hey guys, I am new to rod building and I would like to make myself a new set of rods for bass fishing. I currently use falcon rods, but I have always wanted to build my own. I am looking for rod blanks that are as good as falcon, but won't breat the bank. I will be making 10 to 12 rods anywhere from a 6'0" medium for jerkbaits, to an 8' 0" extra heavy 1 pc flippin rod. any recommendations on rod brands? I have looked at Shikari, and am thinking about using them since I am so close to their factory in the Tulsa, Ok area. but if I can find blanks cheaper I would like that also. any help is appreciated.

Thanks,
Jerry Teague

Jerry,

Wlecome sir. I'm a newbie too! After building only a dozen or so rods, I'm sold on RAINSHADOW/FORECAST blanks from Batson Enterprises! Hands down..everyday of the week..and twice on Sunday I would pick RAINSHADOW blanks. Batson enterprises is a first rate organization with outstanding products and customer service second to none. With that being said, I don't even work there! Good luck Jerry, you won't be disappointed.

Paul

Thanks for the quick reply. where is a good place to get blanks from? I would like to get blanks as cheaply as possible, but I want good quality also. heck I would love to get loomis, but right now, they cost too much. I have an old quantum blank that I plan on practicing on to get the feel for it, and give to one of my sons when it's finished.

I get all my Rainshadow blanks from fishstick4u, one of RBOsponsors. I have found the Rainshadow blanks to be as good as Loomis but a lot cheaper.

Rich Matranga
Folsom, California

Hi Jerry,

Welcome to the RBO

You should see a list of companies on the right side of this page. Those are links to their
web sites and all of them are board sponsors. Like Rich said, FishSticks4U are excelent!

I will say ditto regarding the Rainshadow/Forcast products! (and I do own several loomis
factory rods)

I have built on a few Shikari SHII blanks as well and I liked them too.

Don't forget to check out the FAQ and Library sections here. Lots of great stuff!!

Also, there is someone on the Buy/Sell page who has (or had) a loomis and a St. Croix
blank for sale at good price. Buy one or both

Raymond Adams
Eventually, all things merge, and a river runs through it..

Jerry , the Rainshadow blanks and Forecast guides are a good quality and a good value . We stock both and we will be glad to help you with your selection from rear grip to top . Like a couple have said in post above we are on the sponsor list . Our shop phone number is 804-966-7577 if you would like to call with more questions . Thanks Robert , Ray at Fishsticks4U

St. Croix is pretty popular up here in MN. I am just finishing up a 9'5wt rainshadow fly rod and that is a really nice blank for the price too. I don't think you would go wrong with either brand.

Rainshadow can also be bought a little closer to you also. Custom Tackle in TN. Bingham Ent. in KS. There are lots of blank suggestions for just about any technique in the search engine. The Rainshadow ISB 822.5 is developed as a dropshot blank, but I find it very versatile for other techniques as an example.

Good luck with your new hobby (aka obsession), if you are interested in the rainshadow blanks Robert at Fishstick4u has given me unequaled service on a great product for the money. You will also find the folks at Batson to be very helpful with answering your questions

I just built a 822.5 Rainshadow drop shot rod and have a factory St. Croix 6'9" XF and can't tell the difference in the blanks or performance. The blanks are 1/2 the price of the St. Croix as well. The other thing you may want to look at is Batson guides as well. I like them much better than the fuji's as they seem to take less time and effort to prep. I bought mine from Fishsticks4U and the service was great. Mark

Jerry,

All of the above suppliers are great to deal with...another close to you is Schneider's in MTN home Arkansas...Ron is a great guy. Bob @ Custom tackle is great...Karen @ Bingham is wonderful...and I have heard nothing but great things about Robert at FishStix4u. Also I know at one time you could buy direct from Shikari...not sure you can do that anymore...but if you could and picked them up it would save you shipping costs on the blanks....which might be the difference in price you save???? Shipping for oversized items can be expensive.

