I am going to be buy a Predator heavy musky blank from Thorne Bros and I was wondering what kind of effect would trimming some off the tip have. I don't want to upgrade to the XH, but would like the tip to be just a little bit stiffer to handle figure eights more effectively. How much should I trim? Will an inch make a huge difference?

Whether you shorten a blank from the butt or the tip the action will be slower and the power will be less. You're looking at a 9' blank so I really don't believe taking an inch off will result in a noticeable difference for you. If you shortened it by 6" you would have a noticably slower rod but you might not like the accompanying loss of power.

If cost is an issue for not wanting to go with the Predator XH you may want to consider Rainshadow muskie blanks from one of our forum sponsors, Midwest Rod and Reel, that may be a better value.
[www.batsonenterprises.com]

Thanks,
Chad Huderle

Huderle Custom Rods
Prior Lake, MN

If you know what you are looking for performance wise, you wil know what needs to be trimmed off teh tip to get what you want out of the rod. You have to have the blank in order to do that though. I trim the tips on about a third of the rods I build, I just cut 12" off the tip of 3 blanks this AM - in general when you trim the tip you will increase the amount of weight a rod can handle, and you will slow the action of the rod down. YOu do not increase the power of the rod though. With graphite rods you have to be really careful, cutting a little off can go a long way, expecially with faster action rods. Fromwhat you postd it sounds like you are familiar with the H rod, you've fished it, and you wish the tip was a tad stiffer. IF oyu have access to a finished rod, you can tape the lin e1" fromteh tip (right on teh blank), and see how the rod will handle (basically simulating the rod trimmed 1")

Matt,
I recently did exactly that. i.e. I Purchased a Predator Heavy action blank from Thorne brothers and needed a stiffer tip. I chopped 1 1/4 inches off of the tip and I now have the exact action that I need. . The folks at the rod building shop do that all of the time. i.e. to stiffen the blank a bit, chop the tip a bit. Just don't chop too much.

Wonderful blanks and the finished rods came out exactly as desired for the customer.

Be safe
Roger

When you get it just tie a line an inch back from the tip and hang your intended lure from there. Shake it around a little and you'll get a feel for how it'll work.

Pretty cool how you can change the action/performance of a blank just by trimming an inch or so. That's what custom rod building is all about!! We trim the rods we build for gator hunting/fishing. It gave us the perfect balance with a tip just soft enough to keep the hooks from pulling yet stiff enough to sink the hooks home.

Tight Lines and Bull's-eyes,

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