Can anyone recommend a blank and components for a Black Drum Rod. A friend of mine went on his first Drum trip this year in the Delaware Bay and is hooked. Now he has asked me to put a rod together for hime. Ideally the build with material should be under $150. Thanks for any suggestions.

How big are the fish, what size line, and what kind of bait does your friend use? A live bait blank would be a good choice.

$ 150.00 ?????

Bill - willierods.com

You don't need anything special. Any good moderate to moderate-fast, #20-25 glass blank would suffice. I would go 5'-6" to 5'-9" depending on the person. A blank with good backbone is the key to hoist them up off the bottom. Since there is no casting involved I'd focus on a low weight, good backbone blank.

I have a set of Lamiglass BRT20 that I built conventional for Drum and Cobia. Combined with a Penn 320GTi full of #50 braid, makes for a nice setup for these fish.

I fish for red drum in the Laguna Madre in South Texas. I just made a Mudhole MHX Rod # SJ842 and it is awesome. First time out I caught a trophy red that I am getting mounted. I fish with soft plastics (Gulp).
It has feel to it and compares to a Gloomis Rod that I also use. My friends say that. As much as I paid for the Gloomis I hate to say anything is comparable to it (LOL). I am on my second rod for my son. It is a SJ843, designed for a little heavier line, I will have to see which one I like best. But Mudhole's MHX models seem to be pretty good.

I use Batson RCLB70M for stripedbass and Black Drum in the Bay, Great blank Can be used Spin or Conv



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/09/2011 08:32PM by Barry Thomas Sr.

Many would see the price you have posted as an impossible limit. I'll suggest you will get more answers in you put a price on just the blank. Barry has suggested one that I think offers good value. It is around 50 bucks. To me, by the time you add decent guides, grips, and reel seat I don't see how you can make a profit. But maybe you are just looking to cover materials and build a rod for a friend for free? That would change the equation a lot.

If you need to go cheaper mudhole had gator glass blanks on closeout, utmost has closeouts now and then that would do also.

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

Call Lance at Swampland and tell him you want to catch black drums. He has a selection of latest and also some closeout castaway blanks that are great for drum.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/10/2011 08:05AM by Lou Auret.

Barry mentioned the RCLB70M and I would agree. That blanks is VERY tough and has a soft tip for feeling the bite while avoiding pulled hooks. We use the RCLB80L and XL on our tournament tarpon rods for 200lb fish with locked down drags and never have any issue turning the fish.

Tight Lines and Bull's-eyes,

Get Bit Outdoors
407-542-7840
www.GetBitOutdoors.com
www.facebook.com/GetBitOutdoors

Talk to someone who's familiar with bottom fishing for grouper. That's very similar to the black drum fishery in Delaware Bay: you're basically lifting big, slow fish off the bottom. Find out what the blanks grouper boys use, and go from there. I think that if you're OK with a glass blank, $150 is probably doable.

Yeah the build is for a friend so the build would be free. The RCLB70M looks like what I will be going with. He is telling me that he wants it built as a spinning rod so I am assuming double foot guides or should I talk him into a conventional setup?

A spinner could be made to work here, but a good conventional would be way better. You'e essentially winching big fish up from the bottom, and a conventional, to me anyway, is way better at this than a spinner is. Get a beefy conventional like a Daiwa Saltist, which is available with or without a levelwind, and make the rod a spiral, and you'll get, for my money, the best kind of rod for this application there is.

I also agree that th RCLB70M is a good choice for this. It's got a very soft tip, which will let you feel the bite, but plenty of power in the butt for fighting fish. I've learned recently that these Batson live bait blanks have an almost infinite number of applications: they do a lot of different things very well.

Last Time out we caught both fish (60-68#) on a spinning rod with a Shimano Baitrunner 4500 with no problem and a very good fight!

Seeker Hercules Inshore Heavy, some MN Alconite guides, Fuji DPS seat EVA grips, Fuji BRC seat and you're all set. I have the kit for $155 on my site: [northeastrodbuilders.com] which includes all the components mentioned. I am out of stock on Black Alconite, but I have Chrome Alco's in stock.

I suggest you find out what reel he is going to use on this rod and size accordingly. It would make no sense at all to mount a 3XXX or 4XXX series spinning reel on a #20-50 blank.

Having fished for Black Drum in the Bay for the past 35 some odd years, I would question the recommendation for a 7’ rod given the close quarters that often accompanies this type of fishing. Playing Bumper boats when hooked up with a fish is not uncommon. I would also check to see if his rod racks will hold a 7’ rod. Out of the 10 racks I have on the boat, only two of them will store a 7’ rod.