If you liked the All Star Tops & Tails blank when you could get them, the Rainshadow and St Croix mentioned above are in that same category

Cranking blank: Seeker BS706S S glass fiberglass
Big spinnerbait: St. Croix SC370HM moving baits
Spinnerbait: St. Croix SC470MHM moving baits
Texas Rig pitching: St. Croix SC570MF
Jig pitching: Shikari SHX 704PMB
Flipping: Shikari SH2 FS764 (or I think they have an 804 for your preference)
St. Croix 68MXF or Rainshadow ISB822.5 (all around blank for baitcasting or spinning)
SCMLF spinner your choice of length and price (SC570MLF awesome)
SCMF spinner your choice of length and price (SC570MF great)
SC469MLXF or Shikari P7000 if you like it extremely light and fast (light dropshotting)
There are 10 proven blanks to get you started

Cut a couple inches off the tip and a few off the bottom of a SC470mm to get that 6 foot small jerkbait blank.

Build each rod from scratch one at a time start to finish. Take your time with each one and don't be in a hurry to get the entire set ready. Your skills in all areas will improve with each rod. Those blanks are as good as you can get for each application IMHO and I have built on all of them. There is nothing wrong with going with one brand and building on their blanks solely. For the money, the Rainshadows are unbeatable. Build them all with no foregrip/split handles. Fuji alconites are excellent for the money. Build all the baitcasters with the simple spiral and each spinner with the concept method.

I'm doing the same thing you are. I'm re-building my whole fleet of bass rods. I chose the St. Croix SCIII series because of the very wide range of lengths and actions, and the fact that they're dk. gray (all colors wrapping thread work). Here's what I chose. Keep in mind that I fish mostly open, clear water, so I'll use lower powered rods for some applications. The 3C68MXF and 3C69MLXF make fantastic utility rods, IMO. They'll do just about anything, and do it well.

Casting Rods:
3C68MXF--(trimmed 2" from butt to make 6'6") Topwater and Big Spinnerbait/Big Buzzbait/senkos/sluggos/large jerkbaits
3C66MM--Small crank/small spinnerbait
3C66MHM--Medium Cranks (mainly traps)/Large Spinnerbait
3S66MF--A spinning blank built up for casting. Small TX rigs (i.e. 3/16 oz. & 2/0 hooks), large tubes.
3C70MHXF--Medium Jig/Large TX Rig
3C70MHF--Large Jig/Carolina Rig
3C70MHM--Very large cranks with slow speed reel.

Spinning Rods:
3C69MLXF--casting built as spinning. Drop Shot
3C69MLXF--casting built as spinning. Shakey worm/small senko/sluggo/small jerkbaits/large tubes
3S70MLF--(trimmed 3" from butt to make 6'9") swimming grub/small tubes

I used very little cork on these rods (about 11 rings/rod) to make my split grips. No foregrips were used on any rods. On my casting rods, I used Tharp-style split seats. On the spinning rods, I used NPS seats mounted downlocking. To further save weight, I used no double-foot guides. All guides were either spinning single foot, or fly single foot, in the Fuji Titanium/SIC models.

Andrew White Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I used very little cork on these rods (about 11
> rings/rod) to make my split grips. No foregrips
> were used on any rods. On my casting rods, I used
> Tharp-style split seats. On the spinning rods, I
> used NPS seats mounted downlocking. To further
> save weight, I used no double-foot guides. All
> guides were either spinning single foot, or fly
> single foot, in the Fuji Titanium/SIC models.

Andrew - do you have any pictures? Your handles sound light and I'm looking for ideas.

Thanks!

Chuck mills
Alexandria, MN




_________________________________________
"Angling is extremely time consuming.
That's sort of the whole point." - Thomas McGuane



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/15/2006 06:28AM by Chuck Mills.

Wow! Thanks for all the info guys! I plan on practicing on 2 quantum blanks and a Renegade blank before I mess up a quality rod (I had 2 of these given to me today), and giving one each to my sons. I plan on using Rainshadow rods, the price is great, and I have fished on their rods before. the split grips are a good idea, I plan on doing that. I have a Falcon cara 7'6" flipping rod that I replaced the rear grip with a split handle, and the difference was phenomenal as far as feel goes. For the jerkbait rod, I plan on using a cork pistol grip on the top of the split grip since I feel it gives better control over the rod, what do you guys think? I should start the practice rods in a few days, and I'll let ya know how it goes. Thanks again.
Tight lines,
Jerry Teague