat is out of the bag as to the amount of money that was spent.
This may make a good topic for a new thread. John

I fish that area quite often, and many times with a spinning rod. The most common outfit has a 6 ft. medium action rod, rated for 2-6 lb. line, and lure weights from 1/24 to 3/16 oz. Personally, I prefer a 6ft. 6in. rod with a slightly faster action, because most of my fishing is with lures. I very rarely go heavier than 4 lb. test (and I don't know anyone that fishes heavier than that). A 2 pc. rod is nice, just for the portability.

Maybe you could just look at his rods and ask him what rod he likes to fish with on the White River. I like the 6 foot Forecast SP-721-2 2 pcs. blank for spinning rod (2-6# line) . Also my wife uses the SP-661-2 2 pcs. 5'-6" blank made for a spincast. Have caught a lot of trout little over 3 pounds is largest trout I have caught on these 2 pound crappie and 5 pound bass and 6 pound channel cat on rod while trying for crappie. Got the blanks from Schneider's Rod Shop in Mountain Home Ark. Great folks may want to ask they what they suggest of trout fisning on the White River were they are. They are on the list on the left.

Hope that the Dad likes it.

Good luck.