Can anybody recommend a 7' blank that would have the right action to allow a bunker spoon to work properly when trolled with wire line? That also won't break the bank? I know a lot of folks like a longer rod for this application but the guy I am building them for doesn't like to store/transport anything over 7 ft. maybe...I can go to 7'6.

Thanks all.

Try the Batson/Rainshadow SWB70H.

Why cant you make 2pc, rods, I do a lot of different types of fishing I just fish where I happen to be, I cant carry everything on the boat, I carry about 55 rods
salt fresh fly, troll,cast, what ever I love it all, Storing that many 1pc.for travel cant be done, two pc. easy and your never without the rod you want and need for whare ever.

Curt

curtis drumm Wrote:
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> Why cant you make 2pc, rods, I do a lot of
> different types of fishing I just fish where I
> happen to be, I cant carry everything on the boat,
> I carry about 55 rods
> salt fresh fly, troll,cast, what ever I love it
> all, Storing that many 1pc.for travel cant be
> done, two pc. easy and your never without the rod
> you want and need for whare ever.
>
> Curt

Hey Curt.....thank you for your reply.....the rod wouldn't really "travel"...just transported back and forth from the shed to the boat at the marina. I would not be comfortable building on a two piece for trolling 200-300 feet of wire and looking for big stripers. Maybe others have had success with 2 pieces in that application but I have seen some violent strikes....and several rod failures....and I would worry about a 2 piece blank.

Spencer Phipps Wrote:
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> Try the Batson/Rainshadow SWB70H.

Hey Spencer.....that looks like just what I was looking for.....gloss black too. Thanks!

Joe Willsen Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> curtis drumm Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Why cant you make 2pc, rods, I do a lot of
> > different types of fishing I just fish where I
> > happen to be, I cant carry everything on the
> boat,
> > I carry about 55 rods
> > salt fresh fly, troll,cast, what ever I love it
> > all, Storing that many 1pc.for travel cant be
> > done, two pc. easy and your never without the
> rod
> > you want and need for whare ever.
> >
> > Curt
>
> Hey Curt.....thank you for your reply.....the rod
> wouldn't really "travel"...just transported back
> and forth from the shed to the boat at the marina.
> I would not be comfortable building on a two piece
> for trolling 200-300 feet of wire and looking for
> big stripers. Maybe others have had success with 2
> pieces in that application but I have seen some
> violent strikes....and several rod failures....and
> I would worry about a 2 piece blank.

I fish 19 strand braided wire all the time on the two-piece Batson RDR100H and would recommend you consider this. While not a true bunker rod blank, it most likely could be trimmed from the tip a bit to give you the desired spoon action. I've got a number of them in service on charter boats and none have experienced a failure after hundreds of fish and thousands of hours of trolling. What size, or weight, spoons is this guy planning to pull?

Maybe one of the Batson guys might chime in on this particular blank.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/22/2015 12:11PM by John E Powell.

Thanks John....I really appreciate the info. However.....the customer trolls single strand stainless or monel wire in a different application than I think you are used to. No downrigger....no outrigger.....no dipsy divers and no planer boards. the spoons are weighted and are from 8-15 oz .

A 10 ft 2 piece rod with a 6.5 tip is just not the right tool for the type of fishing my guy does off the South shore of Long Island.

Joe Willsen Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thanks John....I really appreciate the info.
> However.....the customer trolls single strand
> stainless or monel wire in a different application
> than I think you are used to. No downrigger....no
> outrigger.....no dipsy divers and no planer
> boards. the spoons are weighted and are from 8-15
> oz .
>
> A 10 ft 2 piece rod with a 6.5 tip is just not the
> right tool for the type of fishing my guy does off
> the South shore of Long Island.

I would agree the blank is not appropriate in the standard untrimmed form, the tip is too light. Also, for clarification, there's really no difference between single strand / monel and the braided wire with respect to this use, I've fished single strand wire extensively in the past so I have a pretty good understanding of its handling, use, and limitations. Many of the attractor rigs we run for salmon are similar in size to the attractors we pull ahead of our baits. We troll a rod up here we call a "Thumper" rod that has very similar lure's action tell-tale requirements. It has fallen out of favor with many anglers in the past decade though as most boats now run digital speed probes at trolled depths to account for underwater currents, wave action, and the like.

I was imagining cutting the RDR100H back some from the tip. Cutting the tip back will slow the action of the blank further while upping the power somewhat at the same time. It will also get you closer to something of a more traditional length for a bunker rods and being two-piece it will help with your customer's storage and transportation needs. If you are planning to attend the ICRBE, you might contact Batson and ask them to bring one of these to the upcoming show for you to handle. You can test it out by having someone hold the blank at various distances back from the tip to simulate where it might be trimmed.

The first time I handled Paul Rimbeck's custom bunker rods, this was the blank (among those blanks I am familiar with) that came to mind. I recall thinking I could trim from the tip to get the power and action and then trim from the butt to get the length to make a close copy of it. On a later meeting, I brought one of my RDR100H to Paul's home and recall that after handling the rods side by side it was a consensus that we could probably get something pretty close to his bunker rods from this blank. While his bunker rod had a true slow action we felt we could get a trimmed moderate slow action from the RDR100H compared to the untrimmed blank's moderate action. It was pretty close, but not exact.

BTW, the blank he used is long since out of production. I don't recall what it was.