Maybe i missed it but did Brian say the wraps were coated with just CP , i thought we were way past that point and the rod was completely finished . Anyway , i feel that Brian should at least fish it again and this time really test things out , whether he chooses to fish it for the entire season is up to him it really depends on how astute and familiar he is with his rods and what he deems acceptable and not acceptable .

I myself would not fish a rod that i was unhappy with one extra day let a lone a full season if it was obvious to me something wasn't right and the build was not meeting my expectations but i respect others who feel differently.

Jason Yu Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
"I was disappointed with it but it's still considered a high end blank in my experience"




OK, then this disappointment is obviously related to the sensitivity because you love everything about it otherwise as you said . Well there you go folks , it's sounding like the expectations of the PB regarding sensitivity when compared to the highest end competitors comes up a little short with Brian and Jason . Others have made it clear that they feel differently but now we have two that both mentioned they thought the blanks would be a little more sensitive .

Thanks Jason for your comments , very helpful.

Ben,
If you are going to fish with the rod, put on a coat of finish so that if you continue to fish with the rod, it is finished and ready to go.

If, later you decide to strip the rod, then strip the rod. Not a big deal to remove the guides with finish on them at all.

Be safe

If i was Brian i would be feeling a lot better about things now especially after reading Jason's comments , instead of questioning everything about the build Jasons comments seem to make the build aspect much less of the likely source of the issue, now we wait for Jason to confirm his build is identical to Brian's.

Roger..CP. is my finish of choice..lol. Herb, i don,t consider a rod fully tested until hooking up to Mr. Big and then seeing how the rod works or maybe works against me..especially with flyrods..they can really crap out under load..

Great post Jason. I find 1/3 o.z. overweight a bit disappointing. That is the way I'd test sensitivity also, but I'd have a floro leader on it cause that's the way I'd be fishing it.

Ben
"Brian, to get the most sensitiity out of your rod install a 3" to 4" carbon fiber foregrip and learn to use it."

What would give you the impression that adding an un-needed fore grip of any length would add sensitivity to a rod?

Herb
Every one on this site knows I am a hard core Batson blank fan. But I build on several different brand blanks
for a couple or reason
1 - Batson doesn't always have the exact action i'm looking for in a blank.
2 - I like to try every new top of the line blank that comes out, so I can compare blanks, looking to see if something better has come out, and to have some experiential knowledge of what others are saying about them.

Except for crank bait rods (when looking for a softer little slower blank), swim bait rods and some flipping sticks (when needing something more durable).
I exclusively building on top shelf blanks:
Batson RX-9 Eternity, Batson RX-8+(still some of my all time favorite blanks), St. Croix SC-5, Point Blank, and NFC-high modulus blanks.

Having built 7 rods, using 6 different Point blank models. Except for one concern (which has nothing to do with feel)
I would rank them really close to RX8+, and St. Croix SC-5's when it comes to sensitivity
And much better then the 2 EXray blanks I bought, to see how they matched up.

As anyone that has attended one of the seminars I've done at the I.C.R.B.Expo on building technique specific bass rods, can attest to.

If a different brand blank then Batson's is better for a particular application, or I don't like the action of a particular Batson blank for a specific application.
I have no problem saying so and promoting another brand blank.
Its the only way to maintain credibility in this craft.
Other wise I would be just another marketer pushing some company's product.

Also have no problem calling a piece of junk -"A PIECE OF JUNK" (They can attest to that also)
Having said that: if there's a sensitivity issue with Points Blanks.
ITS NOT THE BLANK



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/20/2019 08:05PM by Steve Gardner.

Hi Steve..the foregrip is usually located in the last spot along the rod to sense any vibrations before most of them get absorbed by the mass of the reel and the handle which make up most of the weight of the rod..the reel alone weighs two or three times more than the rod.. it,s this mass that absorbs most of the vibration..so,it makes more sense to intercept the vibrations before they get absorbed by the reel.. remember it,s also mass that makes a lathe appear to run so smoothly by absorbing the vibrations..

Went fishing this afternoon for about 4 hrs and exclusively used my PB691MXF. Threw a Texas rigged worm with1/8oz tungsten weight, and had no problems feeling either the bottom/structure or bites. Switched over to an unweighted fitness worm and later to a swim worm, again no problems detecting structure and bites. Wound up catching 16 bass up to 3lbs, nothing huge but a lot of fun. The rod was made up as a casting rod, with carbon fiber grips, ECM reel seat, no fore-grip, and Fuji KR casting guides with 4.5 runners. Very light and sensitive, and casts light lures very well, with plenty of backbone for setting the hook. I also use it for unweighted soft plastic jerk baits, as well as hard body jerk bait. Great Rod.
Norm

Thanks Steve and Norm.

To me Brian and Jason's opinions are just as important as anybody else's , other peoples opinions must be taken into account and respected even if you disagree 100% with them . The fact is that every individual will NOT think exactly like the next guy and if they think a blank IS NOT as sensitive as others they have built on and fished than thats just the way it is , end of story . I'm going to do my Phil Ewanicki impression , unless you can provide factual based data proving a certain level of sensitivity between blanks that takes subjectivity out of the equation then there is no opinion that holds more weight than any other. It's really just that simple .

