Hey guys. I am looking to build a rod for "shooting docks" with small crappie jigs. I am trying to take the cheapest route. I need a blank that is between 4'6 and 5' for the least amount of money I am on a budget and will want to build 5 of these one for me and the rest will be for my kids. any advice would be great

IMO, you need an extra fast blank. I don't know what it out there that meets your financial requirements. However, give your favorite vendor a call and go from there.

My favorite crappie rod is a drop-section fly blank but a less costly alternative, especially if your kids are tough on the rods, would be the lightest weight fiberglass blank you can find; the soft action makes it easier to flip light jigs with a side cast. If you want a faster action then the Mudhole unsanded blanks will work well enough.

I've built quite a few kids rods and would highly recommend an underspin reel instead of the traditional closed face push-button reel. With the push-button reel you need to teach the kids to move the rod forward and release the line by moving their thumb back; kinda awkward. The push-button reel also sits on top of the blank and the kids are fighting torque more then they would a crappie. The underspin reel replaces the push-button with a lever at the front of the reel and the reel sits on the bottom of the rod so no torque, and you teach them to move the rod forward and release the lever by pointing at the fish. Also, once they get a little bigger you can simply replace the underspin reel with a regular spinning reel.

I wouldn't suggest building them a rod themed on their favorite cartoon or movie character because next year they may be more "grown up" and won't want to touch the sponge-bob rod. They'll be more impressed if their rod has their name on it and looks just like your grown-up rod.

Ok my kids all have rods let me explain what we are gone be doing with these rods. We approach a dock in the boat, we take our rod in one hand and bait in the other. we point the rod where we want the bait to go, which is under the dock as far as you can get it. We pull the bait like a rubber band and release thus shooting the bait off the rod. There is no casting involved, I guess you could say we are using the rod like a sling shot. Sorry for not providing the info to start with. And by the way I am 32 and love my sponge bog, 4 piece, sage z axis lol so does my youngest son whom helped me build the most expensive sponge bob toy to ever be made but believe it or not the guys I fish with all over this country have tried to buy it countless times over after casting it. Cant part from it my though lol

batson spg601

Hello Bryan

Jann's Netcraft have some fiberglass rods for $9.95 ea. 5' 1pc. slow U/L 1/16-3/16 .360 butt 5.0 tip.
The P/N: 297-111.

Cheap sturdy and reliable.

Happy Sling Fishing.

Bob,

New Bern, NC.

Bryan,

Your post brings back great memories!

Way back when, my buddy & I tried to see just how much punishment a light FW rod & reel with a Zebco 202 & larger 606 could take. We would fish the salt water piers at Santa Monica, Hermosa, & Redondo with several light FW rods sling-shotting spinner & spoons & feathers to bonito & other species in a manner exactly the way you decribe except not targeting boat docks.

We broke more than a few rods "high sticking" them durring the cast (sling-shotting). We would just point the rod at the ocean, grab the lure, pull & bend the rod tip, then SHOOT the lure to the fish releasing the button on the reel! MAN! what a blast! Surprisingly though the Zebco reels held up quite well despite the punishment we put them though. Like I said, the rods, not so much. The few rods that were able to withstand such treatment were either Ugly-Stix or a mid/slow action glass blank which were able to handle the "high-sticking" that occures durring that type of so-called casts.

I suppose you could "side-shoot" and lessin the amount of "high-sticking" and get away with a faster action blank but I would highly recommend you stick with mid to slow action and glass construction. Mid-modulas graphite fast action blanks will NOT hold up as you will certainly break many a tip section just in "casting".

The right rod & reel though will provide a TON of pleasure though so HAVE FUN! I know I did!.

Raymond Adams
Eventually, all things merge, and a river runs through it..

There is a film from 1956, on youtube search "1956 World Champion Spin Casting Demonstration " at 2:50 he does an "underhand flip" with the fiberglass rod. The tip bends beyond 180 degrees on the cast. In slow motion it's beautiful. Another one is "High Speed Video of Ultralight Spin Casting" pretty cool.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/30/2012 11:30AM by Greg Foy.

I also recall the ole Slingshot cast from some 45-50 years ago. Managed to drive a treble clear through my finger! Suggest a good pair of safety/sunglasses; the 'tension' vector of the rod/line is much more inline with ones face than with a normal cast.

Hi Bryan,
A shame that Shakespeare do not make Ugly Stiks blanks available any more as they would be pretty good for what you want to do. Ken Preston told me that Gator blanks are very similar to Ugly Stiks so they would be well worth a look. I've got no idea of the price of them but if your going to buy five then you will get a good deal. You might have to chop a bit off the butts to get the length you require but just make sure what your left with will do the job you want before you make any cuts. Several of the sponsors on the left carry Gator blanks and if their similar to Ugly Stiks then you wont have to worry too much about "high sticking" or broken tips. A few more dollars spent on the right blank for what you want to do with them may save you a lot of cash and effort in the long run.

ESFNEM Col
Port Kembla, NSW
Australia

Raymond ,you hit on the head, spent alot of time out there on hermosa pier casting bubbles and feathers to bonita and the rare yellowtails. The macks would just mess everybody up that didnt know how to control them 3 at a time. Food was cheap then, burger, fries and a coke 2.50, pack a smokes 1.10. What great times. Sold macks for 50 cents apiece. 85,86,and 87. Let the good times roll. Oh, and "Flip Jack" on the strand.

Kern Davis, Lady Lake Fl.