Need a good smallmouth bass rod for 10''-16'' average smallies. Fish a very small creek in Illinois. A large fish would be in 3lb range. Looking for something in the 5' 6'' to 6' 6'' range, one piece rod. Any suggestions on what blank to build on?

St. Croix in the SCIII or SCIV. I like 6' to 6'6" and model 3S or 4S in 66MLF. Light tip power, super fast action. Good butt power. You'll love it.

Thanks Rob. I will look into it.

Hi Frank
Take look at the batson rainshadow RX7 ISB822.5 or the ISB802.75 both are med power with X-fast tips.
We stock both at midwest rod and reel.Here is a link to check them out [www.midwestrodandreel.com]

Bill@midwestrodandreel.com
www.midwestrodandreel.com

G Loomis SJ700, they don't make them better for your application. period.

Curious, where in Illinois are you fishing? I used the Baston RX8+ that is specified as a drop shot rod. Work great for smallies where I fish here on the Fox River. One other thing to think about, the blank to choose would depend on how you want to fish for them. I also use alot of ultralight stuff for them and in the past got some 6-10 one piece ultralight blanks from Lamiglas. They are so much fun to catch on just 4 pound test. Been wanting to find a good blank to match what I have used before in around the 7 foot range.

i dont remember which edition, but Tom Kirkman wrote an article on a great smallmouth rod. It was several years ago. i am sure someone can chime in with the correct Rodmaker

Volume 7 #1. That one also had the surf rod article in it.

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Frank

I fish PA's Juniata and Susquehanna rivers for smallies in the 10" to 20" range. Most all of my rods are built on 6'6" "spin jig" blanks in a light or medium light power and fast action. A 6'6" rod gives me a little better hook set than shorter rods. I use these rods to throw 1/16th and 1/8th oz. jigs and tubes, small spinners, small Rapala's and topwaters like the Tiny Torpedo. I'm also starting to build several 7' rods for use on the rivers with wacky rigged Senko's (even better hook set lift). Take a good look at the "spin jig" category of the different blank manufacturers. They work well for me.

Rog

Frank,

Look at the lures that you use, if you never use anything more than a 1/4 oz. than go if the G. loomis SJ720. If you throw some heavier lures like 5/16-3/8 oz. I would say go with the St. Croix 3S63MLXF. Both blanks will give you versatility it just depends on the versatility you need.

<>Dave

Roger brings up a very good point. Being a very avid smallmouth fisherman myself, I can tell you that the ratio of strikes to hookups with a 6' rod and one about 6'6' is night and day. The longer rod is vastly superior for hook setting and it won't take more than 1 outing to convince you of this.

If you can use a little longer rod, the 6'6" is the way to go.

I have built quite a few of the Loomis SJ500s, but was always disapppointed in the hook setting ability of that length rod (5'10"). Extending it to 6'4" has completely solved that problem. The procedure was outlined in the article mentioned above.

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Thanks everybody! I appreciate the info. I just won a SCV 5S66MLF blank on @#$%& for around $70. It is a blemished rod, no structual damage. Im thinking about using it with a cork split handle setup. What do you guys think of this setup? Thanks again Frank

If it's in good shape, it should work fine. I have the same blank, but haven't built on it. It does feel like it would be very suitable for what you want to do.

One thing to be careful of - St. Croix does not sell "blems." Be sure of what you've got.

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Hi Mike
I fish in East central Illinois. Jordan creek, North fork river, Middle fork river and Vermilion river. Lots of good smallie action!
Frank

Frank -

I went and looked up the @#$%& you won AND the other items being sold by that individual. Here's MY opinion on what you now own.

Even IF they really are St Croix blanks ... 1) They are old stock with blemishes and; 2) You have absolutely no warranty through St Croix. He is NOT including ANY factory packaging or factory adhesive label (sticker on blank does NOT qualify the product).

There are NO decals on some blanks and others are VERY old styles. He is using rod part numbers and not blank part numbers on some decals ... that in and of itself makes things highly suspect IMO.

Here's a few other quotes from some of the other @#$%& listed by the same individual: 1) "This rod is not painted making this is a second quality rod. A nice clear coat finish would produce a charcoal grey color."; 2) "The butt is un-cut from the factory." and; 3) "... it is un-cut from the factory as is the tip end where the ferrule slips over from the rod top section." ALL of these statements set off warning bells with me.

Truly, you would have been better off IMO to have purchased a new SC3 blank from one of the sponsoring vendors. 1) no blemishes; 2) full lifetime warranty; 3) newer technology including IPC; 4) help on all the other issues related to building your rod. All for just $20 more.

While you MIGHT come out OK this time ... IMO it probably isn't the "deal" you anticipated now that the entire situation has been laid out for you. In addition, if you keep messing around looking for "deals" - one will bite you square in the pants before too much longer.

Try the vendor list to the left next time you need components. There are some mighty fine reasons that we love them all so ... give them a chance and you will find out why.

Hope this is accepted the way it is intended ... as 100% helpful and with YOUR future in the craft as the driving concern.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/04/2009 03:44PM by Jim Gamble.

If it does not have the factory St. Croix sticker securely stuck to the butt then it is probably not an actual St. Croix blank. Who knows what you may have bought. No @#$%& site blanks for me, no thanks.

Jim,

I must have completely got lost in this new St. Croix IPC Technology thing, but I thought that it applied to ferruled blanks (multi piece), and if Frank's looking for a one-piece - is there IPC Technology involved? Not that that's your main point, but I'm now starting to wonder what IPC really is. I have two virtually identical one piece St. Croix spin jig blanks, one pre-IPC (2004) and one I got this year. They have ever so slight differences in Butt dia. but identical tip dia. and if there's a difference in the finish, I certainly can't see it. Maybe I'd better CC them and plot the curves, although the blanks could have naturally different curves for a vast number of reasons if I think about it (changed out mandrel, slightly more/less sheet of triangular graphite sheet, etc.).

Torin -

IPC was added to SC3 spinning/casting blanks beginning with the 2008 model release and the finish was changed from matte gray to carbon pearl - each and every model got a shiny new mandrel.

The SC4 and SC5 blanks received IPC quite a bit earlier. The technology was originally released in 2000 and has been steadily added to the design lineups.

The changes for 2009 include the new SC3 Inshore lineup AND a total makeover of all the SC5 spinning and casting blanks - new designs, incorporation of the new generation SC6 material into the lower section AND a couple of new paint jobs.

It sounds like you probably do have two different designs. However, you would have to fully examine them to be certain.

Jim -

The "IPC" technology has to do with the way the pattern is cut. Generally this eliminates any straight lines which supposedly means there are less sudden changes in the taper and wall thickness of the finished blank. IPC, (gradual changes due to curved pattern transitions) are intended to minimize stress at specific locations.

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I thought that IPC had to do with the design of the mandrels. Instead of straight lines between each angle change on the taper it was a rational b-spline that went through the points where the taper transition would have occurred, but was a continuous smooth curve. In the old days of drawing mandrels up on a board the line and angle was all you could do, but now even the most rudimentary CAD system has no problems making a smooth curve between points, and with CNC grinders it is no problem making the parts.