I have a gentleman who may be ordering my first for profit build. He and I will be discussing color scheme (matching his boat), and other specifics. From a brief discussion I understood the following: He fishes Long Island Sound and is looking for a fluke jigger (maybe several). His preference is 7'-7'-6 length, with a light tip, but a fair amount of backbone and I get the impression he would like the rod to shut down before it reaches the foregrip. He uses bucktails from 1 - 4 oz and usually drifts them. He has not yet made up his mind if he wants conventional, spiral or spinning gear. And, the rod must be as light as possible as he fishes for long periods of time and heavy rods tire him out.

From what I could see from a brief look into the vendors is that some of the Musky/Saltwater blanks seem to fit the bill such as the Lami LGM's, MHX, etc. Any ideas for a blank would be greatly appreciated. There is no budget yet so any suggestions would be considered.

Thank you.

Check out Billy V's Hercules blanks

Hay Billy Thanks for the info

Bill - willierods.com



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/07/2012 02:58PM by bill boettcher.

John,

Look up Capt. Neil Faulkner. This type of build is right in his wheel house. I was able to spend some time in his shop one day a couple years ago. You may be surprised at what he recommends using. He showed me some blanks used for this type of fishing, and I was amazed. They weren't what I expected at all when he told me the jig weights involved. It was a good learning experience.

Joe

For the Sound look at Mag Bass 2, 3, or 4 power blanks. IMO the Musky blanks are terrible they are way too stiff. But each person has their own like/dislikes. It's more important that the rod is balanced properly than it is super light. General rule of thumb for rods like this is you can double the lure rating and add an ounce to figure out how many ounces the rod will handle. Flat out the best blank for this has not been available for 15 years, the DNY Impact, which I got 3 of from Captain Neil and recently picked another one up. I'm a hoarder, lol.

I built one last year on an HMX MB 843 and the customer loved it.

• 7’0”
• 10-17# line weight
• ¼-3/4 oz. lure weight
• Fast action
• Med-heavy power

John Gaylord
Keewaydin Custom Rods
Dublin, OH; Naples, FL
jgbuckeye@gmail.com