I'm thinking about buying my son a rod blank and materials for him to build his own rod. He's 15 and I've been taking him on some trout/stream fly fishing trips with me for the last couple years. He seems to be very interested and sticking with it. He currently has a 8.5' 5 wt general purpose rod which was given to him as a gift from a family member, and a 10.5 3 wt Euro rod which is how we usually fish. I have a 7.5' 4 wt rod from LL Bean that I've used for about 25 years now that I really love. It's not made anymore so I don't know how to compare the action, I just know I love the rod and it works perfectly for small stream fish and fishing with a real 4 wt line for casts in the 15-40' range. I guess it's a medium/fast or mildly fast action rod that works perfectly with my casting stroke. We fish on the East coast, not out West where there is infinite room overhead.

I'd like to get him something along those lines. I've perused the forum for suggestions. I definitely want to stay away from spending money on big name brand blanks, which doesn't make a lot of sense to me (especially Sage, Winston, etc.) Don't get me wrong I have a Sage rod myself that I like very much, but that isn't the point when making your own IMO. There is far better bang for the buck I'm sure.

Here is one I found, based on the description I thought it might pair well with a 4 wt. line for shorter casts of 15-30' on small streams. Anyone have any tips or pointers? Thanks.
[www.mudhole.com]

Or the standard 4 wt.
[www.mudhole.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/07/2019 02:47PM by Jeff Connelly.

I think it's all about which weight you want. I have a Rainshadow RX6 3 weight of similar specs and it works well in the range you are talking about WITH a heavier than spec line. A 3 weight line wouldn't load for the shorter casts I wanted to make. I am not an expert fly caster.

Your old rod likely has an action that would be called moderate today.

It would be great if there were a builder in your area who could test the CCS of your old rod, then get the CCS specs for your proposed rods. You might consider giving your city and asking. We have a lot of builders on the east coast.

A 25 year old LL Bean fly rod is more likely to be a moderate action due to the carbon fibers used then. A very good moderate-fast action blank is the Batson Unity line. I have built a number of them for clients and also fish one myself and love it for smaller waters.

I'm in Raleigh, NC.

Well, I've fished a number of rods, and it feels toward the fast end. Don't quote me on this, but I had what I recall was a Loomis GLX I bought for nymphing years ago, and finally sold it because it was too fast. I kept my Sage VPS 9' 5 wt. I would say the LL Bean is a tad faster than the VPS. The LL Bean merely says "GUIDE" on it. I have a Scott SAS 853 which is also described as a medium/fast, but it's not really crisp enough for my taste. I was not really able to "punch" it with a hammer tap stroke like I could with the LL Bean.

I'm a little confused between Batson and Rainshadow, but I guess one way or another we're looking at the same rods. That looks like a nice option as well.

This would make a great rod for yoyr son - that will also make you jealous:
[ctsfishing.com]

7'6" #3 CTS glass blank.
email me for RB.Org pricing
Herb
CTS Distrib

Jeff, Batson Enterprises is the company with a number of product lines, Rainshadow blanks being one of them. Batson is a line of products, too. Alps is the high end stuff. Sort of like GM with Chevy, Buick, Cadillac, etc. Easiest way to see their products, IMHO, is to use the Getbitoutdoors.com web site. I use a lot of the Rainshadow and Batson blanks. As you go up their line of fly rod blanks, the actions get faster. For your use the RX6 and Revelation (RX7) would be about right.

Jeff, one thing I just thought of was the rod I built for my grandson. He was younger than 15, but he still was interested in the project, so I brought him into it. He wrapped most of the guides and in this way felt the rod even more special than if I had done it all.

Michael Danek Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Jeff, one thing I just thought of was the rod I
> built for my grandson. He was younger than 15,
> but he still was interested in the project, so I
> brought him into it. He wrapped most of the
> guides and in this way felt the rod even more
> special than if I had done it all.

Yes, I was planning on him doing it himself. I think I built my first when I was around 17 but I'll be there to show him how, so......

Schneider's, one of the sponsors on the left, has some Batson RX 6 fly rod blanks on sale at great prices. Check them out. I believe that you can find one that will work for you. You can call them, they are very helpful too.

We have some RX6 (mod-fast) blanks on sale, also a few RX7 (faster) that might work for you.
Here are some links;
[www.schneidersrods.com]
[www.schneidersrods.com]

Best wishes,
Ron Schneider
Schneider's Rod Shop
Mountain Home, Arkansas
[www.schneidersrods.com]
mtnron40@yahoo.com
870-424-3381

I have to say, your site is rather difficult to navigate. It looks like a stream of consciousness design. I'm not trying to flame, it's just customer feedback. The fly rod blanks are spread all over, and for example, to find "Unity" I have to click on "Forecast".

But, I'll search through it and see what I find....

So I might have narrowed it down to

Batson Rainshadow Revelation 7' 9" 3 wt. (with a 4 wt. line on it probably.)
or
Batson Rainshadow Unity 7' 6" 4 wt.
or
MHX "Traditional" F764-4 7' 6" 4 wt.

If you are making your son a rod I would consider that he will likely use it for many years to come. I am from the East and now live in the Rocky Mountain West. I find the best all around rod to be a 9 ft. 5 wt, which can be fished on about any type of water. Or even a 9 ft. 6 wt. But I know you are thinking lighter and shorter.

Also, do you want a 2 or 4 piece rod?

An 8 footish 4-weight can be a great rod (I have one), but it may not have much of a back bone for fish over 16 inches. But great for smaller water and smaller fish.

The CTS glass rod mentioned is as good a glass rod as you will find in the world. While fast for glass, it will begin to lose effectiveness at 50 feet or so, but is money up until then. Nice recent video review on Trident.

The Rainshadow Unity and higher ranking rods are a good solid choice. MHX rods are quality, too. Hook and Hackle XI blanks are good, often on sale, and are not too stiff. (Xi 8ft. 4 wt on sale right now for $58! [store.hookhack.com]) St. Croix "imperial" blanks are the same as the Rod Geeks Carbon 4 blanks, and are fine blanks and a bit over $100 when shipped, and you can pick a color.

You could also get a TFO blank in their Pro II, BVK or Finesse models. The 7 foot 9 inch Finesse blank is currently on clearance at the Fly Shack. You could go to a local shop and try casting a finished Finesse rod to see if you like it.

If you really want to splurge you could get a Sage X or Light Line, Winston Pure or Air, or T&T blank. Winston of course has its quite famous softer feel than today's fast and super fast rods.

How much do you want to spend? If you want to spend less than $100 on the blank I would get the Unity, TFO or Hook and Hackle, or pick up a complete Rainshadow, Unity or XI kit when kits are on sale at H&H.

For a blank in the $100 to $200 range I would look at Rod Geeks or MHX. Rod Geeks has their own site and MHX is of course Mud Hole.

For the higher price range, if you want glass, I'd go CTS. For carbon rod I would look at a Winston Air or T&T Aeros, the latter you can find at Angler's Workshop. For a price in between $200 and $400 I would look at the MHX native series, in kit or blank.

Good luck! ( A few rods of which you can buy blanks are listed in this shootout, which provides some interesting points of view): [www.yellowstoneangler.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/08/2019 08:33PM by david taylor.