I know this has been covered many times here so I apologize for asking beforehand. I'd like to make myself a 9' spinning rod for 1/16 to 1/8 oz. jigs and float n' fly fishing for smallmouth and panfish. I can't find a 9' spinning blank rated this light. I was thinking of using a fly blank, but know nothing about what weight to order. I need to stay under $75 for the blank and was looking at ATC Matrix and Temple Fork Professional blanks listed in Mudhole catalogue. Longest casting distance is my first priority here with just enough rod strength not to break before 6 lb. line breaks. Has anyone built a rod such as this and how well did it work? What weight blank do I need? ..........MANY THANKS for any and all advice
Robert Bryson

What about the Batson/Rainshadow IST1081 or Pac Bay RF2SH1081-2 or T2SH1081-2 blanks? I believe Batson still makes the ST1081 also.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/02/2008 11:15AM by Spencer Phipps.

I have built several 10 foot fly rods for doing exactly what you are talking about and generally used a 5 wt rod, one I believe was a 6 and they have held up and done the job for years. While the guys with 7 ft rods are trying to cast a float and a minnow , I can toss a lot further. I even did an extension on one rod and got almost 13 feet out of the blank and it has quickly become my favorite rod for chucking a float and a minnow.

I've built two for a local dentist who swears by them-he throws weightless DOA shrimp for speckled sea trout. built both on a Rainforest 8 foot, 6 weight blank. He showed me a pic of his latest trip where he had 10 keepers, the smallest was 6 lbs. That shows the size fish that can be landed on these buggy whips.

Robert, I've built a few over the years on 9' blanks, in fact they are my preferred blank for spinning tackle. SC4/Legend 9' 3wt, SC3/Avid 9' 8wt, and most recently a PacBay Rainforest 9' 8wt. Also have an SC3 "Steelhead" ninefooter, but I think the flyrod blank is a better one for building on. Similar in dimension and overall weight, it seems the flyrods have a bit different weight distribution throughout the blank and they tend to balance better. It's subtle, but they ARE 9' rods and it can make a difference and it appears that you are not building a drift rod with a certain type of handle and foregrip that often compensates for this.

For your purposes, I'd suggest around a 5-6wt blank and assess from there once you fish it a while. My 8wts are great SM/LM/Carp rods, but not as much fun on panfish as a 5wt would be. Although the 3wt is a trip, larger incidental catches on it make me think twice about which rod I grab when heading out to some places. It'll bring 'em in with a practiced hand, but it's straddling the line of being too shy of power and hooksets are tricky on all but the lightest gauge wire. Can throw bead head or 1/100 ounce fly a good ways though!

May want to look at the aforementioned PacBay Rainforest series as they are well in the stated price range. Built fly and/or spinning on Sage, Gloomis, SC, and I am mighty impressed with the PacBay blank as it did not require any corrective actions (plugging blank ends, buffing edge of male ferrule, etc) prior to build. There's some nice ones out there at a price and the next 9' I buy for a spinning will will almost definitly be from the Rainforest line-up. Check 'em out in the sponsor list, you might like!

One other thing I'll add...consider split-T with a smidgen of weight in the butt (if need be). These longer sticks tend to be a bit tip heavy depending on where you reel is at and it's a pleasure to have the ideal balance/fulcrum location when fishing. I think you'll like these long spinning rods, they open up a whole new world of techinique and possibility while being loads of fun.

I built my float and fly rod on a cheap 6 wt. flyrod...paid like $20 bucks for it. It has worked really well for me.

This is a whole different can of worms and there are many opinions but I used a slip cork (thill cigar type with a small lead weight at the bottom of the cork) for the first time last year at Dale Hollow and cleaned up! This allowed me to use a 7'6" rod.

I built a rod for basically the same purposes. I used a Batson RX6 (old Forecast) 7'9" 3wt and built the grip and reel seat on an 12" extension per the instructions in Rodmaker (sorry can't remember the volume). This gave me the extra length I wanted and a little faster action. I use a size 2500 reel spooled with 15 lb Power Pro with 4-5' 6 lb flouro leader. It works perfect for throwing micro jigs long distances to easily spooked fish that are in shallow water.

Robert,

I built many spinning rod using ALL STAR AUSTIN fly blank 9' w4,w5,w8 +extension.The problem is you can't find ALL STAR AUSTIN(TITANIUM) blank now,If you find some 9'w5 ALL STAR AUSTIN you can build one very nice rod using SIC match guides ,model "M" from PACIFIC BAY.
With the rod built an W5 ALL STAR AUSTIN i was able to catch 40lb. fish with FIRELINE 4LB.+4lb.SEAGUAR CARBON PRO FLUOROCARBON leader with 1/16oz. GAMAKATSU jig when i was fishing for white bass (TRINITY RIVER ,TEXAS),

Jean Scurtu