Thanks to advice on this board, I have 3 builds under my belt, 2 Batson RX7 spinning rods, and 1 Batson RX8+ Fly rod. The last two turned out far better than I deserved or expected, and are quite nice rods.

I'm looking to build another spinning rod for Coho fishing in Alaska, but I need it to break down into 4 pieces for travel, and 2 pieces for rigged carry when fishing (i.e. 3 piece will not work for me). Since there are few 4 piece spinning blanks available, and piles of 4 piece fly rods available, I was considering building this rod on a fly blank as an experiment. Further, since it's an experiment, I don't want to spend a pile of $$ on it and I was looking at some fly blanks both 10 weight and 12 weight. I read about the X/16 rule for lure weight-does that still apply in larger rods?

Any advice on which would be better for throwing Vibrax #4 sized spinners and about 12 pound test line? Is the plan even sound? I read all the threads about building spinning rods on fly blanks and vice versa, but none I could find addressed this heavy of a spinning rod. In an ideal world, a 4 piece Batson IST1085-4 would be perfect! But since that isn't available, I want the equivalent in a fly blank.

Drew

Drew,

Find a spinning blank that you would typically use. Record the specs for length, butt dia, tip dia, material used and blank weight.
Start pouring over 4-piece fly rod specs until you find the best match-up with your spinning rod specs.
Length, butt dia and material used are the chief specs to look for.
Make your best judgement as to how close you can match.


Eugene Moore

If you apply the x/16ths rule: A size 4 vibrax is 3/8ths oz i seem to recall. A 6 weight blank would work if you are not going bigger lures than that. A 6 fly should also deal with 10 to 12 LB class line.
I have used a TFO blank in 9 weight to build a spin/fly combo for a pilot that obviously travels a lot. I used Minima 4's in size 6 ( about a regular size 8 guide) as running guides and 16 then 12 as stripping guides. It does not cast as well as a regular spinning 27X setup on a similar blank would: but it packs well and gives him a pretty decent range of lure choices. (thanks for the idea Rodmaker!).
BTW: if you are enjoying making your own rods, try building your own inline spinners.

Thanks for the replies. The 6 weight would be too light I think. Normally we fish 8 weight fly rods, and for a spinning rod and these fish, it would need to be heavier. Typically a 9 foot spinning rod, 10-17 pound test line and 3/8-5/8 lure weight would be the specs I would like to see. Coho's are not Kings by any means, but we've caught them up to 18 pounds on past trips and over 15 they are a handful on an 8 weight fly rod.

On this yearly trip, the spin fishing is usually an after thought-we fly fish most of the day and then dink around for fun with the spinners when the fish aren't taking the fly or we're bored with the fly fishing.

That's a good idea about matching up butt diameters. The TFO TiCro-X in a 10 might fit the bill pretty well.

I also saw some heavily discounted Tiger Eye blanks in 10 and 12. These are cheap enough to get both!

Consider a Batson Forecast fly blank, F909-4DB or F9010-4DB.
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

I built a 10 wt Tiger Eye saltwater blank into a spinning rod recently. Took it to Baja. It casts very nicely, lures 1/2 to 3/4 oz. Sadly I didn't get to test it on any big fish. Great for travel and pretty cheap. Their saltwater blanks are a bit faster than the regular 2 or 4 pc blanks.

Lyman, thanks for the heads up. I went ahead and ordered a Tiger Eye 10 wt. - for $35!!! I hope the price does not reflect quality. If this works out, I'll build another later on a Batson RX8 or Mudhole MHX blank and give this one to one of my fishing buddies..