I built a casting rod on this blank back in '08 or so, as it was one of my first builds its not that great....
The guides are Hardloy's, size 12 down to 6. I want to switch them out to minimas, and possibly do a spiral wrap if I make it into a casting rod again.
The 7" rear cork and reel seat creak when I cast and flex the rod on a snag. Oh and the guides dont have enough epoxy build on them, either. So needless to say I wanna rebuild this over the winter!

I tried throwing a 1/2oz spoon with it yesterday, and it was too much load. I searched CB70M and read all the topics that were listed, and it looks like I will be using it for lighter baits.

So I'm looking for ideas on techniques that work good for this blank. I can make it a casting or spinning rod(not opposed to either one), I just want to know what technique I will be using it for so I can decide on componets.

I am in Kansas City, and fish for bass, crappie, white bass(occasional wiper), and rainbow trout(in small lakes, they are stocked). I am a die hard bass guy, so I'm leaning towards light topwater/cranks/spinnerbaits.

And ideas are appreciated, look forward to hearing everyone's ideas!

Would probably also make a dandy trout trolling rod, pulling gang trolls and bait. Makes sense that a 1/2 oz spoon would slow the rod's reaction time with a max of 5/8 oz.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/13/2015 06:05PM by Spencer Phipps.

I would be building it as a bait caster to throw crank baits. (medium divers and square bills)
Would build it spiral wrapped, starting with a 6 MM double ft stripper guide then all singles 5mm-4mm then 3mm's or smaller to the tip

I don't understand why you are asking the question.
Do you not read English?
This is a crankbait rod, rated for 1/4 to 5/8ths with 8 - 14 pound line.
Small baits and a soft action...
No Texas or Carolina rigs, no drop shot.
Cranks, maybe frogs and Rattletraps...
It's all written on the rod.
What more do you need to know?
.

I've had the CB66M since about the same time frame as Miles. It spends most of its time collecting dust these days. I built it with Steve's listed uses in mind, but I just found it to not have enough power to suit my taste, and with anything with an actual weight over ~0.3 oz., the required casting stroke too slow for my taste. Those rods are exceptionally limber for their line/lure ratings. If I ever get around to stripping it and rebuilding it, it might make a good spinning rod to use with UL cranks (smallest Big Os come to mind) and floating raps 9cm and smaller. It could also fish light open hook grubs and bits tubes with 1/16-1/8 oz. of lead in the jigs and/or beetle spin type spinnerbaits in a pinch (serviceable, but not my first choice here).

For most of my cranking needs, I've gone to glass (RFLE 765 and an old Lami with similar action and power). I toss most of my topwaters and light spinnerbaits get tossed on 6'10" Extra Fast action Batson blanks (gotta be careful playing fish, but the limber tips are fantastic for small twitches).

Gary, I completely agree with your comment. Besides the fact of what I 'need' to know. I know the specs of the blank.

It's more of what I 'want' to know, or curious as to how else it could be used.

I like Steve's idea for crankbaits, and it would be good for light top water which I'm starting to lean towards.

Love Garry's response, This may sound a bit harsh, but how do you fish a rod for 7 years and still not know what it's best suited for? I might have rebuilt this thing 3 times by now if I wasn't sure. Lynn

Lighten up guys, he's asking what the rod would be good for. And the answer is light cranks and surface IMHO. Maybe too slow for spinnerbaits, won't hurt to try it. I think the blank will be very satisfactory when it gets small, light, guides on it. (For the right weight lures) What I would do with it is use the Fuji method on it, the double foot high 6, then one size depending on what knots he wants to clear from there to the tiptop. Not spiral to keep it simple and straight. We've been through this before, but the smaller the guides and the lighter the power, the less noticeable any possible advantage of the spiral will be. OK, write back and tell me it will still be noticeable, and I won't argue that some may be able to feel it, but it's got to be minimal if at all noticeable. Sort the pea under the princesse's mattresses.

I think the Minimas will work fine, and they are inexpensive compared to most other guides, so makes sense to keep the cost down if you're unsure of how good the result will be. I would put a premium ceramic right tiptop on for max grooving resistance. Guides should be ok as suggested.

i expect that you already know, Miles, that the grip creak and flex is due to insufficient epoxy holding the grips and seat together, right? You want every possible surface to be covered with epoxy to maximize strength and structural integrity.

Go for it. Worst case scenario is that you can make some kid happy with a good starter rod.

Hello All.

I'm with Michael, the guy has been using it for 7 years but with large/heavy guides, and wants to know what others think about uses and abilities of the blank with a better build.


Tight Wraps & Tighter Lines.

Bob,

New Bern, NC.

Miles,
Since you stated you are a hardcore bass guy, I will ask if you throw small crankbaits such as the smaller strike kings and bombers, the tiny big o's as previously mention fall right into that category? If you do, this is a great rod for that. If you are fishing open water without much cover to it, I would say that you would be ok up to something like the series 3 from strike king and nothing more. I built one for spinnerbaits and never really liked it so I gave it to my dad and he uses it to throw little 1/4 ounce chatterbaits on it. I routinely troll for crappie here on Truman with cranks and provided you are not looking to get too deep it will work great for that. Regarding trout I would think that it would work for inline spinners or even live bait provided you are not trying to do something more suited towards an ultra light.

