I've built a couple rods off of the batson sp843 series of blank. I really like the performance for the money. I've chatted with my brother in law about building him a custom baitcaster and he likes the way the sp843 works but would like a little shorter and a little stiffer blank. In looking at batsons website the SB781 seems like it fits the bill exactly but. I haven't built a lot of rods so can anyone recommend a 6'-6" - 6'-9" alternative to the sp843 with a stiffer tip.

Here are the specs on the sp843 for reference

7'-0", 6-12lb, 1/8-3/8oz, Mod-F, ML, 1.6oz (total weight)

for comparison th sb781
6'-6", 6-12lb, 1/8-3/8oz, F, ML, 1.6oz (total weight)

If he really likes the 843, trim it down and make your own "783" from the 843.

Since he's looking for something with a slightly more powerful tip, take the 843 and position a guide at varying lengths back from the tip. Start 1" back and have him do some test casting and check the feel and action. Keep moving the guide back 1/4-1/2" at a time until you find what he's looking for. This is where you will cut the tip. Then measure the overall length you want, 78-81" and trim the butt.

You'll end up with just what he wants without guessing.

This is a fairly common practice. Mock up a handle and seat, and temporarily tape on a set of guides you'll be using.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/21/2015 08:24AM by John E Powell.

You won't be able to match the 843 to a 783 by simply cutting the 843. You can get the length he wants, but not the action, power or feel. Such a thing will be markedly different from the original 843 on all counts. What you want is a 784 in the same category, if Batson Ent. offers it.

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Thats why i was leaning toward the 781. It has the same specs except a faster tip and is 6" shorter But I'm still a newb ya know

Tom,

The original poster is not trying to match it to a 843. He's trying to keep it close to an 843 but with more power for a casting scenario. It's certainly feasible to get just what he's looking for from trimmed 843.

If he takes one of his already built 843 and places a temporary guide between the tip and first guide and runs the line through the new guide he can get a sense of the effect without even buying a new blank. You'd have him dismiss the possibility altogether without even trying. That's seems a bit shortsighted to me.

Now if he said he wanted an exact match, lighter power, and / or faster action then trimming would not be a viable possibility, but in this case, based upon the original post, it can be.

If he likes the 843 but with a slightly stiffer tip, you cannot provide him that in a 6'6" model by simply trimming the 843. The action will change far too much and the result will be an entirely different animal.

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I guess let me clarify. It doesn't have to be an exact match to the 843. he just fished with it one day and said the setup fishes well but he thought he would like a little stiffer tip and likes to fish with shorter bait caster rods. Something with not as much whip when wiggled ya know. Again why I thought the 781 seemed viable. Same power rating but faster tip Mod-F to F.

The 781 is a 1 power, The 843 is a 3 power. They won't be similar powerwise.

Trimming a blank can indeed sometimes get you what you want. But most often, taking 6 inches off a blank results in an entirely different animal. The action becomes quite slow compared to what you started with.

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Ah okay I didn't take the model number to mean much as to the blank specs. I was just going by the specs on the batson site. learn something new.

Either you erred on the model or looked at the wrong lines in the chart. Both the 843 & the 783 ring in at 10 -17 lb & 5/16 to 3/8 oz.
I have not encountered the one piece versions but have the 3 piece SB781 & SB841, which the specs you listed. The difference in the tip is huge. The 781 has a much
softer tip than the 841, so much so that I did not use either. The rods are going to be suitcase carried to a father & son in Sweden,
hence the 3 pieces, for bass & pike. As the boy is 15 yrs old I ended up using 2, SB843-3 blanks, spiral wrapped to avoid twist in the sections, instead.
It's hard when you can"t feel them but I will end up using 741 & 841 as spinning rather than casting.

opps you know your right. Thats what I get for trying to read.

here are the specs

SP843 Clear Gloss 7'0" 1 8-14lb. 1/4-5/8oz. 0.478 5.0 MOD-F M 1.8oz. All purpoes Trout/Redfish/Inshore/Popping corks

I would buy this blank to attempt a 6'6" in the same range with a little faster tip.

SB782 Clear Gloss 6'6" 1 8-14lb. 1/4-5/8oz. 0.495 4.5 F M 2.3oz. Smallmouth Bass/Walleye all purpose spinning jigs/spinners/tubes etc.

I also blew it in the reading department. I missed the "P" and read it as a "B". The difference between the 6-6 & 7 in the travel was so big that
if I were in your shoes rather than buy a blank to find it is unsuitable for your use I would call either Utmost and get an opinion or Batson
directly. Carol at Batson is very helpful and if she is unsure she will put you in touch with someone who will help. Good luck

Robert Metzger...

Just to make sure.. Batson Enterprises is the Main brand company that sells RainShadow rod blanks..

Carol works at Utmost Enterprises which is a retail store that buys RainShadow Rod blanks.

Just making sure people are clear..

Thank you everyone for your support!!

R. McBride

Batson Enterprises
BatsonEnterprises.com | RainShadowRodBlanks.com | ALPSForeCast.com | Build2Fish.com

Adam ..... it sounds to me like he (the brother in-law) doesn't prefer the moderate fast action. At least that's the interpretation I get when you say he wants something with not as much whip, when wiggled. Moderate and moderate fast action blanks "wiggle" more when you shake the rod or cast, than a fast action blank would.

I'm curious as to what type of baits he's planning on using the rod for? A moderate fast action rod, at least for me, is a rod that will be used for baits that have treble hooks. If he's throwing spinnerbaits, or swimbaits, or really, any other single hooked bait, such as worms, jigs, or flukes, etc... a fast action IMO would be a much better choice. Going by blank specs, something like the SB782 would fit the bill for single hooked baits

If he simply wants a more powerful version with the same type action, which is essentially but not exactly what would be achieved by trimming from the tip of the SP843, I think you could probably find something from the RX7 crankbait line of blanks that Rainshadow offers, that wouldn't need trimmed.

I personally built a rod using a blank from that series that I absolutely love. I used the CB66MH blank. It's 6'6". with a moderate fast action and medium heavy power rating. It's rated for lures from 3/8 - 1 oz. and line 10 - 20#. I certainly wouldn't use the rod I built for worms or jigs or any other type of slack line technique. But it makes a nice buzz bait rod, and is great for treble hooked baits. I built it for throwing 1.5 and 2.5 squarebills, but I also throw small 1/4 oz baits with it, with ease.

It's a sweet little blank.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/22/2015 08:29AM by David Baylor.

David

Thanks for the info on blanks. Honestly the majority of our fishing is done with a simple popping cork with live bait that is thrown out and occasionally popped. Every once in a while the rod would be used for jigging a 1/8-1/4oz jighead off the bottom or faster for trout. He isn't a topwater guy. The sp843 that i recently built on does great with topwater baits. I would probably make it a little shorter if i did it again simply for ease of use.

Mr. Lathrop,
Below I have listed some CCS specs for the blanks in question along with an additional suggestion and some interpretation of what these number mean. Please let me know if you have any questions.

SP843 Intrinsic Power in grams: 351g Action Angle: 66 degrees (on the low end of Mod-fast action)

SB781 Intrinsic Power in grams: 482g Action Angle: 75-76 degrees (significantly more power relative to the the SP series and a true fast action, might be a bit more power than the user wants but maybe not)

IMMP70M Intrinsic Power in grams: 416g Action Angle: 70 degrees (seems to me that this would be the perfect option based on your specs/descriptions)

-The Batson TEAM
BatsonEnterprises.com