I know that this has been discussed before and when I searched I didn't find exactly what I was looking for. I have a person looking for a pair of Crappie rods and want's a 7'6" to 8' two piece rod. He also was very specific and he wanted a light power with a fast action. What blanks would you recommend for this application? I think that there is a very good market for the longer blanks for this type of fishing, however no one seems to market towards this venue. Thanks in advance for your opinions. Mark Blabaum

mark you might want to look at some of the light popping rods like 841 or 842 models. they have light tips and will be quicker than fly blanks.

I haven't built one like this but looking at the specs, it looks like an American Heritage Fly blank is what you are looking for. With no mention of money, don't know if this helps but here you go.

Mark if you look in the blank section of the CCS data site there are some Dan Craft Sig III 7 and 8' blanks that AA in the 70 range and have an ERN around 3 to 3 1/2 if that gets you in the ball park. There may be other blanks in there but I remembered looking at the 7' blanks as I was wondering about trying one for an ultra lite rod. You may need more power for a crappie rod. I'm certainly no expert on them.

Stan Grace
Helena, MT
"Our best is none too good"

Stan, I never gave Dan Craft a thought but I'll take a look at them.

Kevin, Who distributes the American Heritage Blanks?

John, I'll take a look at the Batsons as well.

The fast action is what's throwing me. A lot of fly blanks would work but he doesn't want a big bow in the rod and I think he may be right about a fast action for sensitivity on the light jigs. There are a lot of steel head blanks that would work as well but are a little heavy as for power. I have an 8' BnM rod that's a little faster than a fly rod and that does work well for crappies. I still think that the manufacturers need to fill this void in thier line ups or if they have them they need to market them as such.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/05/2007 05:10PM by mark blabaum.

A reading of 70 and up is a pretty fast action. I looked further in the Data Site and found some St Croix blanks listed in the spinning rod section that may have the action you need in 7' length. You could add 6" and speed them up a bit more.

Stan Grace
Helena, MT
"Our best is none too good"

Take a look at the ATC P700 series.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/05/2007 06:48PM by Bill Holsonback.

Mark,
I'm sure there are more listed on the left which carry this but I found it looking through Karen's website at Bingham Enterprises.

Mark - if they want a fast action blank, I don't think there really is a fly blank made that will really meet that criteria. Fast for a fly blank is a totally different meaning than fast for a spinning blank. Someone mentioned popping blanks - I will second that recommendation. I have a blank I'm trying to get time to build on, I got it from Utmost - not sure if they have any left, it's a 0 or 1 power popping blank. Nice fast action, just a great, great feeling blank. I brought it in to work to show a buddy (he's on the PWT, won the event in Winneconne last year and finished 3rd or so on Devil's Lake) anyways, he loved the action so much I'm building him 4 of the Shikari popping blanks into walleye rigging rods (thanks Bingham :-) I really think the popping blanks have a lot of applications in freshwater jigging type applications - esp. for crappie, walleye, and smallmouth. Good luck with your search!

As a general rule casting and spinning rods have a faster action than most fly rods but when you look at the AA data provided in the CCS Site you will see quite a few fly blanks that have actions as fast as all but a very few casting and spinning blanks. The only way you can really tell how the action of a blank will classify is to measure and compare Action Angles.

Stan Grace
Helena, MT
"Our best is none too good"

I agree with Stan. Too many anglers and builders use the term action when they are really trying to describe power. Not all powerful rods have fast action and plenty of light power rods have fast actions. For example, a light power blank with a fast action will still bend way down into it's butt section if you put a large load on it and I think that confuses a lot of people. Some people just think that a fast action rod can't bend that much but it can if it is light power. The AA numbers are your best bet for finding the desired action.

I'm not confusing action and power - in looking at the CCS data site, I see very few casting/spinning blanks even listed - most of them are lower end blanks (2003 forecasts are prominent). Look at the St. Croix Avids on the bottom, all AA's of 72-74 or so. To get that action in a fly blank, it would appear to me you are likely looking at a higher end, considerably more expensive blank. I think fly blanks can make fine panfish spinning rods for certain fishing presentations. Hoever, if the goal is fast action and light power, I think there are better blanks - such as the popping blanks I mentioned, that will give you a better product for less money. The lighter popping blanks have light power combined with fast action - it's a great combo for light biting, soft mouthed fish like crappie.