Hi everyone!

I'm from Sweden and completely new to the world of rod building. I want to build myself a spinning rod (for fixed spool reel) to use for sea trout along the coast where I live. That means lure weights around 5-25g (up to around 1 oz) and rod length around 9-11'.

The problem is that although we have many rod builders here they are almost all only building fly rods. That means that it's very hard to find any good spin rod blanks. And importing them from the US (mudhole for instance) gets very expensive due to oversize packaging, customs, etc...

But then I read about a couple of people who made really nice spin rods from fly blanks. They cast really well and were a dream drilling fish on. That made me really interested in using a fly blank instead because that I could easily find here in Sweden of good quality.

But I thought I could throw the question to you guys and see what you think, and maybe help me what to look for in a fly blank. What class would be good? Action? Anything to look out for? Has anyone here done anything similar?

Most thankful for any help!

Karl

I dont know customs for Sweden but postage/packaging cost at Mud Hole is not expensive.
I live in France (europe too) and with custom and postage included, the cost is still correct for the MHX quality (very nice blank for me).

Eric MONTACLAIR Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I dont know customs for Sweden but
> postage/packaging cost at Mud Hole is not
> expensive.
> I live in France (europe too) and with custom and
> postage included, the cost is still correct for
> the MHX quality (very nice blank for me).

That was just something I was told by other rod builders here in Sweden.. I guess I have to chek what the shipping actually costs.

But I'm still interested in using a fly rod blank as my spinning rod, the guys who wrote about it was very happy with theirs. I like rods with deep soft action (maybe because they remind me of myself, haha).

What do you guys think?

/Kalle

Yes you can use a fly rod blank to build a spinning rod.

john

I've built 3 spinning rods with fly rod blanks. They are fun to use but you have to be careful with such a thing. If you treat it like a spinning rod you will break it. I high sticked a bluegill and broke two of them at the ferrule.

I've built several flyrod blanks into spinning rods, for a group of UL fishermen. Mostly 8 foot 4 wt. blanks. Once they learn how to cast them (quite a bit different than a normal spinning rod), they love them. No big differences in build mechanics from a spinning rod at all.

I have a 12 foot spinning rod made from a crappie rod blank. I use it with jigs up to 1/2 oz in the surf.

Prior to this rod, I used a flyr od blank and it worked quite well.

There was an article in Rodmaker about making a spinning rod from, I believe, was a flyrod blank. C2

Ok, sounds promising!

The next problem is choosing the right blank. Can you just translate the AFTM classes for the fly blanks to get a feel for what kind of lure weights it can throw? I mean AFTM class 10 is suitable for weights up to around 15,5 grams according to the classification. But the classification is based on the weight of the first 9 meters of flyline, and many have much more flyline in the air when they cast without any problems, so I guess my question is what class do you think would be a good choice if I want it about 10-11ft and be able to cast around 25g lures?

I've used a 5wt to throw 1/2oz to salmon/steelhead before buying a noodle rod.

Karl,

The problem with that reasoning is that not all 10-weights (nor any other weight) have the same power. One company's 10-weight rod is another company's 8-weight rod. They're not all numbered for casting the same amount (length) of the rated fly line.

............

Tom,

But the AFTM classes is based on the weight of the first 30 feet of the flyline, so in theory that should mean that the rods classification says something about the casting weights it could handle.. I'm a bit confused about all this so please correct me if I'm wrong!

Thank you!

/Karl

The AFTMA line rating is so intended, but the rod rating is not. With say, 5-weight rods, you may have one rod that is intended to throw a very long length of 5-weight line, while another is intended to throw a short length of 5-weight line - the weights involved would be very different. So they may both be labeled as "5-weight" rods but will have widely different powers.

..............

Karl,

I throw 7.5 to 10 gm lures (Mepps and Panther martin spinners)for Lake Superior browns that typically run 2 to 5 Kg. I use exclusively a 7wt fly rod blank in a spinning configuration. I use several manufacturers blanks and blank power does certainly vary by the manufacturer. Not sure about the size of your sea trout your catching but personally I would not use a blank rated for more than 9 wt moderate to medium fast action even for fish up to 7 to 8 Kg. It will probably handle lures up to 20 grams or so easily. Of course, as everyone has said here time and again blank power will vary with mfg. Not all 9 wts are created equal. It takes some experimentation to find what your looking for. In my case years, and once you find the right blank, buy a dozen of them because they will soon disappear and never be made again. Good luck, prepare to experiment, and happy fishing.

Craig



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/12/2011 10:18PM by Craig Johnson1.

Thank you all, you have made some what wiser and much more enthusiastic about this project!

I'll definitely get back to you with more questions when the time comes.

/Karl

I built a rod to throw about that weight lures out of a 10 wt blank. It works well enough, but even though it is a fast action fly rod, it's a slooow action spinning rod. If you like the deep flex aspects of a fly rod, you will be very happy with such a rod. If I were doing it again, I'd use a 12 wt blank.

Good luck.

Drew

Hello everyone from a newbie (amateur) in Poland :-)

This may be a bit of a sidestep from the fly blank-to-spinning rod theme, but about seatrout rods - Karl, why don't you check out German or Polish rodbuilders? They have quite a broad range of blanks available and can oblige as far as a rod of the sort you want is concerned. Shipping costs are rather civilised within the EU and no customs duties apply. Besides MHX blanks are now available direct from dealers in Europe for veeery decent prices.

Cheers,
Michal

P.S. Actually you can buy the blank and components in Poland or Germany and build the rod yourself ...