I am not much of a freshwater fisherman, however my buddy goes home to kentucky and goes fishing all around where he is. Anyone have a good idea as to the rod i should be making for him. I am looking for blank and if you have other opinions on other components, all opinions are welcome. I am looking for something that he can take where ever and use on many types of small trout and bass, but maybe catch some bigger stuff too.

John,

If I were to build a jack of all trades rod for freshwater fishing, it would be a spinning rod, 6' - 7' long, and medium power with a fast action. For the rod blank, I would probably look in the realm of spin bass or spin jig blanks.

Such a rod would work for just about any bass application, and can be handle the larger freshwater species with a little bit of care, and could be used to throw light jigs for panfish. You could throw small spinners or suspend flies underneath a bobber for some trout.

However, this rod wouldn't be the best choice in every situation, but certainly would be fishable under most situations.

Joe

my brother lives in SW Virginia, not too far from Kentucky and does the same fishing. I built him a rod on a Shikari ISJ 661 and he loves it.
of course it might be tough to find that blank, but that may give you a point of refernce.

he got a size 18 spinning seat with epoxy ramps - split grip with a cork butt and Titan guides...of course there are a million options for how to finish a blank that may or may not be suited for him.

I do similar fishing - mostly for smallies though, and I prefer a little heavier and faster action rod, but 6 to 7 feet is usually about right.

Tennesee handles are another option that I like - I'd ask what sort of length he is looking for and work it from there.

The most versatile bass rod that I have ever used is a spinning rod based on a St Croix 3C68MXF. I use it most of the time for throwing jig head worms down to 3/32 oz, but I have also used it for lures up to ½ oz without any problem.

There are a bunch of rods in this class. As with any custom design, the first thing to do is think about what kind of fishing he'll do, and you've already done that. The next thing is what kind of lure weight he'll be using. For the low end, figure the weight of a lead-headed jig or even a bare worm (plastic or a live nightcrawler) - 1/'8 to 1/4 oz, maybe? One the heavy end, throwing big plastics on jig heads, or crankbaits, spinnerbaits, etc., 1oz maybe? In the middle, throwing a bobber with a live bait? Maybe 1/2oz total?

Then look at the action. You want a light stick, but that's a function of the actual weight of the blank plus the compnents you use and the layup to create. So the action itself is the next factor, and if he's going to use live bait, you don't want something too stif to throw a live bait, so that the bait will stay on the hook when you cast. That doesn't mean you can't have a fast tip, but you might want to consider a slightly "softer" action to cover a wider range of lures.

When you check the specs of the rods in the catalogs, look for something that fits the range of lure weights, but preferably biased the low end of the range. Length is a matter or what he'd prefer - 5' through 7'. And at the risk of getting my head handed to me, I'll suggest that you think about a 2pc rod in the 6-1/2 to 7' range just for portability to the various waters it sound like he might go to.

Why didn't I mention line strength? Because I'm assuming he'll use a line suitable for the fish and the lure - say, as little as 4lb on the low end, up to maybe 12lb or even 17lb on the high end. Well, OK, that'll affect his casting, but the rod will "work" the same regardless, although it might feel a bit overloaded when casting the high-end stuff. But most rod blank manufacturers mark their sticks with a fairly broad range of line strength (say, 6-12lb, or 8-17lb) so try to pick one that'll cover the broadest range.

- hope that helps.

Uncle Russ
Calico Creek Rods



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/16/2007 12:17PM by Russ Pollack.

Small trout and bass? When I was going to school in Ohio, I found a fairly light 2 piece, 7' spinning rod was my generic choice. Usually running 8lb test. I had some longer and lighter rods I liked using more, but they were more specialized.

Along the lines of what mike harris stated above - the most versatile blank I have found is the 63MXF blank series from St. Croix in your choice of the SC3 or SC5 lines. There is nothing I have tried these blanks for that they haven't been beyond adequate. Very similar deal to mikes recommendation - just shorter to make transportation easier in my book. That said I have built some of those 6'8" ones as well and they are exceptional as mike states... my 2 cents - your results may vary - Chuck Ungs

All around good two piece rod Rainshadow ISP843F-M

Description:
Rod Blank Model # ISP843F-M
Butt cap: SBC20B
Front Cap:
Rear Grip: RG9A-345
Handle Arbor:
Reel Seat: GS17C-B
Reel Seat Shim SHIM17SPIN
Foregrip: FG25A-250
Winding Check: BWC09
Hookeeper: BHKS
Tip Top BPLU06R05.0
1st guide from tip top BVSLG06
2nd guide from tip top BVSLG06
3rd guide from tip top BVSLG07
4th guide from tip top BVSLG07
5th guide from tip top: BVSLG08
6th guide from tip top: BVSLG10
7th guide from tip top: BVSLG16
8th guide from tip top: BVSLG30
9th guide from tip top:
10th guide from tip top:
11th guide from tip top:
12th guide from tip top:
13th guide from tip top:
14th guide from tip top:
15th guide from tip top:
16th guide from tip top:
Guide spacing Specs(inches from tip, center ring over mark) 4.5-9.25-14.25-19.75-25.75-32.5-40-49

Wow, thanks guys. I think that all sounds great. He is a real Kentucky born kid and has always used some nasty walmart rods. He is getting married so this should be perfect.

Build two of the blanks Karry suggested so the little lady can go too.

If we're really talking small trout and bass (i.e. both species 15" or under), then I'd have to argue for an even lighter rod than what has been mentioned so far. A trout [spinning] rod is going to need to cast small spinners (1/8 oz.) or cranks, and the same rod will need to cast up to 1/4 oz. or 5/16 oz. for the bass baits. My go-to crossover rod for this application is a St. Croix 3S66LF. I fish it for both bass and trout, and it's great in both applications.

If the bass baits needed to be a little larger, or involve small TX rigged plastics, then I'd make one step up to a 3C69MLXF (built as a spinning rod). Even though this is designated a casting rod, it's the best all-around spinning rod I've ever used. It handles everything from 1/8 baits up to 3/8 well, especially stuff like 4" TX-rigged worms, shakey heads, glass/brass, drop shots, etc. Granted the XF tip makes it a mediocre cranking rod, but. . .not everything will be perfect when you're building an "all-duty" rod.