I'm fairly new to rod building, with only a handful of rods under my belt. I recently built an panfish rod for my dad ACSJ781. He's already wanting another rod to add to his arsenal. I'm thinking a IP840 with a tennessee handle. What is the best material for a tennessee handle? Or any other suggestions for the setup?

Typically, I set a spinning rod up with a 25, 16, 10, (sometimes a 7or6), then the rest 5 or 4s. Would you recommend a different configuration?

Thanks

Jeremy,
Welcome to this wonderful thing that we all call rod building.

A handle grip may be made of any material you like.
EVA foam, Hapalon, Cardboard, plastic tubing, rubber, burled cork, natural cork, some type of wood, or carbon fiber.

All of these materials have been found on rods in the past from other builders.

If one were to pick one handle material that gives light weight, a nice look and a good rod - many many folks will choose natural cork.

If you want to save money, save money on installation and material , then the choice is EVA foam.

For either of these materials, there are ready made handles on the market that can be bored to match the taper and size of the rod blank slipped on the blank, gluing on with a 2 part epoxy as you do.

For a pan fish rod, with light line, you could likely drop the size 25 guide down to a size 20 leaving the rest of the guides the same.

Good luck and good fishing.
Roger

Any real discussion has to take into acount what he is fishing for and how he is doing it...plus what reel will be used. The spin jig he already has will typically be faster in action and have a stronger tip than the same power rod in a popping blank. For ultra light pan fish don't overlook fly rod blanks.

There is a post below on Tenn handles that might help.

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

I would suggest not dropping the #25 until you are sure what size reel you are going to be using.

J.B.Hunt
Bowling Green, KY

Jeremy,

The IP840 is a great blank choice. For the guide selection, if he will be using nail knot slip bobber stops, I would go with 5mm running guides. It's not something I do often, but I discovered the hard way that the bobber stop did not cast well through the 3mm guides on one of my panfish rods. I haven't tried 4s yet to see how they work, but I know the 5s pass the stops just fine. I really like a split Tennessee handle for my spinning rods.

Joe

Personally I like using the carbon fiber tubes for a Tenn handle. I really like the look and feel of the tubing and to me seems to feel lighter than anything else.