Everyone:
This spring I built 3 of the Rainshadow RCLB70M's as 40lb and 50lb rods (pushing it at 50, but they worked great loaded that heavy) for 5 day trips out of San Diego, and they are just wonderful! One of my buddies wants a 100lb, 5 1/2 ft stand-up for his 10 day trip in November. He specifically asked for the same brand again (he used his 70M loaded with 50 lb for jigging and you couldn't get it out of his hands the whole trip). I would love your opinion on the Forecast FSU56XXH that they rate for 80-100lb. Can I built it as a straight 100 lb roller rod (I just can't talk him into spiral wrap)? Anyone have any other favorite brands that they prefer? It's tough, I've been very happy with all the Rainshadow blanks that I've built lately. Being on the left coast I've built my share of Seeker and way more of the Cal Star blanks.

Thanks,
Jon Gold (Mario)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/08/2007 11:22PM by Jon Gold.

Jon give the guys at @#$%& a jingle they build lots of off shore yellow fin Tuna rods
Good Wraps Bob

Jon,
I built myself the whole line RCLB's for an R&D trip out of San Diego, they all preformed flawlessely. I even had the deck hands in awe of the casting distance and the fighting power if the rods, not to mention the light weight feel of the total package. Which i understand you already know about.
But I also had one of the FSU56XXH 's built into my 100 lb class rods for the trolling thing between spots. I had it custom wrapped by Scott Throop. I designed it with an BUBS2-S aluminum butt with the upgrade Lobed nuts. I had it cut bachk from the butt to make it an overall 5'6" rod, that means I cut 22" off the butt to accept the Blank. This rod has ALL AMERICAN ROLLER GUIDES (The new All Titanium Series) spendy but worth it. I didn't hook into anything really big but I did catch a nice Mahi Mahi while trolling, the only fish on the boat during trolling rotation. I feel that the rod would handle anything I might hook into, Standup style is my favorite way to fish BIG fish, it really challenges the Fisherman. I put the aluminum Butt so it woyuld be easier to travel with, really not needed. You could also put the Slick Butt with a gimbal if you desire. If you have any questions please feel free to contact us.
We are all passionate fisherman and rodbuilders. A US family owned and operated company.

Bill Batson
CEO
Batson Enterprises
Rainshadow/Forecast/ALPS products
877-875-2381
www.batsonenterprises.com