I have been building rods for some time now. Al except fly rods. I started building fly rods about 4 years ago and estimate I have finished 20-25. I have bvuilt from 4-12 wts (big range) When I first started I bought about 6 blanks at a time to save on freight and take advantage of discount pricing. I probably have 25 or more blanks from various manufacturers on hand. I build for experienced fishermen with above average casting skills. Mostly my customers are return customers who have purchase my popping or casting rods.

I have always bough the "fastest" blonks offered in the lower price ranges. Some are described as "Fast" and others "Moderately Fast". But most of my customers tell me my rods are not fast enough. That when they compare mine to other more expensive fast rods I fall short. Many of my customers can drop a fly in a hat and do "tricks" with a fly and line. They say they must "wait" too long on mine.

Question, why can't I buy fast blanks that perform like fast blanks in a moderate or lower price range? Is the speed of a rod directly proportionate to the cost?

Everyone loves my quality, I do some verry unusual thread, cork, and inlays that alwayus get high compliments. It just seems to me there should be some "fast" offerings that would satisfy my customer wants. In closing, let me add that I am not a caster due to psysical handicaps. I do consider myself a very good builder as far as eye appeal.

I have found some very good moderately priced popping blanks through the years but Idon't seem to have any luck when it comes to fly blanks
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Thanks for informed answers

What do you mean by "fast?" "Action" is where the rod initially flexes. A fast action rod simply flexes, initially, in the upper 1/3rd of its length.

"Speed" is how quickly it reacts and recovers. I suspect the later is what your customers are after.

To get a quicker reacting and recovering rod, you generally have to move to a higher modulus material. This increases the manufacturer's cost, the cull rate is greater and therefore the selling price is higher.

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

My experience has been that premium blanks are the best dampened blanks, and thus improve the rod's casting performance by minimizing the amplitude and perhaps frequency of shock waves traveling down the line during the cast. I suspect the design and construction of the line itself also enters into this area.

What are you using for guides? You can improve the performance of any rod by eliminating any excess guide weight. You will still be limited by the ultimate performance limit of the blank, but remember every gram you add to the blank reduces its performance so do everything you can to reduce it as little as possible.

A blank has it's BEST performance BARE
Once handles guides finish are added the blank has to HANDLE this weight and it slows it down

So like said The lightest and smallest that will do the job and pass knots will be your best
This can also get pricey

Bill - willierods.com

I don't know what moderately priced means to you but Batson's Rainshadow RX8 fly series sounds like just what you want. They are fast, crisp, lots of reserve power to fight the fish. Extremely nice for an import. If you are on their website, the price listed there is discounted 25% if you buy from Utmost (and maybe others). I'm a hobby rod builder, but these are what I build to give to my fishing buddies to give them a nice rod without breaking the bank.

More on the expensive side the, St Croix SCV fly blanks are even better. These are my favorite. If funds were unlimited, I think they would be all I build. While not quite as expensive as a Sage blank, they are still very expensive. I want to try the St Croix SCIV/II rods which are half the price of the SCV, that would be another option to try.

The Mudhole MHX blanks are good, (though I've only built 2) but not as quick in the hand as the two listed above. I liked the 5wt better than the 8wt but both are nice casting rods, and the blanks appear to be very well made. The 8wt reminds me a lot of my 8 wt Z-Axis, and since the blank is 1/3 the price, it's a better buy.

I agree with Mike above, that keeping the guides light and the wraps short, makes for a crisper feeling rod. I use mostly REC snakes for that reason.

The tough part is, casting is very psychological/subjective. What one person thinks is ideal, another might think is too stiff, or not enough power, or whatever. I fall into the camp that feels the CCS does not tell the whole story. It's very good to start comparisons though. If you put a Sage sticker on a cheap rod, most fly fisherman will think it casts better-(just kidding, sort of)

Drew

Some rods will actually need to be overlined so curious what blanks you have been using and what factory rods were used in comparison.

I think most fly anglers don't understand action versus power, and describe a stiff rod as fast. I believe the ERN of some factory rods are much higher than the line rating. You could use the Common Cents System to analyze their rods and see if you have a similar blank.

Greg

A simple thing to do if you don't like how the rod -- FEELS -- is to try different lines on it
Line ratings are not written in stone

Bill - willierods.com