I was asked to build a 9' 7Wt. fly rod for a guy. I have never fished with him, or seen him cast. I am assuming that he is an intermediate caster from our conversation. I am looking at the Batson Rainshadow IF907-4, or the Pac-Bay Rainforest II RF2 907. I have never seen either of these blanks. I would build him a quickline, but don't know if he could get the most out of it. Looking for suggestions

Mike Bradfrod
R.M.B. Fishing Rods
Nampa, Idaho

You cannot go wrong with the Batson blank! I have just finished my 4th one for customers and the feedback is very positive.

I also recently built the Batson if 907. great casting blank. you can't go wrong with it.

3X on the RX7 blank. I prefer it over the Pac Bay model and have built several for customers and fish one myself. All positive reviews.

Terry

I have used the rx7 907-4 too. Good blank.

Just finished a Batson 865-2 very Impressed.

maybe a little off topic but I've built probably a dozen Batson 866-2 and -4. the guys around here love them for smallmouth on the river. you can even put a 7wt on that rod and it doesn't feel clunky.

This rod will be used for large Rainbow, Brown, and Cutthroat Trout on the upper Snake River. I was told 7 or 8 Wt. I was thinking more 5 to 6 Wt. The customer was raised in the area and has fished it so I will go with what he wants.

On another note: Can someone that has a size 4 single foot wire guide measure the ID. for me?

Mike Bradfrod
R.M.B. Fishing Rods
Nampa, Idaho

Mike go to Jann's Netcraft and click on parts sizing under Ask The Expert in the left hand column. You can then download and print a 5 page document that has what you need and can use as future reference.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/30/2012 05:49PM by Don Lukehart.

I am going to use the Minima 4 guides on this rod, and know the sizing is different on these than for the single foot wire guides. I went to Jann's Netcraft, and printed out the page that has a black dot to show the ID of a size 4 single foot wire guide. The best I can do with my calipers measuring the dot is .26" This would be a size 6 Minima 4 F guide. Can anyone tell me if I am close on this guestimate?

Mike Bradfrod
R.M.B. Fishing Rods
Nampa, Idaho

A size 6 is .202 by my caliper Mike. That is a XF4XG-6. If you are considering a size 7 it is .248.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/30/2012 07:55PM by Don Lukehart.

Don: Thanks. The Pac-Bay catalog shows everything in MM, I have been converting what they list as the ID for their F guides to inches. The F 6 works out as .212" (close enough to .202"). The F 7 guide would be .255", and the F 8 would be .283". They don't list an ID for the size 4 single foot wire guide. The Batson recipe for a 9' 7Wt. fly rod calls for size 4 single foot wire guides for their running guides. I don't have a size 4 wire guide to measure. I am just trying to convert which size running guides to use.

This is a very special rod for me. One of my Dad's last requests was that I build this rod for his friend. I guess you know it has to be as perfect as I can make it.

Mike Bradfrod
R.M.B. Fishing Rods
Nampa, Idaho

If you have a 7 weight line just measure the line to leader knot diameter and make for some allowance. The knot will probable never make it through the tip-top when bringing in a fish on a 9' rod. JMHO.

Don: I don't have a 7 Wt. line. I use the Scientific Angler loop connections, and they are all on 5 Wt lines. These are soft connections.

Mike Bradfrod
R.M.B. Fishing Rods
Nampa, Idaho

I know what you are talking about Mike I have some of the SA loops also and they are somewhat smaller. I just ran a Rio weighted forward 7 weight line with a standard loop to loop connection through a size 6 Minama 4 with no problem and I had the fly line doubled over on itself. Hope this helps.

Thanks Don. I just built a 9' 5 Wt., and used size 6 Minima guides. They seemed large to me. Tom Kirkman said to use size 5 Minima guides. The problem was finding a size 5 Minima tip top. I did talk to Pac-Bay, and they are working on the size 5 and 6 tip tops for fly rods. I will go with the size 6 running guides.

Mike Bradfrod
R.M.B. Fishing Rods
Nampa, Idaho

I was looking at the size 5's also and they looked a little tight but then again I didn't try them. I am using them on a 3 weight rod I am building this Winter. Just a thought you might want to look at the Fugi Alconite tip-top. It comes in smaller sizes, is light weight and I like a ceramic guide on top. I also use them for my stripper guides.

I fish a 8wt Rainshadow Switch Rod with all the running guides being Minima 3's size 4 (8 of them) and they pass my loop to loop 400 grain Skagit line without any problem!

6wt Quickline. Nice blanks, nice action. perfect for BIG browns, and if he gets a really big one, he won't be undergunned. Just an opinion, but the Quickline blanks are better than you might think and fast without being too fast.

I'd trust your instincts.

I'd like to jump in here with a quick question. I'm looking at producing some "production" rods to have on hand for sale. I'm looling at and strongly considering Batson RX7 and RX8 blanks. I only build fly rods. Are these blanks as good as they appear to be? All the specs on Batsons web site look good. Your thoughts please.

Thanks,

Jerry Cook

JCook Fly Rods