I have a guy looking for a nice catfish rod. He's looking for a spinning rig 7' long for fishing cutbait. I'm not sure where to begin looking for a blank.

How big are the Catfish he is targeting ? That is the first I would need to know in selecting a blank.

J.B.Hunt
Bowling Green, KY

We have the Red River of the north in our back yards up here. Channel cats anyhere from 5-30lbs. Most guys target the bigber ones using large cutbait and 3-5oz bank sinkers.

Has anyone built on the value e-glass series from Mudhole?

i built on one of the mudhole glass blanks for catfish. they are a great rod for that. i built one for a guide on Santee cooper who i am told holds the lake record somewhere near 100lbs. it was a gift from his nephew who i work with. they are durable and inexpensive. look at the light version for what you are looking at and they should be fun

i missed the weight you were throwing you may look at the medium version. i cant think of them right now, but the light ones have caught 30lb redfish to give you an idea

John,
Thank you. This is very helpful.
Josh

I second the mudhole e glass blanks... I have built 6 for a local guide/tournament and he loves them. I use the SPSWB7M and he is using them for channels as well as large flatheads and blues. Biggest to date was 65 lbs. I spiral wrap them and it seems to work out great. If your looking for a live bait rod check out the AXLB70M from american tackle. They have a very fast tip and plenty of power. Same guide uses these when the waves get big. The fast light tip helps keep the bait on the bottom when the boat is rocking.

Great suggestions above. I haven't built on any of these,,,yet. I have built 5 on the Rainshadow RCLB70ML live bait blanks which is an E Glass blend with a very soft tip and enough power to hoss in the big ones, and the price is right. The guys love them. They are after 40-65 lb Blues and Flatheads fishing the deep holes in rivers.

J.B.Hunt
Bowling Green, KY

I second the Rainshadow RCLB line. Personally I prefer the 8’ section (RCLB80L and RCLB80M). They have a very good tip action for live bait and an excellent power curve of circle hooking cut bait.
Another option in a composite on the lighter side would be a RDR86MH.
For a good graphite blank in RX7, look at the SW967. This is my all time favorite all around Catfish blank. We used this one with great success last season.

Andy Wolfram
Sales Associate
Midwest Rod & Reel
www.midwestrodandreel.com

Do you know if he beats up his tackle. If so, stick with glass. If not, you can drop into the composites. Not that they arent durable, but in some cases, sometimes the more forgiving choice is the right choice even if it weighs more.