Hi Everyone,

I was recently asked by a friend of mine if I could build him a spinning rod so he can fish Senkos for Smallmouth Bass here in Nova Scotia. I told him yes, but then I got to thinking and came to the conclusion I have not one clue as to what kind of a rod is needed for this. All I have ever built and and mostly fish are fly rods. I got some more specific information in what exactly he wants. The specs he gave me are: 6'6" long, medium action, with a good back bone. I think he likes most of the flex out towards the tip of the rod. Can anyone give me some suggestions as to a reasonable priced blank or do I need to get more info?
any and all suggestions are greatly appreciated.

thanks for your help

Jeff

It depends entirely on the size of senkos he fishes. If it's for the 5-7" senkos, then my suggestion would be to build a 3C68MXF as a spinning rod. If he fishes the really small 3-4" senkos, then I'd build a 3C69MLXF for the application. I fish senkos on both these rods, and they're perfect for the application, IMO. The bonus of both these blanks is that they work extremely well for lots of other baits too.

St Croix 3C66MF

He uses mostly the 5 inch Senkos

cheers

Jeff

Batson designed this blank specifically for Sinko’s I have not yet built on this blank but am in the process of ordering one, but if it is anything like their other RX8+ blanks it will be awesome!
RX8+C812
6'9"
Medium
Fast
1
8-14
1/4-5/8 oz.
1.85oz.
Satin Black
0.465 butt
5.5 tip
Senko Special

Any of the St. Croix MF blanks. Pick whichever model he can afford, lol.

St Croix 3C66MF, I built one just for this purpose for someone, it was a SCV. The thing weighted nothing. If he is going to be throwing it under over hangs and things like that Id go with the 6ft version of this rod its alot easier to skip the senko wth the shorter rod.

This is just my opinion, but I would also ask around what type of cover he is going to be fishing the bait and if he is primarily going to be fishing it weightless (which is what I assume). I fish senkos ALOT and prefer to fish it on a 6'6" med-heavy fast rod. The rods mentioned above are what most people whould consider "perfect", but for me, they are just to light to fish around the stuff I fish around. I have no trouble whatsoever casting a weightless senko on even 17 lb. flourocarbon. Granted, it may be slightly easier to do on a medium power rod, but I have no trouble with the MH and I am able to move fish out of and away from the nasty stuff a lot better.

TJ

Jeff,

As Steve said that C812 from Batson is a great blank, or if you are not looking at spending as much, the Batson ISB802.75, which is a Medium XtraFast. This one is a hot seller here in the midwest for smallies.

Al McColl
Midwest Rod and Reel

I fish the California Delta and Clear Lake almost every weekend and flip and pitch the Senko on 30 lb braid, my rod of choice is a 7' SC370MH, it has so far put some heavy weights in my livewell. best 5 38.4 pounds and getting ready to build another. Steve