Just out of curiosity what is the longest and heaviest blank in production?

The longest rod I have ever seen was shown at a Rod Crafter seminar some years ago by Chris Ward from England. It was 40 feet long and it was in quite a few sections. Surpriseingly it was not heavy for it's size.. The rod is used for fishing tournaments in Europe and the specie targeted is Carp. No reel is used and the line is only a few inches from the tip with an extremely small hook. The fisherman stands on what appears to be a wooden platform and when a fish is hooked the rod is disassembled from the rear section by section until the fish can be brought in.
I know this is not the question you were looking for but I thought it was a interesting bit of trivia.

I would also assume that the European Match Rods are about the longest in use.

For length and weight, I'd think the Ulua blanks for Hawaiian surf fishing are about the most substantial out there.

............

Long Belly Spey rods at 16-18 ft??? Not sure how that compares. Not as heavy as surf rods for sure.

I grabbed these details from The Rodworks site of some Australian blanks, I own as lightly lighter 8144 which I still use quite a bit, the 9 is the number of wraps around the mandrel.

MT9144 2PCE. MEDIUM action. Length 3.66m, Tip 2.9mm, Butt 32.4mm, Cast Weight 100-125gms, Weight 480gms.

SU9177 1PCE. MEDIUM action. Length 4.40m long, Tip 4.7mm, Butt 35mm, Cast Weight 150-200gms, Weight 840gms.

A while back I got a 20' blank 4 piece from England for a guy in Hawaii.

Bill - willierods.com

Tom Kirkman Wrote:
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> I would also assume that the European Match Rods
> are about the longest in use.
>
> For length and weight, I'd think the Ulua blanks
> for Hawaiian surf fishing are about the most
> substantial out there.
>
> ............


I believe the longest and most powerful would go to the Conoflex Makoi Extreme. 14' 4" and mounts a Penn wide 6/0. I have done some casting demonstrations with this rod and always come away with new aches and pains. It takes a minimum of 9 ounces to start to load the rod (for a pendulum cast). Although 11 ounces is much better, I am not strong enough and it takes someone younger and more powerful to effectively cast it. There are more powerful Ulua rods, but they tend to be closer to 12'.

Once upon a time, my wife was with me at a shop and noticed a large rod on the dryer. She mentioned the lack of guides on the Ulua rod. The Ulua rod was a 20' to 24' off shore out rigger.

Don

Don Becker

Thanks for the responses to a completely random question, i appreciate it.