I'm a new builder mostly just for myself, I'm looking for a sensitive blank for bass fishing 7' MH. I want to try and keep cost down so GLX is out of the question, maybe IMX, so if someone can recommend a sponsor and or a sensitive blank I would appreciate it. Thank you. Great Phorum. Steve

Hi Steve! We need more info on the type rod you'll be building. How far down do you want to keep the cost? Take a look at the Rainshadow blanks from Batson. Great value!

Chuck



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/19/2007 04:37PM by Chuck Mills.

Steve,
Are you in Cali and if so where? If you close I'd be glad to show you some G. Loomis rods I've done to help you decide. Randy.

I live in Fairfield, Northern part of Ca. So Chuck the RX7 AND RX8 BlankS are pretty sensitive?

Steve - I have used the RX7 in a spinning rod the 822.5 and it has an extra fast action. It's very good as a drop shot rod. I don't know what you are using (spinning, baitcasting) but Batson has a very nice line of blanks in the RX7. If you want to step up in price you may want to look at St. Croix the Avid series. They have a very great action and the price isn't to bad. It's hard to find a bad blank any more so you need to figure out what type of action you need and you should have no problems.

I haven't tried the RX8 bass blanks yet but if you do a search here you will get good info on them. I think TK has said here that if you stick with the main players it is hard to buy a bad blank now days.

I just finished test casting (in the snow) a CB66M built as a spinning rod. It is "an amazing stick" and I already have another one in the shop to build. Karry Batson recommended it to me when I was looking to replace a sentimental Fenwick that I broke. I want to build the 7' MH as a baitcaster.

The ISB782 is a nice blank as well. (I fish a lot of plastics for bass so I use mostly spinning rods) As Mark said the Avid series (SCIII) are also great blanks for a bit more money.

I have done many searches here on bass blanks and I'll shoot you an email with that data.

Chuck



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/19/2007 06:52PM by Chuck Mills.

IMO, the best bang for the buck is the St. Croix SCIII series (i.e. Avid). They're great rods, and you can get some very technique-specific blanks, as both the casting and spinning series include numerous blank options. I'm especially fond of the SCIIIs with the XF tips, and also the crankbait blanks (usually listed as moderate action).

For a 7' MH blank, it would be hard to beat the 3C70MHXF. But without any more specific information about what you'll actually be doing with the rod, it's hard to say for sure which blank you should choose.

First off I will say that I am sort of a St Croix freak in ways... I LOVE THEIR STUFF! Might just be on account of being raised in WI. But I will also tell you that I have built MANY Rainshadows and have been VERY impressed with the quality, sensitivity, and the people who I delt with to get them. I have not ponied up the money for an RX8 as of yet but I am sure that I will get to it sooner or later..

With that being said, we need a little more information as to what exactly you are looking to accomplish with this rod so we can more accurately point you in a better direction. I can tell you that I have both a 7 foot Avid and Rainshadow in the rod room right now and am very happy with both.. I will also tell you that so far my favorite 7' MH has been the LE that I build a bit ago.

Tom Kaufmann
GySgt USMC

Well I should have made myself more clear on the blank part my fault sorry, I mainly use a baitcaster for worms and jigs for bass around standing timber and big chunk rocks, 7'' power worms and 1/4 to 1 oz jigs I make myself. I am in the process of building a St Croix 7' SC2 MH but don't know till it's done what or how sensitive the rod is going to be. I have a 7' MH Daiwa Procaster IM7 Baitcasting rod and I have to tell you this rod can detect the slightest pick up or nibble and feel everything down on the bottom. The reason I want to find a blank that is sensitive as the Daiwa is that 6 months ago my bass boat was broken into and all of my rods and reels were stolen, so I figured I'd just start building my own, a try and recover from my loss. Thanks for all the info you guys have I appreciate it. Steve Bolton

Steve,
The blanks graphite isn't near as important as the way it was designed and you build on it, I have an old walleye spinning rod I built on what is now the blank line you chose and you can feel everything that going on around that rod with only an 1/8 oz Gitzit on it, including fish with a case of gas that swim by. Be picky about the important stuff (proper grip length, balance, etc.) keep the weight down as much as you can by using the lightest, smallest, least guides & wraps, you'll do fine. Tape everything up, get on a chair or something that puts you at a distance similar to what you fish from on the water , put on your reel and jig and mess around with everything till you get it like you want it. I think I messed around with my first rod for two days including testing it on the water before I put it together. Word of advise if you're on the water, cut the hook point off before you go play or you'll find just how strong a masking tape guide wrap really is. They hold up pretty well.

Ok Steve,
First off let me say that Spencer hit the nail on the head by giving you the advice of putting it together correctly ie.... smallest guides and wraps and balance and such.. I have seen and had the displeasure of fishing with improperly built rods. They were built on high end blanks (SHX,SCV and IMX) and fished VERY POORLY. The balance was horrible, handles were not done well at all and wraps although nice looking were far too large.With that being said, as was previously mentioned I think that you would be fine with either the Avid (SCIII) or the RX-7.

Tom Kaufmann
GySgt USMC