I've been building a few salt water blanks for bottom fishing, mostly snapper and grouper. So far have been using a 40-60lb class rod. My question is, which is more important, the line rating of the blank or the max drag rating of the reel I'm using?

I'm thinking of going down in rod size to a 20-40lb class rod " just to get a lighter rod" but keeping my 50lb line for abrasion resistance. my reel will only produce 22-30 lbs of drag. Could the blank be overloaded with the 50lb line? or will the drag slip before the blank gets overloaded?

The reel is a Shimano Torium 20, 50lb mono and 6-10oz of weight depending on current.

Thanks, Joe.

Your drag is adjustable, so unless you adjust it wrong, no problem. I almost always use line well above my rod's line weight spec, never broke one. Also, if you keep the curve of your rod about 90 degrees max you'll not overload the rod. Keep in mind that how you use the rod is important. If you point the rod directly at the load, the blank will never be overloaded, regardless of the tension on the line. Might pull the reel off the rod, but the blank will be fine. Just mentioning this to illustrate the principles at work.

It depends on the blank and who rated it - ratings are completely subjective and there is no official handbook that says every manu has to rate them in a standardized fashion.

I did the ratings and specs on the Rodgeeks XC blanks, and and they do not reflect what you can actually fish on the blanks. There are guys using the XC 732 which is rated 15-25# with 20 pounds of drag and the rod still isn't overloaded. FOr what you are doing I would look at the XC 734, it's rated 20-40#, but more importantly the sinker rating for bottom fishing is 4-16oz which is perfect for the weights you are fishing [rodgeeks.com]

Thanks. Billy, I like the specs on the 734. I'll give that one a try.