Follow Steve's advice on the build, I've got a BUNCH built like that and have not a single complaint. On many of my crank rods I will go down to either 2.5's or even 2's. I have an old Loomis CB783 that I built early on with alconites. I used 12, 10, 8, 6 to tip. It was wonderfully light..... until I tore it down and redid it with a 6 dbl ft followed by single 5, 4,3 and 2's to the tip. Now it is one of the lightest rods in the rack, if I recall I believe it was 2.2 ounces. I typically use a 10" grip on a 7' rod depending on the purpose, and that is what I would recommend for this one.

Hope this helps.

Tom

6.5 blank + seat, some kind of grip, and guides, 2.2 oz?

Michael, good catch. got my fingers moving too fast. It's weight was 3.2 oz prior to the micros. I've not weighed it since having redone it. thanks for keeping me honest.

Tom

Thanks everyone for all the input! I am going to do the rebuild as a casting rod, so I'm mainly Going to do this to update the materials and fix the bad stuff the rod had going on.

From what I have heard, it looks like I will be focusing on lighter bass hardbaits/wirebaits. I love throwing spinnerbaits, and have always used fast action rods. This will give me a different outlook on that.

Again, thank you everyone for your input, it's always appreciated!

Miles
I have 4 CB line rods I have build for myself and triple that many for other friends. I built 2 - CB70MH and 1-CB76MH. I had the CB70M blank sitting in the corner for several years and finally got around to building a casting set up with Alps micros. The thought was I would use it for 1/4 oz traps and crankbaits. When I started to fish with it, (this year) , the rod was no where like I thought it would be. I really like the CB70HM. I thought this rod would be a little softer and it is to a point but I have difficulty casting the baits that I thought would be really work well with the blank. The blank is softer than the MH blanks until you get about 30 inches from the tip and then it seems to stiffen up a bit. I cannot say I have fished the rod enough to know its quirks but it does not fish like I thought it would.

You might look at your reel setup. To me, the reel is key in getting the most out of a crankbait rod. An average reel can really prohibit getting the full action out of a CB rod. I can see how you might be in question about this blank. This is not the rod for a heavy lure of any type. IMO.

I'm not familiar with the blank's characteristics, but from what I am reading from those that know the blank, it sounds as if it would be under powered for even a 3/8 oz. spinner bait. It's a crankbait blank, not a spinnerbait blank, not a topwater blank, and certainly despite an earlier mention ..... NOT a blank you'd fish a frog on, Like Steve said early on ..... throw crankbaits with it.

As Thomas said earlier ... Strike King 3 series even the XD3, Bomber 5 and 6As, Spro Russ Lane Fat Papa 55 (great crankbait BTW) and smaller square bills like the Bomber Square A, medium size Big O, and the 1.0 Strike King and Mini Lucky Craft baits. Probably be a great blank for the Mann's Baby Minus 1 as well. I doubt it would any good for rattle baits, but it could be.

Mark had a great point about the reel you're going to put on it. A good reel will cast any of the baits mentioned, but if you're going to start throwing smaller 1/8 and 1/4 oz. spinnerbaits or similar light wind resistant baits, you're probably going to want to look at a finesse bait casting reel. The reel makes a huge difference when trying to throw very light baits with bait casting gear.

That's kinda what I'm looking at David, but you don't think it would be good for light hardbaits topwaters? And I'm not too worried about the spinnerbaits, I just think it would be worth a try/look.

Hey there Miles, sorry if my thread had a negative tone, It certainly wasn't meant as such. As far as topwaters, my thinking may not match the thinking of others, but the only topwaters I could see it being good for are poppers like the Rebel Pop R and similar smaller poppers.. Maybe a bait like a Tiny Torpedo as well. Baits that can be worked subtly and still draw strikes.

The tip probably doesn't have the pop required for working a walking bait, nor would I think you could work any of the larger prop baits, like a Boy Howdy, or a Devil's Horse type bait. The action just isn't fast enough to work those kind of baits. Perhaps if it were a bit more powerful, but from others descriptions, it sounds like it's not a very powerful rod, which is why I mentioned thinking it wouldn't do well with rattle baits.

I base my opinions on a rod I built on an RX7 CB66MH blank. For my particular rod I trimmed 6" off the butt to have a finished rod length of 6'. I built it specifically for throwing squarebill crankbaits into wood cover, but I thought it would also make a good topwater rod. It's just ok for working walking baits, but due to it's slower action, requires much more effort than a fast action blank would. It works well for poppers though. And surprisingly ... it works real well for buzzbaits when chasing smallmouth.

It's great for it's intended purpose, and works well for making short accurate casts with rattle baits up to 1/2 oz.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/17/2015 08:29AM by David Baylor.

David I'm in the same ballpark for mindset. Thanks for the clarification!

Miles
Davids advice about it not being the best choice for top waters; is well stated and spot on in his advice.
My advice is to build it as a crank bait rod.
Then if you want to try and throw a top water with it, after finding out that David is correct. You wont be disappointed using it for its intended purpose.