Alright.. Im a fan of mhx, but have an open mind.. Although i never held one, a rainshadow is tempting.. Heres what i want from you guys..

- 2 piece, dealers choice.. (Ultralight of coarse) length not exceeding 6'6"

- reel seat, i have aquired a couple split reel seats.. (Thank you again )
Im going to hold onto them for a future plan in have.. Muhahaha!

- guides, i love my microwave guides, but on an ultralight they arent
necessary (again, dealers choice...)

- grips, i have a 2 tone cork split grip set that will work, its the one that.
comes with the areo reel seat combo from mudhole, but i want to
know what you guys come up with.. Preferably a split grip..

The rules are simple,

-all components have to come from the same place.. 1 order.. Cant
exceed $200 with shipping and tax..

-has to be light, light, light! Ill be marrying my "Tica Cetus 500SS" to the.
build

-as mentioned above, i have grips, so they arent necessary in the build,
just mention in your post about that

Thats it! Im gonna have you guys make my christmas present for me lol im limited on various blank knowledge compared to you guys.. Im not picky, just love a good balanced rod.. The area for this application is going to be shallow creeks, no more then 15' wide, and 3' deep in the holes.. Primarily skitish natives.. Ill be throwing french blade spinners, (kind of like a rooster tail, but i make them, and they are fully dressed) and drifting nightcrawlers with no weight.. Primarliy in riffs, pockets, and pools.. Gotta love spring fed creeks..

Cant wait to hear what you guys have in mind! Make me a winner! Lol

(Sorry guys.. Long night at work, and my birthday was the 28th.. So im in a strange mood...)

This is fun, love spending other people's money lol. Here's what I would do, all from Mudhole

Blank 3S66ULF2 $95.00
Fighting butt BGKSC $4.19
Rear grip RGK6016RC $5.31
Reel Seat SKSS16 $13.59
Arbor RS-16 $1.95
Winding Check 1 WCS16-? $1.99
Winding Check 2 WCS16-? $1.99
Winding Check 3 WCS16-? $1.99
Stripper Guide LM4XG-16 $1.86
Guide 2 LM4XG-8 $1.49
Guide 3 LM4XG-5 $1.11
Guide 4 LF4XG-3W $0.99
Guide 5 LF4XG-3W $0.99
Guide 6 LF4XG-3W $0.99
Guide 7 LF4XG-3W $0.99
Guide 8 LF4XG-3W $0.99
Guide 9 LF4XG-3W $0.99
Tip Top LFM4XT-3-4 $2.19

That puts you at $138.60 before shipping and tax. I built a 6' L and 7' UL 1 piece SC III blanks recently with essentially the same components. You would have a tough time beating it!

Looks like we have a contestant! Will anyone challenge??

Btw...

Mudhole has tax included in the price per item, and over $100 ships for free..

Could this be the game changer? Will our sole contestant fall from glory?!

Stay tuned.... (This is fun isnt it?)

Tell ya what... Lets change the rules a little.. Brauden the spectrum a little.. Honestly.. Im not sure you can beat that blank... How about..

-up to 7'
-ultralight or light (keep in mind its small stream, panfish and trout)
-anything but a 1 piece

Go longer than 6' 6". Better hook sets, longer casts, more fun.

That is true.. My 7'6" fly rod is a blast down there.. Really tough to cast though.. Pretty tight....

Been there fished that.......alot. 6' in a small trout stream is my goto. My "trout bum" setup is this.

Phoenix elixer fx601-2.........69$
Airwaves...chrome...............11.29 yes you need them
Top........................................1.94
CRB slim seat silver.............7.59
Tapered WC16......................1.95 x2 (no handle necessary)
Fighting butt CFX 150...........9.95 (cause carbon fiber is cool, and lightweight)
ecc22................2.14
Winding check.......... .99
Hook keeper.............95
Total........107.95

Mic drop

*picking the mic back up off the floor.. Lightly brushing the head off...*

Ahem..
We have a second contestant.. Strong build.. Strong build... I like the lack of foregrip.. But can the blank bet the mighty, uh.. Mini.. hmmm.. That not quite right.. Lets see... The... ... Well, the st. Croix?

Time will tell folks... Time will tell...

Carbon fiber is cool..

-One of my favorite spots in that creek splits into 2 creeks for a good 400 yards or so.. 3-8' wide.. Wicked turns under fallen trees... Makes for some serious fun..

