I recently built a 10', 8wt. "switch" rod from a Dan Craft FT blank, which I've used for salmon fishing in Pulaski. Great fun! I've learned the basic spey cast and caught some fish. Now I'd like to move up to a spey rod, hopefully in time for steelhead in November. I noticed forecast makes a 12'6" spey blank for an 8 weight that would be perfect for steelhead, or smallmouth on my home river, the Ottawa. These blanks are quite inexpensive-- Hook and Hackle offers the whole kit for $108. Anybody have any experience with them? I'm just getting started in this spey game, so I don't need a Sage, but would like something of decent quality that can handle line and spey roll cast well. All opinions appreciated.. Charlie

I have built on a couple of their 14 ft. blanks, and was very happy with the blank.

Great Blanks that makes great fishing rod´s!
Have built and fished the 11'6" #6/7 & 14' #9/10.
A joy to cast with a whole day.

Batson Enterprises - Rainshadow/Forecast has had great success with our New Spey blanks. We offer the following models:
F1166/7-4DB = 11'6" 6/7wt 4pc in Dark Blue. Butt = .500, tip = 5.0, Blank wt = 3.3 oz
F1267/8-4DB = 12'6" 7/8wt 4pc in Dark Blue. Butt = .555, tip = 5.0, Blank wt = 4.3 oz
F1308/9-4DB = 13' 8/9wt 4pc in Dark Blue. Butt = .575, tip = 5.0, Blank wt = 4.9 oz
F1409/10-4DB = 14' 9/10wt 4pc in Dark Blue. Butt = .610, tip = 5.5, Blank wt = 5.1 oz
*These are a Unique blend of RX7 ( 43 M/M ) & RX6 ( 33M/M ) Graphite.
*Med Fast actions
*Light overall weight
*Dark Blue Gloss finish
*IMHO - The best value in Spey Blanks available today.
We have acheived what we have strived for with this series. The Vision Continues - To supply High Quality rod blanks & components at reasonable prices and back it up with Exceptionasl customer service..
If you ever have any questions in regards to Batson Products please feel free to contact us or one of our many Authorized Distributors.
Thank you all for your support.
Bill Batson
CEO
Batson Enterprises
Rainshadow/Forecast product lines..
877-875-2381

I have built two 14' spey rods from this blank. Excellent fishing rods and excellent value.
I'm just waiting for the 15' to arrive - please

David you are so right!

I would also love to see a 15' .

The old Rainshadow Xcel RXF15010/11-3 is still a favorite.

The old Rainshadow xcel RXF 1510/11-3 is also of interest to me and I would love to pick up one or two of these blanks ASAP, as I too have heard good things about this blank and would love to give it a try for a new spey rod. Building spey rods just happens to be one of my hobbies.

If one is looking for a relatively inexpensive spey blank for one with a wholesale account ($160), I would strongly recommend the GLoomis IMX 13' slate blank if you like a Euro (fast) spey rod action. It is my favorite blank so far, and I've built 25+ speys. I just built on one. It's a canon to cast even with sink tips and has handled 15-25 lb salmon just fine. You don't feel like the thing is going to break in your hand, and it has also gotten good reviews on speyclave.com, though the focus on that board is on built rods, not blanks. There has been some chatter about IMX blanks having some QC issues, but the blank I purchased and others I looked at were just fine. By the way, I have no affiliation with GLoomis.

Finding quality, inexpensive, fast spey blanks is not easy these days and it is always nice to hear about new spey blank "discoveries", even if they are labeled a steelhead/salmon blank and not a spey. The emphasis right now seems to be on selling finished spey rods, rather than blanks. Building a spey blank is a different animal than a typical fly, casting or spinning blank, and it is good to see some other manufacturers venturing into this spey blank territory, but one would hope they will continue to improve their product so can compete with the likes of GLoomis, T&T, Sage, Meiser, Berkheimer , Anderson, TFO and other pro spey rod builders, who for the most part are selling built rods. CTS spey blanks from N.Z. have been well received but are not inexpensive. Hopefully we can keep one another informed about good spey blank candidates as they become available.

You mentioned CTS blanks and Meiser. Bob Meiser, not only builds rods but the rods he builds are designed by him. He is currently having CTS roll his blanks and he does sell his blanks seperately or in "ready to wrap" kits with all the components and the handle already finished and on the blank.
I just finished building a 10' 5" "switch rod that is probably the sweetest rod to cast of all my rods, spey or single handed. If you are interested look at Bob's website or give him a call. I don't think he advertises the blanks for sale because most people don't build Spey rods, so it's kind of a "new" market.
By the way, I just happen to be a big fan of Bob Meiser's rods and blanks and I'm not affiliated with him in any way. They are not inexpensive, but worth ever dime and then some! IMHO.
Kim