Hello fellow rod builders!
So I live on the east coast and I'm a fairley new builder. I know how to build rods, but the fundamental of understanding the material make up is taking longer for me to grasp and its application. I primarily build saltwater rods and I want to be more knowledgable in my blank selections. I feel comfortable with E-glass because I know that it will hold up with the extreme abuse that saltwater fisherman put them through and I have used e-glass rods mainly all my life. I love the versitility that E-glass give a fisherman. Its hard to suggest a blank to my customers that I have never personally used before and I dont have the money to throw around to buy a bunch of blanks to try out myself so I need yalls help. I have been doing some reading on S-glass and the difference in opinions out there. So please give me some insight on the difference between the two and any other suggestions on a blank that you personally have fished and like. I'm looking to find a blank that you can troll for striper, but if a nice 300lb blue fin comes along you wont have a problem handling the fish. This happend alot this year. We had bule fin tuna with in a mile off the coast of VA/NC and lots of people that were fishing for striper were hooking up to these schools of blue fin running through. Thank you for reading my post and taking the time to respond. It is greatly appreciated! I apologize for any gaps of information that you might want to know from me.

S-glass has a higher modulus than E-glass. It's stiffer and stronger by weight. However, because of that, you don't need as much of it to build a rod of the same stiffness. so you wind up with a less substantial structure.

It would be wrong, however, to assume that an S-glass blank wouldn't be up to the task. It's tough, strong and as far as most glass goes, light.

The durability in a blank or rod comes as much from the structure (wall thickness, etc.) as it does from the material it's made from.

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How about performance? Does it flex less because of it being stiffer? and does it have more lifting power with less flex? I think that I have this mental block with using other blanks other than E-glass. I just cant get over the fact that I think some of these high modulous and medium modulous blanks are just good for light to medium sized species even if their specs say otherwise. Just because they tend to be more delicate so to speak. I just have this tendency to be over kill with my rod selection for the species.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/24/2012 08:54PM by Andrew Cake.

If the power (and action) is the same, then it will flex the same amount under the same load. Which weighs more, a pound of feathers or a pound of lead?


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I see what your saying. Thank you Tom!

These are tough questions to answer because a rod or blank is much more than just the material it's made from - the particulars of the structure involved are very, very important. Without specific models to compare, we're speaking in very general terms at best.

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I understand and I was just looking for a general overview. This is where my inexperience shows haha. Thanks for answering my questions.

There's a huge difference between even a 50# Striper and a 300# Blue Fin Tuna.
You can't expect one rod to be ideal for both.
If you use heavier than necessary rig for the stripers you'll wear yourself out for no good reason.
And if you're under matched in a brawl with a brute you'll pay the price.

Have you considered bringing one rod for each?
The Seeker Hercules Inshore Medium will handle the Stripers...
while there are heavy models for the BFT.

I suggest you give Billy Vivona (see NERBS on the sponsor list)
and let him give you the specifics.

You didn't mention the reel you plan to use for both types of fish.
I hope it's an Accurate or something similar in strength and hold lots of line.
Those tuna can peel off line like mad.
A two speed reel would be helpful as well.

There's a huge difference between even a 50# Striper and a 300# Blue Fin Tuna.
You can't expect one rod to be ideal for both.
If you use heavier than necessary rig for the stripers you'll wear yourself out for no good reason.
And if you're under matched in a brawl with a brute you'll pay the price.

Have you considered bringing one rod for each?
The Seeker Hercules Inshore Medium will handle the Stripers...
while there are heavy models for the BFT.

I suggest you give Billy Vivona (see NERBS on the sponsor list)
and let him give you the specifics.

You didn't mention the reel you plan to use for both types of fish.
I hope it's an Accurate or something similar in strength and hold lots of line.
Those tuna can peel off line like mad.
A two speed reel would be helpful as well.

One of the really neat things about building your own rods is the ability to pick a totally different tool than the norm. I know it is costly to experiment but in the long run it pays off. For big tuna and billfish I would pick a glass rod. I wouldn't for darn near anything else.

You should treat yourself to a composite rod. I doubt you will go back to straight e-glass afterwards. For trolling and bottom fishing lamiglass GCBT series are great. I think you could move a truck with them and the are pretty close to unbreakable. Very stiff rods though so not a live bait blank. Others tri-flexs will do though but you need to look at things like their kayak series. For live bait rainshadow RCLB series are a top value choice and are cheap enough to try on a whim.

Google up NERBS and take a look at the bend and weights Billy is putting on those hercules blanks. Any doubt of strength will be removed.

Oh, totally agree that any rod/reel combo up to landing 200 pound plus tuna is way too much rod for any striper. I'd be looking at calstar and international for that job......and probably adding a fighting chair to the boat!

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

Well as anyone knows who has spent some time on the water, if you know how use your equpment right, you can catch fish way beyond the specifications of your rod. Most people that are fishing for striper, especially in a trolling situation, have reels that are waaaaaayyyy over kill for the job. Ex. penn 50 and 80's. and it also depends if you use braided or mono for you huge difference in line capacity. I do believe there is a blank that you can use, and yes its gonna lean more towards the slightly over kill for the striper, but if you have done and sort of saltwater fishing , you know as well as I know, its hard to just target one species. In a trolling situation, you cant decide if a striper is gonna bite your rig or if your gonna hook up to a big tuna. It happened to me and a lot more people this season. thats the joy of offshore/neearshore fishing. Its so unpredictable alot of the time. I've seen people fish for spanish and blue fish and hook up to king mackerel or cobia, species usually waaaayyy beyond the size capability for a blank that you would normally use to catch bluefish on. So I do not see a problem with allowing the versitlity in a blank selection for a wide variety of species. i say its a lot easier to accomplish in fresh vs. salt.

One example that might help is the Lamiglas BMB 84 1E E glass and the no longer made SMB 84 1E S glass. Both had the same line and 1/2 to 1 1/2 oz. lure ratings, and were very similar in use, the S glass version was 3/8 Oz. lighter.
Seeker has some pretty good info on their site on the different materials if I remember right. I just built one of their new Super Seeker S glass/graphite composite salmon blanks that I like very much, and have used a few Super Seeker saltwater rods that were also very nice.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/25/2012 10:50AM by Spencer Phipps.

The thing is, you can take the highest modulus graphite and use it to build a rod that is virtually indestructible. And you can take a material such as E-glass and make a rod that is so fragile that it must be handled with kid gloves.

Just remember that the material alone does not determine how durable a rod will be.

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I agree with that Tom. So here is what I decided to go with.... Gorilla Series CBSW54XXH. It seems to be a pretty versitile rod to fish both striper and tuna. I'll prolly cut the tip down a bit, but not too much. I have never used this blank before, but the reviews on it seem to be very impressive. What do you think?

I know a lot of people trolling for Stripers, none of them using 50's or 80's.

A 50 or 80 for striper?

Russ in Hollywood, FL.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/26/2012 11:50AM by Russell Brunt.