You know everyone has their quirks in what they like in a blank. Mine is that I prefer smaller butt diameters. I guess this stems from growing up in the 60's bass fishing when a 5'6" rod was the norm and a 6' was long. Anyway I am always on the search for the "Holy Grail" of rod blanks and found what I would love to have in the UC line. My question is I noticed that most of their blanks are medium or heavy. Anyone built on them to know which power may lean more to the MH side.

Steve,

Adding my 2 cents, for me at least, I guess it all depends on what you consider Medium, Heavy, or Medium Heavy.

I've been using the CRB blanks from Mudhole as of late and buying their versions of Medium, Medium Heavy and Heavy, I have pretty much decided upon the perfect blanks being either their Medium or Medium Heavy, in any of the lengths they offer.

As far as the 7' foot rods go, which are my hot seller right now, the Medium blanks are rated for 8 - 15 lb line 1/4 - 3/4 ounce lures and have the perfect flex for "walkin' the dog" on the surface!

The Medium Heavy blanks are rated for 10 - 17 lb line 3/8 - 1 ounce lures and just seem perfect for all my builds. They toss everything perfectly and have enough backbone to pull a Red from the Mangroves.

The Heavy is a stout rod, 12 - 25, 1/2 - 1 1/2 and I made a couple of those and made one personally for myself and its great for pulling Sheepshead out from the structure.

When I started this hobby, I looked at all my blanks I owned and looked at the numbers on the rods and did my research from there and it worked out pretty nicely so far. Their numbers are almost a SPOT ON match for all the rods I used to own when I started into this hobby. I also ask a person who wants a rod to tell me the numbers they have on their present rod and this just about assures me the person receiving the new rod will be happy with what they are getting. Another thing, their numbers are pretty much "close" to what everyone else offers across the board so if someone comes to a show and is looking at one of my rods, an they tell me they like a "Medium Heavy", I can put a Medium Heavy right in their hands and be standing by with a Medium or a Heavy, just to let them compare.

I delivered a rod this weekend and the girl, who is new to inshore fishing, just couldn't be happier and actually stated "This feels like the exact same action from my old rod"!" Unless someone is looking for something completely and totally different from what they are now using, its hard to make a bad rod for someone when you give them exactly what they are used to working with.

I added a link to the Mudhole Color Series below to give you an idea of the numbers I put in this reply.

[www.mudhole.com]

Tony Boschi
Banana River Rods
Merritt Island, Florida
321~525~1063

* Rapid Prototyping Services
* Custom Beach Rods
* Custom Inshore Rods

[bananariverrods.com]

How is the ideal weight for a casting/spinning rod determined? Is more weight added until the rod "folds up" and casting distance drops off, or is there some other method - deflection maybe?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/16/2020 10:08AM by Phil Ewanicki.

No, other than the CCS, there is no uniform, across the board standard for rod powers and actions (which you can't really do with words - you need verifiable numbers). What one mfg calls a "medium heavy" another will list as a "medium."

By the way, fly rods are not classified by numbers of grains or feet. They fall into the same boat as any other type rod or blank. One company's 5-weight rod is another company's 6-weight rod.

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It should be possible to build a casting robot with variable settings which would at least establish some kind of basis for comparing the performance of rod blanks. I would far prefer such a standard to the warbling of advertising copy-writers who come up with stuff like "soulful action" or "heavy-medium action" but may not have wet a line in their lives.

A "Casting Robot" is likely impractical as it would cost money to develop and then for each company to purchase. And not sure what it provide in terms of blank measurements.

A careful look at the specs, provided they use uniform, objective numbers across the board, like they do for length and physical blank weight, is all you need in order to gauge performance. We already have the tools in place to do this, but most manufacturers choose not to use them. Marketing-speak remains the primary means of selling blanks and rods.

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I agree with Tony the CRB blanks are hard to beat. These blanks are sensitive and hardy enough to take rough handling.

The light and medium light are my favorites. The IS701ML is my primary rod.

Steven; Give Randy Penny (the U C owner) a call and tell him just what you are looing for. I'm sure he will have what you want. I've built on many of their blanks and they are excellent.

Steven; Give Randy Penny (the U C owner) a call and tell him just what you are looing for. I'm sure he will have what you want. I've built on many of their blanks and they are excellent.

On the other hand, employing science and measurement to specify the qualities of rod blanks may be a waste of time and money, especially if buyers value the feelings their blanks create more than the measured performance they provide.

I build a lot of baitcasters but I have found that many blanks designated by the manufacturer as spinning blanks will have smaller butts. I have used these types of blanks for more than half my baitcaster builds. I have , however, come to realize that larger butts on blanks with a thinner sensitive tip section will have many of the desired attributes that I like in a finished rod. I would not limit myself by just using blanks with small diameter butts and try out different template / mandrill set ups.

The 4 power UC DHX freshwater blanks are what I call MH for most parts of the country. My rods are from the original GUSA days.
Use the search function and I bet there is some additional info there. Type in GUSA and see what happens. The 663 and the 70MHXF worm blanks were some of my favorites.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/16/2020 06:22PM by Spencer Phipps.