So this is a little off season but kind of nice to think about in the drought and 100 degree weather. I have a request for a lake trout rod for the ice. Mostly jigging in fairly deep lakes in western South Dakota outside of a shack, and mainly standing up to fish. He originaly said he wants 'a pool cue' with a reel on it. I'm guessing I will end up having to cut an open water blank down for this.

Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

What I do is if you have some old two piece rods laying around I cut them down to get the strength needed.. We use them in the harbor for big Browns and I use them for Northern on inland lakes.

Lone Wolf Rods
"Keep your powder dry and your lines wet"
God Bless

The GCB70M Batson solid glass blank that has been trimmed to the typical length of about 48 inches makes a wonderful laker rod.
Due to the solid glass construction, this blank is essentially unbreakable, even in the cold of winter.

I have built many laker rods for winter laker fishing on this blank that has been cut to 48 inches and everyone is very satisfied with the rod. I build this rod with a casting reel seat with a trigger. Then, I will use a size 12 butt guide and size 10 runners and tip to avoid issues with ice jamming the guides and line.


[www.batsonenterprises.com]


Roger

Andy:
Roger is spot on. I have built out this blank cut to 48" for several friends and all have had great success on it. I highly recommend it.

Yep, Batson solid glass. I cut mine down to 43". Any shorter and the rod can't keep up with the big head shakes you get from big fish. You can cut from the tip as well as the butt to get what you want. I like the tip soft so I cut from the butt only. I put foam grips (rear is 10" long I think) and a trigger on them. You can spiral them too, if you want to. I especially like that these blanks are fairly soft in the tip, but bend into the butt with some real strength in the butt section. The soft tip is forgiving when fighting big fish, but the stout butt provides great hooksetting power and lifting power. I abused the heck out of these and have never broken one. The only downside is that they are sort of heavy compared to tubular rods. But with a 43 or 48" rod, they're not really heavy. I'll take the durability, flex and butt strength of these rods any day for fishing for big lake trout.

Thanks for the feedback guys! Looks like the Baston may be the route to go. I assumed that cutting down an open water rod was by best bet and now I have some great direction.

As always a thanks to Tom for this great resource for fisherman who build rods!

The Batson GCB70M is a great Glass blank, however it is not solid.

If you want an inexpensive Solid Glass blank, consider the Saltwater series.
Here is a link to our page, they start with the number 385x105x72;

[www.schneidersrods.com]

Yes, they can be cut and trimmed, very tough blanks.

Best wishes,
Ron Schneider
Schneider's Rod Shop
Mountain Home, Arkansas
[www.schneidersrods.com]
mtnron40@yahoo.com
870-424-3381

roger wilson Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The GCB70M Batson solid glass blank that has
> been trimmed to the typical length of about 48
> inches makes a wonderful laker rod.
> Due to the solid glass construction, this blank is
> essentially unbreakable, even in the cold of
> winter.
>
> I have built many laker rods for winter laker
> fishing on this blank that has been cut to 48
> inches and everyone is very satisfied with the
> rod. I build this rod with a casting reel seat
> with a trigger. Then, I will use a size 12 butt
> guide and size 10 runners and tip to avoid
> issues with ice jamming the guides and line.
>
>
> [www.batsonenterprises.com]
>
>
> Roger

Roger - Are you maybe thinking of a different glass blank? or solid tip blank?

And when you guys are cutting 3 feet off a seven foot blank... I bet that is a pretty slow action???

Chuck

_________________________________________
"Angling is extremely time consuming.
That's sort of the whole point." - Thomas McGuane



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/24/2012 12:19PM by Chuck Mills.

The folks out in my neck of the woods like to fish solid carbon for lakers, for sensitivity purposes. I prefer the thorne pro series ice blanks myself, as do a bunch of guys who catch nothing but fish over the 15 pound mark. I will be looking at the batson blank mentioned above myself.

I like the specs on the Thorne blank - just don't like the price.

_________________________________________
"Angling is extremely time consuming.
That's sort of the whole point." - Thomas McGuane

Chuck hit it on the head there. I have a couple TBs rods and they are great, but you definetely pay for them!

TB has the market on those things, and I'm willing to pay for the quality and specs they have. I was excited about the mudhole "heavier" solid carbon blanks, but they never came to fruition. Their 32" solid carbon blank did me well last year on an 11 pound rainbow through the ice, it just can't handle 3/4-1oz jigs very well.

Chuck,
I believe that this is the one that I have used in the past.
I use the medium action solid glass rod from Batson.

In past years, the blank was only 6 feet long. It appears that the same blank is now 7 feet long. But the front 4 feet of the rod is essentially unchanged.
The rod at 48inches with all of the extra trimmed from the butt of the rod works very well for lakers.

Be safe
Roger

Roger, does this sound like what you used?


Batson Model .385X.105X72 GB
6'0", 1-piece, Line: 12-20lbs, Butt: 0.385, Tip 7.0, Solid glass (Black)


I have two guys that want Laker rods so I want to get the right thing.

Chuck

_________________________________________
"Angling is extremely time consuming.
That's sort of the whole point." - Thomas McGuane

Add my vote for Thorne Brothers.

Those guys understand the requirements for ice fishing for fish other than panfish and have their blanks made appropriately.



Thanks for the lead on the glass blank Roger. I'll have to check it out.





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

Better to have and not need than to need and not have.

Chuck,
Yes, I believe that that is the exact blank that I have been using. I just double checked. Yes, I do use the size 7 tip barrel for the blank. When I build these rods, I do all of the trimming on the rod from the butt. Folks and myself prefer the action of the tip without any trimming from the tip, which would stiffen the tip action.

I was out in the 'dirty" shop where I do my blank trimming and found a bunch of the cut off that I had cut from the blanks used for the Laker rods.
Yes, the blanks are the 385 - .105 X78" -- as marked on the blank.


Roger



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/26/2012 11:45AM by roger wilson.

Great. Thanks! Sounds like you have some good reamer material there!

_________________________________________
"Angling is extremely time consuming.
That's sort of the whole point." - Thomas McGuane

They work great to support the beans in the garden as well.
Roger

But yes, they do make excellent stock for a reamer.

I have been building all of my laker rods on this Batson solid glass blank.

.385X.105X72 GB 6'0" 12-20lbs 0.385 7.0

I usually cut down to 42" from the tip.
Here are a couple of shots of it in action.

[img.photobucket.com]

[img.photobucket.com]

[img.photobucket.com]

And the trout on the other end. :)

[img.photobucket.com]

Regards
Dave

Fishing is Life the rest is just Details