Have a customer who wants 2x 80lb standup game rods (bent butt) built and was wondering what differences of the standard E-glass 6455XXH (which I've built before), vs the equivalent Grafighter 7455XXH? I know the graphite composite gives you a thinner and lighter blank, but that advantage is a bit redundant once a unibutt and an 80W is strapped to it. Can anyone describe the real advantages of graphite composite with this style of fishing (or even disadvantages)?

The grafighter 7455XXH also appears to have a heavier line rating, but how much does the working curve of this blank differ from the 6455XXH?

Thanks in advance.

The only real disadvantage is cost (it'll be higher) and some loss of durability, although those are pretty tough blanks.

Watch any length differences - a longer rod offers the fish more leverage, but allows the fisherman to gain more line per "pump." With a chair, this isn't nearly as important as it is in a stand-up rod.

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Hi Dan,
I'm doing 4x 80lb with storabutts straight and curved. (components all arrived today.)and just jumped on here to find out abit more about them, got 4X 6455xxh for the job, taken 8'' off the butt to slide into the collet but dont know how much to take off the tip....?? never done these before and am open to any suggestions but you seem to be the man to talk to...as far as your questions go, I would say the GF would definately not have the same flex or working curve as the e/glass (eglass softer)....personally i couldnt see any point in having a GF on an 80 at all.

cheers
you might be able to help me out with this Tom.

The material the blank is made from has nothing to do with the curve (action) of the rod. It will affect response, but in such heavy rods that's not of great concern.

Action is determined mostly by taper, not material.

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so material is more for fine tuning the action is what your saying Tom.?
can you suggest the amount to cut off the tip of a 6455xxh in my last message.?

No, the material has nothing to do with rod action. Action is where the rod initially flexes. You can make an extremely fast action rod out of bamboo, and an extremely slow action rod out of high modulus graphite.

However, the heavier a rod is, the more slowly it's going to react and recover. Glass rods, generally being heavier power for power, will not react nor recover as fast as similar graphite rod blanks.

I really don''t know enough about your fishing situation to know what or even if to cut anything.

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