I was asked about a custom bottom fishing rod for the northeast for black fish preferably 6- 8oz sinkers strong enough to pull 10lb fish out of the rocks/structure.

I am not familiar with this fish species, should take on this build or pass it on to someone who knows what it takes to build a rod for this fish? I do not want to ruin his opinion of custom rods by doing a bad job when some one else can give him what he wants.

If I take the build on, what blank, real seat and guides would work.

I'd rather be catching!

Depends on how much the fisherman likes to fight the fish and see the rod bend LOL . My friend uses a 10-25 blank for this from loomis.

The way you fish for them is just park the boat over them and anchor, cut crabs, halved or quartered with the 6-8oz sinker over a wreck or some kind of structure.

When the fish takes it must be quickly pulled up and away from the wrecks, they imediately want to go back into them. If that happens they will cut the line on something. After the fish is clear of the wreck its pretty done for, nothing to worry about after that.

So a rather long rod for leverage and also to mantain bottom contact in big waves while the boat is bouceing up and down. Also you dont really do any over hand casting so you dont really need a blank that can handle up to 8ozs

I like to use braid for sensitivty and run a 30-40lb mono or floro leader for abrasion resitance this means a big knot running though the guides. Nothing smaller than a size 8

The reel is ushaully a 300 - 400 sized (calcutta) or a small power handled convetional reel #15 saltiga Avet SX etc etc. some may use a bigger reel but not much.

I like these blanks because they are super light weight and holding a heavy rod for hours on end is no fun to me but theres tons in this range that can be used. Everyone will have a different favorite.

SWE 705 7'0" 1 15-30 1 ½-5 oz HEAVY FAST
SWE 706 7'0" 1 20-40 1 ½-6 oz X-HEAVY FAST
SWE 765 7'6" 1 15-30 1 ½-5 oz X-HEAVY MODERATE



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/20/2008 11:36AM by Henry Engle.

Forgot to mention those are rouge blanks and they are slightly on the light side. I like to see a little rod bend too : ) .

Depends on what your friend is currently using, and how he fish's. I primarily build Blackfish rods, but the components you choose vary GREATLY from one guy to the next. Is he fishing a private boat, party boat, charter, North Shore, NJ, Ct, etc,e tc through the roof - will determine how light, length, material, etc.

By far, the most popular blank is a LAmi MB 1143F, cut down to a 10-14 tip. DEpends what he wants to do and how much bend he actually wants. This is an all glass rod and bends all the way down, but has serious power.

Composites - CAlstar, Seeker, Lami - 20-30# blanks work fine. Probably the most popular since tehy are unbreakable (although I saw someone break a Lami composite while hung in teh bottom, and he told me he also broke a Grafighter...and I beleived hi after seein ghow violently he yanked on teh rod while hook into Earth.)

GRaphites - PRetty much all I build on are GUSA's, and for Blackfishing the 80 Mega Mag and the SW70MH are just flat out perfect for Blackfishing, depending on what he's doing. I am recieving a special order of Blackfish blanks made 7'6 so the blanks do not have to be cut for PArt Boat fishing (7'6 is the standard size). I'm also "working" on getting a composite blank made specifically for Blackfishing. GRaphite is NOT for everyone, I broke 2 of them myself high sticking & swinging a fish over the rail this Fall. I have 3 other ones I have been using for 4 seasons about 30-35 trips per without a single problem. MY largest to date on teh MEga MAg is 14# which was a doubleheader with an 8#.

Eddie,
Lamiglas designed a series specifically for fishing Tog last year.

TF8430 7' 1/2-2 1/2 oz lure
TF8440 7' 2-4 oz. lure
GTF841M 7' 4-8 oz. lure
GTF901Mh 7'6" 6-16 oz lure

Regards,
Todd Vivian
Mud Hole Custom Tackle

todd@mudhole.com

This would make a sweet set up in the Rainshadow/Forecast/Alps line up without costing him a fortune. Now there are a few up grades as well.
Rod Blank Model # RCLB80XL or RCLB80L
Butt cap: BC22
Front Cap:
Rear Grip: WHGRY-10
Handle Arbor:
Reel Seat: AGB24 THREADS DOWN
Reel Seat Shim
Foregrip: BST06A12
Winding Check: BWC18 ITS TIGHT BUT WILL SLIDE DOWN
Hookeeper: HKL
Tip Top XPPLT08R07.5
1st guide from tip top XXNLG08 Alps
2nd guide from tip top XXNLG08
3rd guide from tip top XXNLG08
4th guide from tip top XXNLG08
5th guide from tip top: XXNLG10
6th guide from tip top: XXNLG10
7th guide from tip top: XXNLG12
8th guide from tip top: XXNLG16
9th guide from tip top: XXNLG20
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) 3 7/8-8 1/8- 12 1/2- 17 1/2- 23 1/8-29 1/8-36 1/8-45-56
Butt wrap length
Tip wrap length
Main Thread Color
Trim Thread Color
Wrap Instructions:

Karry Batson
Batson Enterprises Inc.
Ph: (877) 875-2381
Fax: (360) 683-3579
karry@batsonenterprises.com
www.batsonenterprises.com

Hi Karry,

The Forecast SWB 70 MH is perfect for yanking tog out of their lairs. This is the blank that most owners of The Long Islander Series prefer. Now I prefer to use the SWB 70 M as it flexes more and gives me more pleasure.

Capt Neil Faulkner

The RCLB is very similar to the SWB but is more sensitive and lighter in weight due to the Graphite/Glass blend. You cant go wrong with either the RCLB or SWB models.

Karry Batson
Batson Enterprises Inc.
Ph: (877) 875-2381
Fax: (360) 683-3579
karry@batsonenterprises.com
www.batsonenterprises.com