A friend gave me a batson forecast rx6 blank 8'6" 5w. Not sure if i am going to get into fly fishing or if i should just build it spinning. I was thinking for unweighted sluggos or other soft plastics for schoolie striped bass. Anyone familar with the blank and if it would work for that application. I was thinking about taping a reel and some guides on and seeing how it casts the intended lure

It will be an ultralight powered rod that will lob lures more than rifle them.

Doing a trial test is a great idea. My favorite pan fish rod came from a fly rod blank.

I feel like it will throw light lures nice but dont know if it will stop stripers in a reasonable time. Probably nothing over 5-10lbs but you never know dont want to be fighting a fish for over a min or 2

One thing to think about, can you present a sluggo properly with an ultralight rod/

I don't know about stopping them in a minute or two, but we have caught lots of Lake Norfork Stripers on 6# test using either very soft glass rods or longer 5-6-7 wt fly blanks.
Usually made up for level wind reels to minimize line twist.
Back in the day I landed a Striper just under 20# on an 8 &1/2' 6wt made as a spinner while fishing for Crappie.
Not the kind of rod that allows for releasing fish though, especially the bigger ones.

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

I built the 6 wt version of that rod into a spinning rod for bonefish. Loaded fine with 1/8 jigs, cast a mile with a little more weight, and handled the fish fine. It is a little sloppier than a typical spin rod, and I found it difficult to make accurate short casts with it. I think its length coupled with the slow action was the cause. I have replaced it with a tighter (faster) action spin rod and like it better.

Ron Schneider Wrote:
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> I don't know about stopping them in a minute or
> two, but we have caught lots of Lake Norfork
> Stripers on 6# test using either very soft glass
> rods or longer 5-6-7 wt fly blanks.
> Usually made up for level wind reels to minimize
> line twist.
> Back in the day I landed a Striper just under 20#
> on an 8 &1/2' 6wt made as a spinner while fishing
> for Crappie.
> Not the kind of rod that allows for releasing fish
> though, especially the bigger ones.

What size fish? I was only thinking this set up for fish less than 10 lbs but not trying to exhaust them for release

I built many spinning rods on fly blanks for catching white bass. i was building about 4 rods on ALL STAR AUSTIN( TITANIUM) W4,W5 over 10 feet ,using SIC MATCH guides.I was catching many white bass and 15 lb. yelow catfih,,buffalo carp and long nose garfish fishing with FIREWIRE SMOKE 4LB.+4LB.FLUOROCARBON LEDER AND 1/16oz,EAGLE CLAW +BASS ASSASIN CURLY SHAD CHARTREUSE SILVER GLITTER 2 INCH.

With another rod buit by me,my friend BILL BATSON was fishing with me at ROLLOVER PASS,BOLIVAR PENINSULA,TEXAS and BILL like my rod built on ALL STAR AUSTIN ( TITANIUM) W10 catching a lot of speckled trout and loosing one big red fish.

I don't see it being a short enough fight.

Brett,

I built a spinning rod on that exact blank about fifteen years ago to do exactly what you are thinking for schoolie stripers and blues. Overall it worked fine, but it is not the best.

I made sure that I only fished it when the water was colder in case I hooked a bigger striper, or in the summer when only the smallest of schoolies are in the bay. I did not want to take a chance fighting a big fish that would have a chance to build up a lot of lactic acid, which makes survival that much harder. I did land a 30” striper with it, but I made sure to but the bend of the rod all of the way into the butt section so that i had the power to bring the fish in. I would say the entire top half of the rod was straight, with the bend starting much further down the blank. That was a fun fish, and he was landed quickly and released once fully recovered.

If you are anywhere near Atlantic City and would like to try it, let me know.

Merry Christmas.
Doyle

I’m not a big fan of using a fly rod Blank for a spinning rod. Just too sloppy for my taste, but that’s just my opinion. If you want to use a long spinning rod get a salmon/steelhead Blank.
Norm

Brett DeNicola Wrote:
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> A friend gave me a batson forecast rx6 blank 8'6"
> 5w. Not sure if i am going to get into fly fishing
> or if i should just build it spinning. I was
> thinking for unweighted sluggos or other soft
> plastics for schoolie striped bass.

Brett, the 5wt (anything) is light on fight for stripers when built in any manner. As far as soft-jerks (sluggo/fluke/etc) it's got quite a bit of flex in the tip and makes working lures like that at a distance too much work. For this type of fly blank-to-spinning build and intended purpose, a 7-8 wt flyrod blank is pretty ideal.

As far as the 5wt as a spinning build? Do it anyway, it'll make a dandy light dropshot, F'n'F, panfish rod and get a lot of pleasurable use. More opportunities anywhere for that than schoolie stripers and you won't regret the project if you like to fish. I'm a flyfisherman and spinning guy, all my current spinning rods are built of fly blanks and no complaints, you just have to fit the rod to the appropriate purpose or vice versa and it's never a mistake on the build choice. Have fun with it, man.