I am wanting to build a rod to ocean fish from a kayak, Mostly Ling cod I am looking at a Calstar GF 700XL would like to spiral wrap just looking for opinions.
What guides? Better blank?Grips?
Thanks Jack

A 700XL is a very good choice for bait or light jigs and depending on which spiral method you want to use, I can even send you a set-up "recipe" for your spacing. You might want to look at the GF700L or even the GF700H if you're going to be using heavier Iron. I just got the new GFX700 series "Butterfly" blanks in last week too, which are more parabolic than the regular Grafighters.

I doubt that you'll be pulling much Spectra through your guides, so I'd probably go with a BNLG-H or a BHNLG. The BMNAG Alconite Concepts would work very well in your application but are about 2-3 times the $$. They're lighter and stronger than Hardloy's and still less expensive that SIC's.

Stick with Hypalon on the grips. Wet cork or EVA won't "stick" in you rod holders as well when wet, which they will be!

Mark Griffin
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C&M Custom Tackle
San Dimas, California

Thanks for the reply,
I would be interested in any recipe you have for this rod as I am pretty green at rod building. Also what is the butterfly blank?
Thanks Jack

The butterfly blanks were designed to fish the Shimano Butterfly jigs, which are similar to a knife jig except the hooks are "stingers" on the FRONT of the jig rather than the rear, which will prevent as many hang ups on the bottom. They're designed for bottom bouncing and the GFX series Grafighters are made a little slower/softer to give the jig a better presentation. The GFX700L is the same $$ as the GF700L and the GFX700M is a few bucks more that a GF700M.

The last rod I built was a GF700XL and I still had the spacing on the bench. Measurements below are from the tip...
#8@4" - #8@ 9-1/4" - #8@15" - #10@21-3/4" - #12@29-3/8" - #16@38-3/4" - #20@48"

This WASN'T the "bumper method", so if you're going to use the bumper method, move that #16 guide as needed. This was set up with a 12" hypalon rear, Fuji DPSH22 seat (DPSM22 will do fine also) and 8" hypalon foregrip.

Mark Griffin
[]
C&M Custom Tackle
San Dimas, California

I use two main rods for rockfish / lings from my kayak in Northern California.

My light rod is a Pac Bay XG70L... which is probably more like a Calstar 700XLH in terms of action and power. I'd consider it a 20# rod... where the 700XL is more like a 15# rod. This is my light rockfish rod and is good for jigs up to about 4 oz and I fish it with 20# mono. This is also the rod I use predominantly for drifting for halibut and stripers in the San Francisco Bay as well as light tackle sturgeon up in the flats of San Pablo Bay.

My workhorse for targeting big Lings is actually a Mudhole Special 7' Eglass blank SBSWB7M. I fish this rod with 25# line and it's great for up to 8 oz jigs. This rod allows you to control a big ling very well. These rod blanks are surprisingly light weight considering they are E-glass and extremely durable... great value.

Both of these are spiral wrapped. I can give you the guide spacing and layout if you need it... Shoot me an email.

Jack... I'm not sure if you're fishing California, Oregon, Washington, or Alaska... but if your in Nor Cal... check the NorCal kayak anglers website if you want to tap into a great kayak fishing resource for northern california. www.norcalkayakanglers.com

Cheers...

Erik