Well I've got to say wow!!! I built a 736 with Winn splits, Fuji SK2 seat, Fuji K series Titanium micro guides spiral wrapped, and matched it with an Abu Garcia Revo 4 Premier. I finally got to fish it enough to figure out what it's all about. It is sensitive as all get out and has very good backbone in comparison to the other MH rods I've fished in the past. That thing will cast a weightless 4-5" senko a mile the bite yesterday was extremely soft everyone else on board swapped to the same rig I was fishing and didn't catch a thing. I guess that tells you something. When at 50 ft out you lift your rod tip and can feel the water running over the ribs of a wacky rigged senko it says something. You can feel reeds brush your bait and rock gravel sand and mud. Caught 4-4lb LMB on it in the slop and was able to yard them out pretty easily on 12lb test. Got some lines crossed and I kept feeling a bump and my buddy never knew. I just can't say enough about it. These are my initial impressions and I'm sure I will get a more complete view as I fish it more. I really can't wait until I get my 733 finished.

i assume this is the SJ blank?

No it's there MB736.

interesting

I have both the mb and sj 736 x-ray blanks


i found the mb to be under powered and not exactly what i was looking for.

but i received by sj736 last week and i am very impressed, its very close in power and action to the nrx 873. In no way is it a heavy.

It is a wicked stick for sure! I love the ones I have.

Jacob, I can totally understand your enthusiasm for the rod you built on the X ray MB 736 blank. I built two rods on that blank, and while I don't feel they're suited for horsing fish out of heavy cover, they're definitely powerful enough to get fish out of moderate cover. Where they really excel, at least for me, is open and deeper water fishing.

I built mine pretty much to fish for smallmouth bass with. And also to fish for deeper water summertime largemouth. You can count pebbles with these things.

David totally agree with you. With a jig on it's amazing add tungsten and it's scary. I fish for smallies in the rocks a lot. I probably am not in stuff that others would claim to be heavy cover but it is heavy for my area. I need to get my 733 done so I can dedicate it as a senko rig with the 736 as a jig rig.

I'm a western angler and old enough to remember the very same words coming out of the mouths of the anglers back in the day that owned their old broom handle rods, comparing them to Gary's soft, unusable rod designs.

Once I build my SJ 736 and MB 736, I need to measure them. They feel very similar now, but maybe CCS will tell a different story. I am not sure about the accuracy of North Fork's labelling and storage system though. They sent y XRAY drop shot blank with a SJ 736 tab and label on it.

Last summer I caught a 3 lbs smallie on a Carbonlite MH rod and I had to work my butt off to get him out of the weeds he was in. My partner insisted I had a snag and I kept telling him I had one. Finally got him freed and hauled in. Sunday I was fishing much heavier cover and I never felt like I was going to break off or break my rod. It was a very good feeling. Not to mention he couldn't feel the bites and I could!!