Fred, I think that is the most reasonable thing to do and least costly. A few bucks and little time may be well spent. Ya never know, it may be more than what your expecting. God luck, I'm sure it'll turn out to your liking.

Dennis J. Danku
(Sayreville,NJ)

So, I went with the Shakespeare Tidewater spinning rod, stripped the guides off, left the reel seat, sanded it down, painted flat black with a matte clear, spined, added casting guides on, spaced correctly, wrapped them and flex coated them. Took it to Ft.Peirce Florida, fished for three days with three rods, caught my limit of pompano every day. I was casting the rod 100+ yards and accuracy was good. It has a medium power, moderate action and I would prefer a more parabolic bend but I cannot complain. Every fish hooked was brought in, no lost fish with this rod. I don't know if I should be happy it was cheap, or mad because some of the other blanks are so expensive and might not do much more. I did buy a really nice all aluminum reel seat that I may install, but the one already installed isn't that bad. The fish I catch are max 5 pounds and that would be a monster pomp. So this fishing type is not hard on my tackle at all. I do have another reel I'm buying and I'm, thinking the Gator Pomp Light will be the next build. But this one was a good, cheap test and a success to my surprise.

I am also looking to build a surf rod for a friend. I have found that it is difficult to find an 11' foot rod for $100. I will look into some of the suggest above. I am looking for an 11' graphite/s-glass composite .

Hi Danny,
Try RodGeeks, They have been purchased by St Croix. Go to RodGeeks.com and look up their SRF110MHMF2 or SRF110MMF2. I have the first one and it's so great. I have built ten on Rod Geeks blanks and their owners love them. [rodgeeks.com]
I paired it with the American Tackle Microwave (Carp/Surf) Guides and the Shimano Ultgra 10000 Long Cast Surf Reel and it is amazing.

I hope you get what you are looking for.

Thank you Ken. I was looking at that red and I think my friend will be very pleased with it.

The Red Metallic is beautiful for sure.

I recently bought this Lamiglas on clearance. It is listed as a Salmon/ Steelhead but it also says it will cast 2-8 oz. in the surf. It's 12'6 with a moderate action, almost parabolic. It was exactly what I was looking for as I mainly fish for pompano and that type of action just seems to get more hookups and keeps the fish pinned all the way to the shore. I built it and put a 3.5 OZ weight on it and went fishing. I was highly disappointed, the 3.5 OZ felt like it was really overloading the rod and my distance suffered. However, it caught fish. After about two months I decided to tip it by three inches, and that helped a lot. Then I tipped it three inches more and it turned it into a casting machine with almost zero action lost, still bends moderate. I still wouldn't go beyond 4 OZ with it, but that rod and my Lamiglas 11'4 Honey fiberglass are my goto rods for pomps. Here is the link. It's right in your price range and it is composite. I know it says xtra heavy, but it is far from it. A 3lb. pomp will put a nice bend in it. Rod geeks also has a moderate composite 11' surf rod in their catalog that looks promising. These types of rods are getting hard to find nowadays.

[www.lamiglas.com]



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/15/2021 02:28PM by Fred Zimmermann.

Hi Fred,
I've built on both of these RodGeeks blanks (SRF110MM2 and SRF110MHM2) and they are awesome.

Ken Blanchard Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hi Fred,
> I've built on both of these RodGeeks
> blanks (SRF110MM2 and SRF110MHM2) and they are
> awesome.


That is good to hear, I have a client that wants an 11' and this may just be the ticket. I've been wanting to try them anyways so now is a good time. thank you Ken!

I ordered the Surf Blank Series - SRF110C3 (two rods in one. really its the SRF110MM2 and the SRF110MHM2 with one butt) for the client with pearl on the bottom and metallic blue ice on the top. Also, I ordered the Surf Blank Series - SRF110MM2 in pearl finish for me. I can't very well sell a rod I don't use now can I? I think the moderate action will be perfect for pompano. My client loved the idea of having two rod combinations, he jumped at it. My fingers are crossed for Rod Geeks, I need a good line of surf rods that I can sell and will preform. The color choices are big bonus, as the fact that they are made in the same factory as the St.Croix.

I'm pretty sure you will love them as much as I do. When I bought mine they didn't offer the two tips and I have 5 surf rods so I couldn't justify another one, lol. Your build sound awesome. Don't forget to put the specifications decals on the correct tip sections. It will be important for the owner to know what tip they are using, lol. If I can make another suggestion that I think you will love. I'm always looking to get to the breaking fish that are "JUST OUT OF MY RANGE", lol. So I purposely made a LONG CASTING Spinning Surf Rod using the MHM blank but you can do it on the MM blank also. I have a 21" cork tape rear grip, Size 20 Fuji Reel seat and a 5 inch cork tape fore grip. Then I used the American Tackle Microwave Carp/Surf Guides. The stripper guide is the 30/10 reduction guide along with the rest of the guide train in the kit and I added one or two more running guides (I can't remember). I also paired this with a Shimano Ultegra Long Cast Reel. Mine is the 10000 and I don't think that they make them anymore but they do make the 8000 or 6500 still. Okuma also makes a Long Cast Surf Reel for $99.00. It's a bit heavier then my 10000 but it's good. I'm getting at least another 20 to 30 yards with a 2 oz plug. Enjoy your new rod.

Ken Blanchard Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm pretty sure you will love them as much as I
> do. When I bought mine they didn't offer the two
> tips and I have 5 surf rods so I couldn't justify
> another one, lol. Your build sound awesome. Don't
> forget to put the specifications decals on the
> correct tip sections. It will be important for the
> owner to know what tip they are using, lol. If I
> can make another suggestion that I think you will
> love. I'm always looking to get to the breaking
> fish that are "JUST OUT OF MY RANGE", lol. So I
> purposely made a LONG CASTING Spinning Surf Rod
> using the MHM blank but you can do it on the MM
> blank also. I have a 21" cork tape rear grip, Size
> 20 Fuji Reel seat and a 5 inch cork tape fore
> grip. Then I used the American Tackle Microwave
> Carp/Surf Guides. The stripper guide is the 30/10
> reduction guide along with the rest of the guide
> train in the kit and I added one or two more
> running guides (I can't remember). I also paired
> this with a Shimano Ultegra Long Cast Reel. Mine
> is the 10000 and I don't think that they make them
> anymore but they do make the 8000 or 6500 still.
> Okuma also makes a Long Cast Surf Reel for $99.00.
> It's a bit heavier then my 10000 but it's good.
> I'm getting at least another 20 to 30 yards with a
> 2 oz plug. Enjoy your new rod.

Both of these builds will be casting rods, with Penn Fathom IICS reels. My client wanted to try conventional and the Fathom has a very good magnetic control. I myself have always been conventional so I get to teach him also. I Have been using the Fuji KW double foots or the American Tackle Snagless guides, depending on what price point my clients want. To me, they are the same. I've tried so many guides and my distance remains the same with what ever I'm using. I've looked at those microwave guides and they will be an option on the surf spinning rods as soon as I try them out. I know with spinners, you need all the help you can get. They are not too expensive either, unless you go with the nanolites. But strangely, I am no good at casting spinning rods. My wife has a spinning surf outfit and she can cast farther than me with it, I can't get 50 yards out of it, mainly due to a serious lack of experience and a hatred I've had for them since I was 14 and quickly grew tired of their being so finicky! But I want to offer the best set up so I will find someone to test out those guides. Duly noted. And as long as the bottom of the rod is thick enough, I love the cork tape or the shrink grip. Thanks for all the help, can't wait to build these.