Hi,

I would like to ask you for recommendations. I am looking for fastest "glass" blank I can find. From what I've read up to now it seems that seeker s-glass blanks are probably the fastest.

I need blank for plastics fishing ( 1/2-3/4 oz jigheads plus 4"-5" grub/worm/softjerk(minnow type)), have to have good hook-setting power and some backbone but on the other hand , since I will be fishing with braid only, I need some "softness" of glass at the very end of the tip and I also would like to rod to be "quiet" rather than resonating with braid , besides I have enough graphite blanks and would like to try sth new. Target fish is european walleye (zander) which can be up to 36 " / 18 lb big. Spinning outfit.

As for now I incline towards SBS 706 seeker s-glass spinning blank:
SBS706-SGLASS 7'0" 1 10-20 lb. 3/8 - 1 oz. 5.5 0.785 3.63

but never have one in hand so I would be grateful if an owner / user of this blank/rod could help me imagine what should I expect. First of all, is it typical crankbait moderate action somewhat whippy blank or is it crisp enough to handle plastic / jig fishing?

Best regards,
Pavel



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/01/2018 11:02AM by Pawel Tymendorf.

They used to make a version of that blank in glass with an outer wrap of graphite up to about the top 1/4 of the blank. This gave you a very fast, and soft glass tip but retained a fairly smaller diameter and good power down low. If you can find one of this I'd take it over the full glass version.

...........

I haven’t had the chance to build it up yet but I think the new Rod Geeks XC 730 would be perfect.It has a soft s glass fast tip going to a strong mid and a very powerful butt section.Hopefully Billy that designed the blank will see this to chime in.

I use that blank for all moving baits for bass, but it does have a softer, fast tip and gets into power quickly for a glass blank, much like a 1 piece hot shot blank. Jigging 3/4 oz. at depth is nothing I've tried, think it would do 1/2 oz. just fine. I used a bit stiffer tipped rod here in the Columbia River for walleye your size, a 6 1/2 to 7 ft. medium heavy spin bass blank. One size heavier Seeker S glass just might be the one your looking for to jig 3/4 oz. with any authority. If you have a particular blank you like and would like a comparision, I have a bare blank here and can hang a like weight from it if your want to compare them from a picture.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/01/2018 11:06PM by Spencer Phipps.

Wow, Spencer such comparison would be awesome, thank you very much !!!

So if you are that kind, please compare SBS 706 s-glass with some Batson RX7 / Revelation blank just to imagine how it reacts under load. Thank you !

ps. I though about 'casting' version of SBS 706 which is SBC706 but this blank is sigificantly heavier (over 5oz from the specs) and for me it is too heavy for a walleye / zander rod.

I also considered Seeker SBS 665 blank":

SBS655 6'6" 1 8-17 lb. 3/8 - 3/4 oz. 5.0 0.705 3.07


... I like that it is shorter, but taking into consideration that it seems to be 'regular' e-glass rather than s-glass, and that it is rated 17lb (instead od 20lb in case of SBS706) I got the idea that it is probably weaker blank than SBS706

Best regards,
Pavel



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/02/2018 04:58AM by Pawel Tymendorf.

[scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net]


Here is a pic of the XC 730 under load from the X Comp Facebook page. I plan on cutting my blank down to 7’ from the butt which won’t affect the power or action much at all but will make it a little lighter.

Don't have any Batson blanks here other than a couple dropshot blanks, some ISP 844s, and some heavy stuff like XMB844.5s. None really match your needs, all the stuff closer to what your looking for are from other companies like St. Croix, Lamiglas, etc. Got the impression you already had graphite versions of a good zander rod and was just looking for a similar power and actioned S-glass rod to try.
Will try anything you want.

Spencer, currently my main zander rod is St Croix 5S70MHF2 , for finesse aplications I use 5S76MLXF2; I also use two Hydra rods, MB843 and MB844 (first production models called Ng at that time as I remember) - have you got any of this maybe?

David, X-comp series of blanks by RodGeek aren't fiberglass blanks, are they? I had the impression that they are carbon material blanks whreas I am looking for glass. Nice blank bend, tho

Best regards,
Pavel

Spencer, currently my main zander rod is St Croix 5S70MHF2 , for finesse aplications I use 5S76MLXF2; I also use two Hydra rods, MB843 and MB844 (first production models called Ng at that time as I remember) - have you got any of this maybe?

David, X-comp series of blanks by RodGeek aren't fiberglass blanks, are they? I had the impression that they are carbon material blanks whreas I am looking for glass. Nice blank bend, tho

Best regards,
Pavel

[rodgeeks.com]

Pavel,

I have no doubt that the BS706 could handle zander, but I'm not quite sure that the action is exactly what you are looking for. It is a crank bait action, but has a lot of power in the butt, and a solid feel when you really pull on the rod. Unfortunately, my duplicator jig is currently in one state, and I'm in another, and I won't have all of my fishing/rod building gear in the same place for another 3 weeks. If you are still unsettled on a blank choice come the first of August, I could put a couple things on the duplicator jig and send a few pics.

The X-comp blanks from Rod Geeks do sound pretty interesting and like a possible solutions for you, as they have the S-glass tip and carbon in the mid and lower part of the blank, much like the glass/carbon composite blank that Tom mentioned. The link to the product line description is above.

I have a XC 733 rod that I built out a while ago and agree that is moderate fast action. The 730 is fast action but Billly did mention he designed them as the power goes up the blanks get more moderate action. When I get the chance I really need to CCS measure it to see what the action angle and power is of the 730 blank as I am curious to find out.

Thank you for explaining X-comp blank construction, looks like I've missed the inf that they are composite somehow. I wonder whether they are glass blanks plus graphite outer wrap or just have glass tip and the rest of te blank is carbon ?

Best regards,
Pavel

From the info I have gathered mainly from Billy Vivona is that they are 30% S glass 70% carbon. Both materials going linear through the blank with more % glass near the tip.

Pavel, this blank is the result of a long search for a better tight line moving lure blank for Bass. I asked Seeker to try their P706 and BS706, both E glass using S glass. They did, the rest is history. It will do what you want, and then some. Build it, then you tell your story, everyone has their own.
Rich

Pawel,
Get the email and pictures? Hope I gave you something you can compare to your other rods.
Have to build this blank now, last one I built I owned all of 10 days. Been fishing my Lamiglas SSP and SMB S-glass rods and kind of put it on the back burner. Neat blank.

Gentlemen,

thank for your help and good advice. End of the story is that a good friend of mine have found old, black Seeker model SBS655 6'6" 1 8-17 lb. 3/8 - 3/4 oz. 5.0 0.705 3.07 for me and made a spinning rod. Since then I've caught dozens of european zanders with it (average fish about 25" and 4lb) , with lures like 4"-5" soft jerkbaits (minnow type) with 1/2oz-5/8oz jighead - and the rod works perfect. Amazingly, it does allow to bring fish to the surface quickly as the fish after hookset is much more calm on this rod in comparison to graphite rods. So very interesting product and definitely a keeper for me.

KInd regards

Best regards,
Pavel