G'day rodbuilders,

I'm a newish home-rod-builder from Australia about to embark on my 7th rod building venture. My first 6 builds have been:
2 13-17lb spin rods on 7ft Kilwell glass blanks
2 6-11lb light spin rods on 7ft Samurai blanks
a 7ft 20-50lb overhead heavy trolling rod on a St Croix SCII blank
a 6ft 6in2 piece 6-12lb St Croix spin rod for kayak fishing

One of the 7ft glass rods and the heavy St Croix were both built as gifts for my father who fishes for pelagics in Western Australia. The other glass rod was done for my neighbour and one of the light Samurai rods was also destined to be a birthday present. I have kept the kayak rod and one of the light Samurais for myself.

The bits of help/recommendations/hints I am seeking concern my next rod build project.

I'm looking to fill the following criteria:
* Around 6ft in length (maximum 7ft long)
* Graphite or composite material blank (not fiberglass or e-glass)
* Rated around 17-35lb
* Set up for a heavy spin reel
* 2 piece if possible, but I know that may make things difficult
I'll use EVA grips and most likely Fuji SiC guides.

It will be used for bottom fishing in fairly deep water (30 to 300ft) for (forgive me, I'm not too familiar with your American species) Snapper, Groper, small sharks, kingfish (which i think are failrly similar to your Amberjacks), Cod, etc, etc, and perhaps trolling for Tuna occasionally ........ basically fairly powerful fish that live in or near deepish water and are mostly found to weigh in around 20 to 40 pound.

I have had a close look at a friend's Shimano T-Curve which is around 6ft long and rated for PE3 to PE5 line and hope to make a rod very similar to it.

Between a rod building supplier here in Australia and a large supplier in the US some of my initial starting points have been the following blanks:
* Samurai NV-9 (7', rated to 33lb)
* United Composite US65H (6'6" rated to 33lb)
* United Composite US60XOS (6' rated to 33lb)

It is simply the breadth of their ranges that has hindered me in aiming in on a particular blank from St Croix and Loomis, among a few.

With the wealth of knowledge out there on this site, does anyone have any recommendations or hints with what blank I should start looking for?

I've had a pretty good search through this forum and can't find much that pertains to my particular predicament. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Kind regards, and many thanks in advance.

I'd go a bit heavier on the rod. I think one of your 40 pound kingfish would rock you up on most any 17-35 pound rod.

What do you think of the St. Croix you built for your dad? Would it do?

One I'm liking the looks of is the Phenix hybrid series. There are either a little longer or a bit heavier than you would like. They have some closer to what you want in the black diamond series but I hear they are not as nice. The phd760h-b looks perfect if you can handle 7'6".

For something cheaper that will do if you aren't using a lot of weight....try rainshadow rclb70m for pe3/pe4...or go rclb70ml for pe2.5/pe3. Very nice for the price. They are a live bait rod so the tip is a little soft for bottom fishing.

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

Thanks for the reply Russ.

I'm pretty happy with the St Croix rod but I'm still searching the horizon for something that might satisfy me a bit more, for the following reasons:

* The St Croix is a bit heavier than what I was ultimately aiming for. I'd like to find something just a tad lighter and with a bit smaller in the butt diameter.

* The action is a bit faster than I'd like to see in a bottom bouncing or jigging rod. The fast action in this rod will (hopefully) be great for trolling for mackerel but I'm looking for a blank to give me a working curve lower down into the rod than the St Croix gives.

I am happy with the quality of the St Croix blank - arguably I haven't had the chance to test it on a heavy, fast swimming machine like a 30lb Spanish Mackerel or a 40lb Southern Bluefin Tuna, but I think it'll work nicely.

If I had to go and get started tomorrow, I would probably head towards the Samurai NV9, but I'm not rushing into things, especially when it may end up being a $300 to $400 project.

Thanks very much for your input Russ, I'll keep searching here, there, and everywhere until I find something that really gets the juices flowing.

Cheers.