I am looking at building two rods. I would like recommendations for a blank to throw hard jerkbaits and a second blank for throwing sammy 100's and jr. spooks, as well as yellow magic poppers and chug bugs. Thank you for taking the time to share your experiences.

You might try the Rainshadow MB843 For both applications. It is a MH with a fast tip. For the jerk baits it will have a fast recovery between jerks, and for the topwaters, it will work the bait easy and won't work you to hard

Mark Syck

SYCKO Custom Rods
There Are No Limits To The Imagination

Without knowing more about your boat, area your fishing, etc. it's hard. Jerkbaits a safe bet is the St Croix 3C70MHM. Watch your handle length most finshed rods are also used for cranks so they put a handle on that's to long IMO for a good jerkbait rod, I wouldn't have a handle over 7 inches as I start hitting myself after that during the presentation.. I use a GUSA C663DHX for spooks, poppers and chug bugs, more open water like the west I've used a C662DHX with good results.

I prefer a stiff rod for jerkbaits and topwaters.

I prefer a rod that allows me to fish tip down and not have my rod tip 8" into the water.

I use an older Loomis SB723. Now that is no longer an available blank, I'd build on a Shikari SB603.

The 723 is also my brothers favorite for the same things. He had me build him 2 of those rods.



......................

Better to have and not need than to need and not have.

I really like the St Croix 4C68MXF for top water lures. It has a very nice soft extra fast tip and allows me to work the lures well like Pop-R's and Sammy's. I like the length of this rod because I work them with the tip down mostly. For jerkbaits I would probably use something like the 4C66MHF or the 3C66MHF or 3C70MHF.

IC 722 or IC723 Ripping Jerk Baits IMO also good pithcin or skiping under cover blank. Fairly stiff blank.

IP843 or IP844 Poppers This blank can be used for so many techniques I would be here all day so I wont.

I use the 3C62MXF St. Croix for jerkbaits. It's a really great blank except it doubles as my popper rod as well. It's light and short enough to make jerkbaiting really easy. A good topwater blank is one of the composite Shikari blanks. The CB663 is a real nice sammy 100 rod.

Personally I prefer a 6’2” med/light rain shadow or forecast blank for jerk bait rod for a couple of reasons.

1. Short rod works well for me, allows me to keep my rod down for more depth with the jerk bait when needed.
2. I get a little better action with the softer rod.
3. A lot of jerk bait fish are shallow hooked. A softer rod is more forgiving, provides a little more give for
the fish. ( I lose a lot less fish then on heavier rods)
4. This technique doesn’t really call for a lot of feel . Fish pretty much hook them selves. Not like when
Fishing a worm were you want all the feel you can get. So there is no need for spend the money on a
Expensive blank.

I use the same blank for smaller Pop-R type top water baits.
For larger Samies and chug bug type baits I use the same blank in a Medium

Thank you all for helping me out. I may be out of control with this new "hobby". I built one rod because I couldn't find what i wanted and a few months later here I sit with 9 finished rods and a shelf full of parts books.

I can vouch for the IC722 and IC723 Rainshadow blanks. Sold a bunch of them, and finally got around to making a 722 for myself. I was amazed how easy it is to walk the dog with that blank! This is one of the most responsive rods I have ever used.
Made a 723 recently for a guy who wanted to use it for topwater. He loves it.

The number one reason to not use a long blank for jerkbaits is action! Use a 6'6" at the longest. You may lose one or two fish at the boat, but at least you will be able to hook them. With a short rod you wil be able to pop the jerkbait and get it to do a 180 and face the fish with ease. You also need a fairly parabolic blank. The best action rod I've found is not a blank but the older style Falcon Lowrider rods are the perfect action. If any of you are in the Austin, TX area I would love to show you how easy it is to get the best action out of a jerkbait with very little work. I am also working with Andy Dear in designing the perfect jerkbait rod. It may take som etime but the effort is well worth it because I don't think there is a perfect Jerkbait blank out there yet. Hope this helps. Bryan.