Seth Johnson Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> This is fun, love spending other people's money
> lol. Here's what I would do, all from Mudhole
>
> Blank 3S66ULF2 $95.00
> Fighting butt BGKSC $4.19
> Rear grip RGK6016RC $5.31
> Reel Seat SKSS16 $13.59
> Arbor RS-16 $1.95
> Winding Check 1 WCS16-? $1.99
> Winding Check 2 WCS16-? $1.99
> Winding Check 3 WCS16-? $1.99
> Stripper Guide LM4XG-16 $1.86
> Guide 2 LM4XG-8 $1.49
> Guide 3 LM4XG-5 $1.11
> Guide 4 LF4XG-3W $0.99
> Guide 5 LF4XG-3W $0.99
> Guide 6 LF4XG-3W $0.99
> Guide 7 LF4XG-3W $0.99
> Guide 8 LF4XG-3W $0.99
> Guide 9 LF4XG-3W $0.99
> Tip Top LFM4XT-3-4 $2.19
>
> That puts you at $138.60 before shipping and tax.
> I built a 6' L and 7' UL 1 piece SC III blanks
> recently with essentially the same components. You
> would have a tough time beating it!

Modifying slightly, swap the SKSS16 for a KSKSS16 and make it uplocking. Swap the RGK6016RC for a BGKS. Still no foregrip, but you would have an ever so slightly lighter rear grip situation.

Get a few more bucks together and build a long one for lakes, a short one for streams. Sounds like you're getting some very sound ideas from many who have built and used this type rod.

If it wasnt a present, i would get quite alot more together... I think im going to go with the St. Croix setup... I was honestly leaning towards MHX.. But... Ive wanted a St. For awhile.. Although.. I think im going to throw microwaves on... I just cant get away from how good they are... Thanks guys.. Seth.. Sound choice.. You win.. well, my respect lol may not be worth much, but its something.. Lol ;) thanks for playing!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/29/2018 12:05PM by Anthony Unger.

Acually what do you guys suggest? Microlight? Or Airwave?

Anthony Unger Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> If it wasnt a present, i would get quite alot more
> together... I think im going to go with the St.
> Croix setup... I was honestly leaning towards
> MHX.. But... Ive wanted a St. For awhile..
> Although.. I think im going to throw microwaves
> on... I just cant get away from how good they
> are... Thanks guys.. Seth.. Sound choice.. You
> win.. well, my respect lol may not be worth much,
> but its something.. Lol ;) thanks for playing!

Lol like I said, I love to spend other people's money. Enjoy it! Just a note, there's a 7' 2 piece St. Croix UL Fast, but it's an SC II. There's also a 7' UL Moderate 2 piece, but that seems like it would be a literal bull whip!

Im gonna stay shorter.. Its replacing my tica TC light 6'

Only used airwaves once. My impression was they are stamped junk. Don’t mind the microwaves just not a fan at all of the airwaves. They r light though

Good enough of an answer for me.. Micrwaves it is..

Blank: Rainshadow Revelation REVS62UL-2. The blank lists at $63.13, but Utmost discounts off the MSRP. 15 - 25% can't remember which. But we'll go with list price.

Guides: Pac Bay Minima4, Chrome frame, chrome ring. This is a Fuji KR concept build guide train. These are the Minima's that do not have ceramic rings.

XM4XG16. $1.49 (1)
XM4XG08. $1.19 (1)
XM4XG05. $.89 (1)
XF4XG05. $.89 (1) choke guide
XF4XG04. $.79 (4) running guides.
XFM4XT04. $1.99 (1) Tip top w/ 4.5 tube.

Hook keeper: XBHKS. $1.00 (1)
Fighting butt: EVASG155A. $1.67
Butt cap: EVABC20. $2.61
Rear grip: BF25-250. $.97 This is actually a 2 1/2" long tapered fore grip. Just mount it backwards and butt it to your reel seat. Works great.

Oh yeah ..... all from Utmost Enterprises. Carol rocks !!!

You said light light light ....... EVA is lighter than cork. Minima guides that don't have the ceramic rings, are super super light. I've never built on a St Croix blank, but IMO Rainshadow blanks are much nicer than MHX. MUCH :o)

Add a couple of black rubber winding checks in the appropriate places. No need for a fore grip, but if you want one just order an extra tapered fore grip and cut off the tip to make a short little nub. It's a bare bones build, No bling at all. But it's light. And KR guide trains are easy to set up using the KR software on the Angler's Resource guide that is linked to the left on this page. And they cast extremely well.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/29/2018 04:20PM by David Baylor.

David x2

Hmm... That does make for a convincing argument...
But light or not ill carbon before eva.. Im not a fan of it..

I figure the grip material is aesthetic, the rest of the stuff affects how it fishes. (by the way, Its cork or CF for me.)