I'm looking for some recommendations for a 8 or 8 1/2' blank to throw 1/16-1/32 oz jigs. Will a 3 or 4 wt fly blank work?

Thanks

I've done several 3 weights for a Texas redfish fisherman. Built them all on Batson's Rainshadow RX7's IF-903. These are built as baitcasters, but the guy loves them. . He's caught some decent size fish on em' as well.

Ron, you may also want to consider a salmon/steelhead blank. They may have a little more backbone than a fly blank. Just a thought.

I agree with Greg on this one , the Salmon/Steelhead blank would be my choice for the reason he stated. Fly blanks are quite limber for my use and I throw a lot of small jigs for Crappie.

J.B.Hunt
Bowling Green, KY

I'm not an expert on this but I believe that the longer your rod is, the higher the weight you may want to go up. At 7 to 7 1/2 feet, 4 wt is great. So 8 1/2 feet may have a high CCS 4 wt or low CCS 5wt? Just a suggestion - not a solid prescription.

Mo

I'm not an expert on this but I believe that the longer your rod is, the higher the weight you may want to go up. At 7 to 7 1/2 feet, 4 wt is great. So 8 1/2 feet may have a high CCS 4 wt or low CCS 5wt? Just a suggestion - not a solid prescription.

Mo

Ron, a 3-4 wt will work nicely with those jigs in terms of casting. Regarding species/size of fish, hooksetting, and general working of a lure the 3 wt has some limitations. I love my 9' 3 wt spinning rod, but the next will be a 5 wt for broader apllications and that's my suggestion for a starter.

Down at the 3 wt range it's a great panfish rod and if that's the intent, go for it. If you may be fishing in current and encountering species that'll go a few pounds or trying to set a tex-tucked plastic in the lip, bump it up to a 5 wt.

Even the longer 8 wt flyrod blanks will throw light lures well, it's the other aspects that beg for consideration. Whatever the choice, it'll be a fun rod! This I know.

Thanks for the advice guys. My intentions are for this to be a pan fish rod, so I may give the 3 wt a try.

For those of you that have built one of these, did you find anything special about guide spacing?

Guide spacing doesn't change, general rules apply to all blanks.

check out bthe sevier tiger eyes they have a 8' or 8' 6" spin cast blank that sounds to be what your looking for iam building one right now and there a great price to

Ed Barron

In general, fly rods, salmon-steelhead rods and general purpose spinning rods are constructed with less power in their lower half than casting and spinning blanks used for bass and saltwater fishing. A light fly rod blank will certainly do what you want to do but it will not have the amount of reserve power in the butt that the more modern "mag" taper rods do.

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If you are looking for a panfish rod, stay away from the steelhead/salmon rod blanks. They are way too heavy. I haven't gone as long as 8 or 8 1/2, but I built a spinning rod off a 7 1/2 foot 3 weight fly blank, and it is awesome. It has become my go to rod when the fishing gets slow and I have to go small. I've caught bass to 19 and walleye to 22, and it works. You just have to be patient. For casting light lures it loads beautifully, is very comfortable, and casts the light stuff so much more comfortably and longer than a normal spinning rod. The 3 weight fly blank builds into a great ultra light panfish rod. I used an AMF 763, if I remember correctly. If you want to see a pic of the handle setup, let me know. It's not conventional. Don't get caught in the conventional thinking that you need a regular foregrip, a regular butt grip, etc. Minimize with the right design and it can be a memorable rod.

Thanks, I'd love to see it. I had some ideas, but always like to see what others are doing.