Do tournament casters mostly prefer painted blanks, finished blanks, or unfinished blanks for casting competitions? I imagine most tournament anglers use painted blanks to advertise their sponsors.

Unfinished

Some of both, most unpainted.

it mainly depends on their sponsors requirements for the $$$ they get for the advertising of the sponsors products be it rods reels line lures etc. when it comes to the rods most sponsors want them to have the retail product color/colors

The best day to be alive is always tomorrow !!
Think out side the box when all else fails !!!
Wi.

"prefer painted blanks, finished blanks, or unfinished blanks for " casting " competitions?"

Mostly clear finish. Occasionally tinted finish.
Some small decals.
Some medium decals.
A lot of Pac Bay Minima guides are used.

There is very little sponsorship in distance casting competitions.

Don Becker

Probably not much sponsorship in accuracy casing contests either - but these casting competitions are better indication of the quality of the rods being used than weighing the pounds of fish caught.

Conoflex once told me that they only used clear finish so the customer could see the quality of their blanks. They continued on to mention that they were visited by a paint salesman who promoted the ability of the paint to be self leveling and hide imperfections in the blank. The salesman was nicely shown the door.

Distances cast are mostly a measure of the size, weight, and skill level of the caster. Then comes matching the power of the blank to the caster. And finally having reels tuned properly for the distances being cast.

Often a new caster will see a top caster reaching good distances with a brand x / model y blank and rush to buy what the master caster is using. The result is a decrease in his/her casting distance due to the blank over powering the caster.

Don Becker

I have often seen average Joes use off-the-shelf rods and reels at distance/accuracy casting contests at numerous rod-and-gun club ponds. I'm not sure how much the rods they use determine the results, but I imagine as much as the tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of equipment used by professional bass catchers.

Hi Phil,

I was addressing distance casting competitions that used surf rods and conventional reels. At these tournaments, the caster, equipment, and weather conditions need to be optimum.

Rods are usually 13' 6' to about 14' 10", 2 piece with 50/50 or 60/40 split. Most are production run blanks.

Guides are usually taped on Minima with sizes running from 30 or 25 down to size 12. I made a hit in October with Fuji MNAG & LNAG guides wrapped with dark blue nylon (no trim)

Reels are the size of ABU 5500 and 6500. While some casters will pay $500 for a reel, good distances can be cast using reels costing about $150.

There are 4 sanctioned sinker sizes. 100, 125, 150, and 175 grams. 175 grams = 6 ounces

Will Nash is the top US caster in history. He is the first to hold the record in all 4 casting weights with all record casts over 800 feet. Back in February be broke the 800 ft barrier for 175 grams with a cast of 833 feet. I believe he was also the first to cast 100 grams over 800 feet.

Don Becker

800 feet???? MAN that is absolutely incredible.

That is truly launching a weight. Man oh man ......

David Baylor Wrote:
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> 800 feet???? MAN that is absolutely incredible.
>

Well, he is number 1 in the US.

> That is truly launching a weight. Man oh man
> ......

It is my understanding that he has cast over 300 yards in practice.

Don Becker