wonder about ultra light with extra fast action, what will this rod going to do with crappies as they have a soft mouth and easy to RIP but i still trying to figure out what techquice will be use on ultra light with extra fast as MHX 6' that has one 4-8 lb line and i wonder if anyone who has that kind of rod blank and what do u use for..
i'm trying to looking for a nice short fast action rod to use to fish around the dock as pitch in when u are on the dock for crappie..
i has releationshp that live on the lake and has shorelander and boat that sit next to dock and there a good shade under the dock and shoerlander that where i put my rod tip down and pitch and catch tons of crappies every year in august but will need to know why do ultra light that has extra fast action..

Josh

My go to is the Loomis SJ720 IMX, which is still available. If you follow the CCS, it's AA is 65 and ERN is 13.5. It's very light and will handle a 3 pound crappie very well. An AA of 65 is actually not extra fast (even though it's advertised as such), but the stiffness of the rod makes for an extra fast hook set.

Jason Cosby
Cos Rods

Josh,

I have an SJ720 as well and I love it. I don't think you can go wrong with the MHX equivalent. I use mine to fish some of the larger trout streams here in PA where I have the chance to get into browns that are 20" plus. I also love it for creek fishing for smallmouth and I occasionally use it on the local river for smallmouth. It does well for me on all but the biggest bass. I did catch a 5lb smallmouth on it last spring but I wouldn't recommend it for large bass!

I mostly throw Yo Zuri Pins Minnows with it along with Rebel Crayfish and F7 Rapalas.

jeremy

I have a pair of G Loomis SJ720 rods that I use for panfish and I absolutely love them. I also have a St Croix 3S63MLXF that does a great job. You can't go wrong with either ... both are fast, light and strong.

I have built several rods on the MHX SJ 720 blanks. I was looking for the ultimate Pond Rod so I cut 4" off of the tip of one for a little extra power & durability. ( I was inspired by a gloomis sj720 with a broken tip.) This is a bad little rod. I have landed many 3 to 7 lb.LMB with it and rarely lose one. It paired with saros 1000 reel and 10lb. braid. The full lenth blank is excellant for smb in streams. I feel this is an excellant small water blank with a price tag that you can afford to experiment with. I am also curious to see how this setup works when I begin to see 10 pound fish in my pond.

Josh, ultralight that do have extrafast action make for gud casting rod when yoosed to throw minnos which r impaled on hook. Xfast action make for soft tip which no rip out crappie mouth if don right. All rods which used what they intended for make for gud fishing xpereince when built to do what they were made to do. Soft tip is what u want to not make mouth of fish be removed. Let fish set hook and real him in for good meal.

Jeff,
Interesting idea to cut 4 inches off of the tip of this rod.
I imagine that with 4 inches cut off of the tip of this great blank, you have likely changed the action from an extra fast action to a slow action rod.
For certain applications, this would certainly be better for some applications.
But if you needed a rod with a softer tip, you will no longer have the rod for those applications.

Take care
Roger

Greg
This is a quote from you earlier ".Kirk, I'm sorry, but I'm a spelling freak and this is too good to pass up" What happened to you.

Rolly Beenen
Rovic Custom Rods

Roger,
What I was looking for was a small light rod that could move larger LMB and handle a slightly heavier bait. I fish this rod in an 18 acre lake in Georgia that we have been converting to a trophy bass pond. Initially we caught & removed 700 bass under 15". Most of them with more traditional style ultra light rods. The vast majority of 5lb.& over fish would throw the hook before I got a chance to weigh & measure them. I fish from a boat so my casts are focused on accuracy more so than length. I set this rod up with the ngc using 25,16, 6,6,6, and it is very light and sensitive.I may be speaking out of terms but this rod maintains its backbone very well and my right hand translates this to speed. With this setup my batting average has improved dramatically on larger sized fish and I am having a ball using it! I have fished passionately for most of my 57 years. Only been building rods for a couple and this is why I am hooked on it!

Jeff_Merrow Wrote:
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> What I was looking for was a small light rod that could move larger LMB and handle a
> slightly heavier bait.

I strongly suggest you give the St Croix 4S510MXF a try. It is my all-time favorite light bass rod. You can finesse fish OR drag a 10# fish out of cover. It is an amazing little blank and only 1.3 ounces.

Thanks Jim,
It looks like that blank should allow me to use bigger baits while keeping it small. I will make it a point to get my hands on one. Just when I thought I couldn't possibly need another fishing rod. YOW!

Jeff,
Your reply makes perfect sense, and it sounds like you created the perfect rod for your particular needs.
That is why they call this profession - Custom - i.e. you can make it any way that you like and you will be right.

Roger