I am looking for suggestions for a Great Lakes all purpose Salmon/Steelhead blank. thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Eric Buddy:

Fly Rod? Spin Rod? Trolling Rod? Casting Rod?, not so claivoiant these days. Pure fly rod you can't beat the Pac Bay pricing for a 43 mill blank designed around the old Loomis IMX dimenshions $50-55. Baston will do it for about $70 they seem a bit beefier, but neither of those fly blanks can be tied up into a spin rod without voiding the warranty if our looking for a spin rod. I like a longer blank so long as you have the room to use it 10' max. Croix used to make some nice fly blanks with better than enbry level graphite for about $100, but they just went up in price and sometimes Mfg's don't make longer fly blanks to tie into spin rods. They do however offer a series of Steelhead/Salmon blanks for spin specific fishermen. I'd find a longer 9'-6" 8-12/16# test steelie/salmon rod blank

sorry, spinning rod ( not a noodle rod though)

Rainshadow IST 1143 or 1263.

I just bought an IST 1084 for the same purpose (general purposte Great Lakes Salmon and steelhead). I do not know if this is a better choice than those recommended above, just seems to fit bill.

I JUST PURCHASED THREE BLANKS THE LAMI TITANIUM 9 FT 2 IN 6 TO 15 LB THE RAINSHADOW NEW SXT 9 FOOT 8 TO 12 LB AND THE PAC PAY TRADITIONS 9 FOOT 8 TO 12 LB THE LAMI AND THE RAINSHAWDOW OVER A HUNDRED CLAMS THE PAC BAY 60 CLAMS AND TO BE COMPLETELY HONEST THE PAC PAY HAS A BETTER FEEL AND REAL GOOD FIT AND FINISH BOTH MY FATHER AND I ARE PICKY STEELHEADERS AND WE BOTH AGREED SO GIVE PAC PAY BLANK A THOUGHT GOOD LUCK DAN

Of the three Baston blanks mentioned above I like the 1084 best, and its drawback is its length at only 9 feet. You can extend the butt to 9'-6" Max but then void the warranty. All Three rods are 8-12" heres the drawback with the other two (1143 &1263) I for whatever reason, will not buy a blank with a butt dim. over .500" thats meatstick territory the 1084 is just under that a .490" and has a 5.0 64ths tip which is a tip dim I like in a Salmon/Steelhead rod =4.5 or 5.0 64ths. I do like the idea of a little beefier tip at 5.0 64ths. The 1143 .520" & 1263 .580" all go over the .500" butt meatstick dim. and then they have 4.5 64ths tip on them telling me that this is a fairly tapered blank That is the trouble with these Salmon Steelhead Series specific blanks, the butt dimensions generally run big. Now the baston blank I would like to build on frr a killer Salmon Steelhead spin rod is the IF986 9'-6" 8 wt. 455" butt 5.0 tip or the IF1008 10' 8 wt .445" butt 5.5 tip. All these Baston blanks are around $70

Pac Bay has a 43 mill mod Salmon/Steelhead Series blank 9' 8-12# .510"butt 4.5 tip $50 is the only one that caught my eye, but it is still short of what I like and big inthe butt. NOW Croix used to make a nice SCIII graphite (who knows what mod that was more than likely 43) a 3F968 9'-6" 8 wt. ,430" 4.5 tip went for $95 in 2005, come 2006's redesign there is nothing in that weight and length in 2 pcs, there is a 4 pcs, its $150, but they did add their uniform taper IPC to it in the process. Thing is thats alot of money for just above entry level graphite. The good part is that making a spin rod out of a fly blank did not void the warranty, but I don't want the 06 models now and if I broke my 05 I suppose they could not make me a replacement section and I'd have to take something I didn't really want. How they can still make sections for the old stuff if repairs are needed.

Hi Eric
Harrison VHF 10'6'' 2 pc blank weight 5.8 oz very fast a good allround rod.
www.munichrodmansrodshop.com
Best Regards Mark Crouse

Chris,
I also like the Rainshadow IST1084 a lot. I have built many Steelhead rods from the IST1084s. I think that it makes an excellent light Steelhead drift rod. It is 9 feet and rated at 8 to 12 pounds. It could be used for Silvers but I sure would not use it for Chinook. It just does not have enough power for Chinook. I would also not recommend extending it. It already is a very fast action blank plus I would be concerned about moving the ferrule up higher on the blank where the strain will be higher. I have also built quite a few IST1143s and think that it is also makes a very good Steelhead rod for drift fishing and also for bobber and jig fishing and also for throwing hardware. It is 9 feet 6 inches and also rated at 8 to 12 pounds. It has quite a bit slower action than the IST1084. The IST1263 is 10 feet 6 inches and is actually a little more powerful blank and the action is somewhere in between the other two and is also a very versatile blank. Again though I would not use it for Chinook.
I am not sure that I understand why you are concerned about a Steelhead blank having a butt diameter of over 0.5 inch. The butt diameter by itself does not really tell you very much. A blank with a smaller diameter and thicker walls could be more powerful than one with a larger diameter but thinner walls. I certainly would not classify any one of those three blanks as meat sticks.

I think Emory is on the pacific coast, if I recall, so that may affect his blank choice recommendations compared to anglers from the Great Lakes region due to higher flow rates in some of the rivers, etc. Again, I am not an expert at all here, just started fishing in the fall for salmon this year and thinking that this spring or next fall to start on steelhead.

Emory

With a Butt dimeshion that big you can write an essay in t the labe area you've got so much room, you can even tell your writing on something round, just to big to show my face fishing with, they look at you funny around here if you show up with thick handled (broom handled) meatstick. Its just a personal thing not buying a blank with over a .500" butt, just too big as I like building either fly or spin rods out of fly blanks, and with the butt that big you know the tapers are more drastic and the thicker walls used in the transitions (Save St Croix) create stress concentrations on either side, affecting the smaller side more often then not if any detrimental effect manifests itself, Blanks even close to .500" I avoid. I like a max of about .460" I'm sort of hooked on the old loomis IMX fly blank dimenshions ( they tested well and lasted with river rats) which Pac Bay utilised in designing its fly blank, too bad they void warranties if built as spin rods. When they get that big we call them meatsticks, hook and haul. Were sort of light line fishing for salmon and steelhead around here with fly blanks, the most common tippet is 8#, graduating downward as winter comes upon us, and possibly to 10# in earely fall when the Salmon runs are in and were hooking lots of 20# kings, we might go huge and put on 12#

What about something like a Loomis Hot Shot blank?? I like the fast taper and extra fast action. The HS9000 2 pcs is a cracking blank or like the HS 1021 2 pc. I guess it depends on whether you feel you need a "long rod". From the boat/shore bottom bouncing or hardware chucking I never needed anything else. Lightness and power to spare with these blanks. Just my 2 cents