I have never had any of these blanks in my hands. I am building a 9' 5 wt. rod for an occasional fly caster. I am hoping it becomes more than this. I am looking at the Batson Forecast, and Rain Shadow, and the Pac Bay, Traditions, and Rainforest blanks. I am looking for a forgiving blank, that is still good for better casters. I am sort of stuck in the $30 to $50 dollar range for the blank. Do any of you have a recommendation between these blanks, or another blank I should look at?

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

You cannot go wrong with the Batson blanks! There are 3 actions to chose from, each with it's own price point. If price is the decider, the RX6 is the least expensive.

All you mentioned are good, but my favorites for that application have always been the Batson RX6 or RX7. You'll be impressed at the performance/price ratio.

I'm a newbie but the Forecast and Rainshadow blanks are very good. The Rainshadow is a bit more up scale than the Forecast... After having built half a dozen rods on each blank I think I do prefer the Rainshadows.

Bill Houk
Speedway, Indiana

I wish you a great deal of luck in finding a "good" blank at that price point.
With the streams you have available I'd consider an up-grade to a better casting blank.
I've cast both and the only thing attractive is price.
Casting performance is very limited and your casting potentials will quickly out grow their shortcomings.
If you are going thru the frustations of learning, select a blank that you will grow to.

You might try the clearance sale below and get a St Croix

Good luck on the learning curve, but the rewards are worth the effort.

Gene



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/18/2014 09:30PM by Eugene Moore.

How about an 8' 6" 5 wt for about $40? Check the Batson sale at Getbitoutdoors.com.

I just built 2 personal 9' 5wt for my wife and I to fish the San Juan river last week on Bingham Ent's SHX905-4 and they performed awsome

Ron Weber

When you go for cheap, go for short. The short blanks are way easier to build, since the hardest part is to control tip bounce, which is always less on shorter rods. I'd definitely chose an 8'6.
RX6 blanks are awesome for the price if you like moderate actions (which is just what you seem to look for).

_______________________________________________
If I'm not going to catch anything, then I'd rather not catch anything on flies.

Prostaff Rodhouse
[www.rodhouse.fr]

Mike,
call Karen at Bingham.
Her9 ft 5 wt BING SHX blanks are fine for 4 piece blanks and may just be what you want.
Price is very good too.

I have been building fly rods for years. I built rods for a small fly shop at one point. I no longer do this, and don't see many blanks these days unless I buy them first sight unseen. When I was building for the shop, there were few blanks available to us. Mostly Sage, Fenwick, and LCI. Today there seems to be many. That is why I come here with questions about blanks I have no real firsthand knowledge of. This blank is for my Son-in-law to learn to build, and use. He set the price, length, and line weight. I am just trying to find him the best bang for his money. Thanks for all of the information. I will look at the Bingham blanks as well.

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

It sounds like this angler will be making short to medium-length casts of small flies where wind is not normally an issue. Any of the blanks you mentioned will easily cast 50 or 60 feet with comparable accuracy. I would try to get the angler involved in researching and selecting a blank and components. It makes a custom rod more customized.

I wrapped my daughter a Forecast RX6 7'6" 4 piece for 4wt line and it works so well, i love fishing it myself on small to medium sized streams for trout in the central Sierra out here in California. Roll casting is great. I fished a 8 foot for 4 weight RX6 last weekend with dries and that was fun too. Streams were anywhere from 10-20 feet across and wind was not a factor.

I also have an RX7 i use on occasion. It's a 9'-6" for 7 weight and that does fine on lakes from a float tube. This is all very subjective though.

In addition to the price, i find the blue color of the RX6 very attractive too. lol

eric
fresno, ca.

Call Johnny at Angler's Roost. You will be pleasantly surprised!
Great rods for the price.