My comments mean no disrespect to anybody , i believe there are exceptionally experienced people who feel very differently but it doesn't change what Brian and Jason think in any way shape of form.

Yep, different people are different. If everyone liked the same thing, then we would all be buying the same blank. I have no problem with people having their own opinion on what they like, but that doesn’t change my opinion. You have to decide for your self what you like, not what some else likes.
Norm

You cannot add anything to a blank to make it more sensitive. Each additional item you add reduces sensitivity because it results on a lower stiffness to weight ratio. So from a sensitivity standpoint, the idea should be to add as little as possible. What 's needed should be there and what's there should be needed. No more and no less.

There is nothing magic about carbon fiber, other than it has a higher stiffness to weight ratio than say, bamboo or glass. Therefore you can achieve the same stiffness with less weight. A higher stiffness to weight ratio.

..................

Tom is correct. You cannot add anything to the blank to make it more sensitive, it is or isn’t. Anything you add before the reel seat will only dampen the sensitivity . A lot of bass blanks today are designed with large butts because it acts as a megaphone for vibrations down the blank.
High modulus blanks are inherently more sensitive due to a denser compacted material but more prone to failing. Then came nano resin technology.
Some blank manufactures remove more material than others to save weight, which is done for marketing.
In theory the more material you remove the more sensitive, and obviously lighter.
The more material the less sensitive, but it will have a stronger backbone.
Point Blank blanks are on the stouter end of the high modulus Toray blanks.

*NFC/Gary Loomis claims by not sanding the blank it makes the blank more crisp, and stronger.
Phenix K2 ($230 Blank) is probably the most sensitive, lightweight blanks out there, equal if not more sensitive than even NRX. But cross your fingers , and pray your rod doesn’t snap in multiple pieces when you go for a slack line hook-set.

Unless you care about sensing when a fish kisses your bait, Point Blanks will get the job done just as well as any high end rod.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/21/2019 01:19AM by Jason Yu.

I honestly don't believe many rod builders take sensitivity very seriously OR simply think the rod will be sensitive enough and are satisfied with that , far far more builders imo take aesthetics more seriously . All you got to do is spend a few hours browsing through the images , very very few builds have wraps that are just long enough and end very close to where the foot ends for example.

The overwhelming majority have wraps extending nearly twice the length of the length of the guide foot alone but i personally do not think builders are doing it purposely , i think most have wrapped like that for decades and never really thought about the impact it has on sensitivity , especially when you add how much additional epoxy is used per build .

With all the amazing things available to add to a blank these days i can see how sensitivity can be so easily overlooked , you have to go into a build with the goal of ultimate sensitivity being the end result and that starts with a blank that is not painted , followed by smart component choices , greatly shortening up your wrap lengths , handle materials , guide type, style , sizing and whether to go with the ultimate in lightweight materials (Titanium frames) or regular stainless etc...

I agree with Tom as usual , i mean who doesn't agree with Tom , you would have to be one really sick twisted individual to not agree with Tom, OK moving on from praising Tom now , but his comments about adding the absolute minimum is what it's really about.

Ben
Tom's, Jason's, and Herb's last 3 post are the correct responses to my questioning your thought process.
You can not add anything in front of the reel seat to improve sensitive, only rob from it.

Jason
I'm not sure how much input (if any) Gary actually has with North Fork composites any more.
It is my understanding he sold NFC to some Russian guy last year.
He may have stayed on in an advisory, design, or marketing position, or just walked away

See what you started Brian..it,s all your fault..lol.anyway, i don,t think a 7 or 8 gram foregrip is going to do near as much damping as a 160 gram reel..i would rather hold the rod by the 8 gram foregrip than by the 160 gram reel..way more vibration is going to get through the 8 grams of mass than through the 160 grams of mass..true some vibration will be sensed from the real seat under the reel but not nearly as much as three or four fingers wrapped around the foregrip, no matter what material is used for a foregrip, cork, eva or urethane.

Lol Ben I feel like I should've just kept my mouth shut and fished it a little more to get a better impression. Norm I'm going to try it this Sat with Texas rig worm like you described, I was lightly touching the tip on the floor yesterday and did seem to feel the vibration sometimes. I think maybe I was expecting too much out of it from a semi slack line presentation in the jerkbait, and it's too fast to vibrate enough for crankbait/spinner. Just didn't want the rod to go to waste and I wanted to find a better technique that it's more suited for. Sorry for all the fuss I've caused so far, I'll report back on Saturday with an update.

Everyone fishes differently and has different preferences in what they want in a rod and that's what makes custom rod building so interesting. I appreciate everyone's opinions in what works for them and am taking bits and pieces to figure out what I like the most for my fishing style. I don't expect to make the perfect rod for myself but hopefully each rod will be closer and closer to my ideal rod. Thanks again for all the input!

One thing I quickly learned when building rods for others, is that everyone is different with different likes and dislikes. Some like very stiff, others soft, some like long others short, some like bling others like plain, etc,etc. What I like someone else will not, and vice versa. There is nothing wrong with this, once you realize everyone is different. Get what you like, not what someone else likes. These are all things that make a custom rod custom. Unfortunately, there is a lot of trial and error in this process. Maybe that’s what makes it fun!
Norm



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/21/2019 12:18PM by Norman Miller.