Hey all,
I have been using these HT rods for panfish that are 7 feet long with a graphed-in tip or something like that. There is nothing like them, but they are fragile. I was thinking of custom building something like this, but I realize I will have to graft some blanks. Any ideas for blanks to use? Thanks.

I love my St Croix 3S70ULM2 with 11" Tennessee grip.

I built 2 crappie rods for my nephew on Batson IP840 blanks. He really likes them. They are available in RX7 and RX8 if I remember correctly. Decent price on the blanks, also.

Sorry, but I didn't post correctly....I have my own customized UL rods, but the HT panfish rods are some of the few ones with a grafted tip from an ice fishing rod making the tip very flexible for down rods and such. Any ideas on splicing ice fishing blanks into regular UL blansk and some areas to start looking to do the splicing properly so they're not as fragile as the HT ones? Thanks in advance!

Chia,
Actually, you can take nearly any of the commonly available solid glass ice blanks, and then use about a 3 inch overlap with the basic rod, to overlap the glass tip. Just cut the original blank, so that the glass tip will be able to slie nicely up the original blank for a good fit.

Before starting, take your ice rod blank, and first trim the tip to get the right overall tip action. Then, trim the butt section of the ice rod to give you the overall tip action that you want with about an added 3 inches to use for the splice.

After gluing up, and if possible place a guide on the splice, so that you can combine the guide wrap as the tip splice overwrap.

It will work well.

Take care
Roger

You might want to look at the Batson RDR70L blanks.
Very soft glass tip area blending into graphite butt area.
Tough blanks, but light in the hand, we have been building them for Trout and Panfish in this area and using 4# test line.
Here is a link;
[www.schneidersrods.com]

Best wishes,
Ron Schneider
Schneider's Rod Shop
Mountain Home, Arkansas
[www.schneidersrods.com]
mtnron40@yahoo.com
870-424-3381

Roger and Ron,
Thanks a lot! That's exactly the info I needed. Cheers!!!

Most people when talking ultra light spinning rods talk rods of 6 feet length or less. What a new world of fishing pleasure you'll find when you make an ultra light out of a # 3 or lighter fly blank, 7 12 feet in length. Yes they are fragile, but if you want to make a tougher one, go to glass. I made one as a sort of experiment this spring and it has come to be my go-to rod when the fishing gets slow. I put a 1/8 Norman Deep Tiny N on and work it very slowly. My best fish on it so far is a 22 " walleye, many 16-19 " largemouths, and a lot of specs, bluegills, and sunfish. The slow action casts so comfortably, with great distance, and when a fish hits, it just sets the hook by the progressive build-up of force on the blank.