i need to find a blank that is going to be used for cranks baits that is between 6'6" and 6'9". the tip needs to be no more than a size 5.5 in order to work with the micro guides. any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. thought i had found one but the tip was a 6, if this would work please let me know. thanks.

Maybe a Castaway Blank 803 Its from one of the sponsers to the left, Swampland.
6'8" Length
Line # 10 - 17
Lure Oz. - 5/16 - 3/4
PWR - Med
Action - Mod
Butt Dia. - 0.586
Tip - 5.5
Wt. Oz. - 2.3

WES...CHECK OUT THE LINK TO MIDWEST ROD AND REEL...WE STOCK THE BATSON CRANK BAIT ROD BLANKS...THERE ARE A FEW THAT WOULD WORK WELL FOR YOU [www.midwestrodandreel.com]

Bill@midwestrodandreel.com
www.midwestrodandreel.com

St Croix is my personal choice ... [stcroixrods.com].

They do meet your requirement of a 5.5 or less tip sleeve. However, you can get larger tips AND you can do other things to accommodate. I wouldn't allow tip diameter to stop you from picking the blank that best suits your fishing needs.

the customer i am building this for wants as light a rod as possible. he wants microguides, skelton reel seat, eva foam, and wants it in a Med. Lt. action. thanks again for the suggestions though.

Last I checked, they make micro tops to size 6, maybe larger. Why are you limiting yourself to a 5.5?

jeremy

acid rod has micro tips with SiC rings and tubes up to like 7 or 7.5.

should be able to use a blank you want. I have a setup like the one mentioned built on an rx7 CB66M. Very light rod - i've actually almost thrown the thing out of my own hand a few times. I only use it for poppers though, too short to be a decent cranking rod IMHO. If it was a spinning rod it would be better.

Regards,
-Justin

Since you are speaking of a medium light rod, what lb test line rating are you talking about.
Most of the medium light rods, that I build on, have a line rating of 6-10 lbs.

If that is the case, most of these blanks have a tip size of 4-5, so the tip should be no problem at all.
The St. Croix wild river blanks make excellent crankbait rods.
Basically, I think that for an excellent crank bait rod, you want a rod with a moderate to slow action, and possibly with some fiberglass in the blank, to soften the action.. i.e many of the best crank bait rods are commonly called a composite rod.

As Bill has said from Midwest, many of the Batson blanks are specilized just for pitching crankbaits. Also, there are specialized crankbait rods in the St. Croix line as well. Mud hole has their MHX blanks with specialized crankbait blanks.

Before picking a blank, be sure to know the weight lure you want to pitch, the line weight of the line you expect to pitch as well.

Good luck,
Roger

[rodbuilding.org]

[rodbuilding.org]

Shortening the butt of a 2 power popping rod blank would make a decent med light crankbait blank I think.

Call Bill at Midwest Rod and Reel. He has some nice crankbait blanks and service second to none.