I am going to build a lighter weight rod for smallmouth fishing. It will be a light casting rod.....fast ....but light to medium for power. I am going to use a casting reel on it. 6 or 6 1/2 ft in length....leaning towards 6 1/2.

I have been considering several different RX 6 and RX7 Batson blanks....any suggestions on your favorites?

I am planning on a split grip and a bumper spiral system for the guides...will probably use a couple 3 ft casting guides then go to single foot fly guides out to the tip.

depend on what type of lures you will be throwing. St. Croix Legend Elite MF, build the spinning blank as a baitcaster, great for open water tubes.
good luck.

Will be using tubes and twister tail grubs on 1/4 oz jigs ...small top water plugs.

Moving back to the area where I grew up........lots of rivers full of big (and small) smallmouth.

I really like Batson's IC722. That, or the slightly heavier IC723 would be great for your purpose.
Steve Broadwell

Joe,

I travel to Wisconsin at least once a year for a week of smallmouth fishing, with the occasional largemouth, walleye, and pike thrown in for good measure. I built on the Batson RX6 SB720-4 because a short breakdown rod really helps -- My buddy and I do a fair number of portage trips during these weeks. The rod is terrific for jigging, crankbaits, spinners, and even worming. I used six pound flourocarbon exclusively, and caught many smallmouth over six pounds, largemouth at 4 pounds, pike, and walleye on the rod during this year's trip. On a recent trip to Canada it caught many walleye over 23 inches. The rod has done everything I've asked. Regarding only smallmouth, it handled the bronzebacks beautifully and was easy to store/protect on the trail.

Mine is set up as a spinning outfit, and I love the action on the blank -- it protected the line nicely from canoes and small boats. It is possible that it is a bit too far on the medium action side for your casting needs... depends upon your preferences/style.

Best,

Erik




Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/15/2006 02:19PM by Erik Godwin.

Joe,
You might want to take a look at Batson's new RX8+ bass blanks though they are a little more expensive. I recently received two of them and I think that they may be the nicest bass blanks that I have ever had my hands on.

A couple years ago, I built a rod inspired by Tom Kirkman's light line smallmouth rod described in RodMaker magazine, except I built it on the St. Croix 3S60LF and did not extend it. I love it, have fished it a lot , and even caught a 7lb. tiger musky on it "by accident". Even with the short rear grip, I had no trouble fighting that fish from a canoe. I fish it with 6lb. line and 1/16 to 1/4 oz. lures. I am currently building the discontinued Rainshadow RX8 XMS783 for smallmouth fishing when I want to use larger lures. I will build the same handle as the Kirkman design except make the rear grip more like 6" instead of 4". I expect the rod to be excellent and powerful enough to fish springtime jigs, heavy spinner baits, and Texas rigged plastics with 1/2 ounce of weight.

You mention building a casting rod but there's no reason you couldn't use either of these blanks as a casting rod. I can see the 3S60LF being awesome with a pistol grip.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/15/2006 06:50PM by Steve Kartalia.

What kind of water are you fishing in, and what kind of presentations will you make. Fishing big water with heavy jigs will call for a very different rod than small shallow streams with unweighted flukes.

Also, if you are going for a lightweight rod, why use a casting reel? For most light smallmouth fishing, a spinning reel will be better suited to the task.

Best smallmouth blank i've ever used was the G Loomis SJ700. Mine is an older factory length IM6, but Tom extended his GL3 to around 6 1/2 ft. An excellent article on the build was done some years ago in RodMaker.

Shikari's PSJ661 or ISJ661 are very good options for light powered blanks for Smallmouth.

Mine is spinning rod that is my go-to Walleye jig rod. Great for Smallies too.

I've built a number of them as casting rods. And I've even got a customer that Smallie fishes with casting and spinning versions of that same blank.


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

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

I have 3 rods that all work great for different presentations. A St Croix 3C70MHXF bait caster for tubes and spinners, a St Croix 6'9" xf for drop shots and Carolina rigs, and a Batson Rainshadow 822.5 as Carolina rod and drop shots as well. I find that I use the spinner rigs about 90% of the time and I like the extra back bone of the extra fast rods on Smallies yet they still have a soft enough tip to keep them from dropping the bait if you are a little slow on the hookset. If you want a bait caster you might want to look at the Rainshadow 822.5 and make it that way. The action is very nice on these rods and the 6'10" will give you a good hook set.

Thanks Guys for all the info. I am going to try to get as many of these blanks in my hands as possible to give them a feel.

Mike,

I am going to be fishing rivers in Southwestern Ontario Canada. Medium size rivers and I prefer to wade fish most of these areas. I have many spinning rods and do use them once I get under about a 1/4 oz (I do have heavier spinning rods also).....I do prefer casting reels for the following resons....no line twist...I like the way a casting reel balances...superior drag and design with gears and spool all on same direction. I will use 6 to 8 lb line and find I can cast just as far as with a spinning rig with the stuff I use. I could use a spinning reel easily but just simply prefer to use a casting reel. I want a rod that has some backbone but not too stiff (6lb line).