I need to build someone a 10' 3wt or 4wt fly rod with fast action. (he would prefer 3 wt) I've had trouble finding a blank. Any suggestions? And to make it tougher, the guy wants a blank for a reasonable cost.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Well, we've got Sage Z-Axis 10' 4wts., but I doubt that will meet his "reasonably priced" request. Most of our lower priced 10' blanks start in the 5wt range.

You might check Dan Craft.

Mark Griffin
[]
C&M Custom Tackle
San Dimas, California

American tackle Matrix has a 9' 2PC Mod-fast 3 wt. If it is extended it may ?? be some thing

Bill - willierods.com

Bill, great suggestion. It seems like it would be an easy extension and easy to hide the transition under the cork grip. Does any one see an issue doing this?

Schneider's (on the left) carries a 10' 4wt.

The only thing may be it may not wind up being a 3 wt ??? Extending will give it a faster action, but then maybe a more powerful blank ??

Bill - willierods.com

If you want to extend and looking for a "fast" blank, consider the Batson Xtra Fast XF904-4.
Warranty may be affected though.
Here is a link;
[www.schneidersrods.com]

Here is a link to the 10" White River Tailored Blanks"
[www.schneidersrods.com]
They are "moderately fast"

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

Dan Craft carries both 10' 3 & 4 wt FT model blanks. These are very fast action blanks! The cost is certainly less than Sage, but the quality is not.

John

The Dan Craft FT and CTS Affinity X are available in 10ft 3wt 4 piece configurations. I don't have any experience with the FT but I have built some fly rods on his Sig V blanks and they are top notch. I do have a couple of CTS Affinity X blanks and they are awesome rods. Well worth spending the extra money for either brand but still less expensive than the Sage blank but in my opinion of the same quality.
There are very few fly rod companies offering 10ft 3wt rods as a factory rod too. Now I could be way off base here for offering an opinion on why, but it would seem to be for possibly two reasons. First would be demand. Its just not that popular of a configuration wanted by us fly rod folks. The second could be the possibility of the technology required to get a blank of that length and line weight to preform well, especially in the less expensive blanks. It kinda goes the other way too, you don't see many heavy weight fly rods in short lengths either, like a 8ft 10wt.
Just my thoughts.

Thanks for all the input. I'm much further along after adding this post. Rodbuilder.org is a great resource!!

Yes, Dan is probably your best choice for this configuration and reasonable price. His blanks are a great value and very good quality.

Most people going to 3wt blanks are looking for close-in light presentation situations in small streams. Usually not something that demands a 10' rod which is why the selection is very limited.

I'm sure your customer would be very happy with this choice.

Terry