Looking for a true 3 weight blank in roughly this length. Preference is 4 piece. MHX and Revelation are on the list but hoping for something a little lower in price as this would not be a high use rod for me. I would consider the Unity but it appears they only make this in a 2-piece which I find out a bit odd.

Thanks,
Mike J

Hi Mike, what application? I'm assuming trout small streams?

My two cents, which may only amount to 1 cent: I've never enjoyed fishing the shorter graphite fly rods (6-7.5 ft) I've built (unity, pac-bay, h&h). They're just kind of stiff or dead, and I think that's because you're never really casting enough line on a small stream to load the rod. I would recommend, and have been doing so myself, building on fiberglass for any fly rod intended for small stream trout fishing. Fiberglass excels at small streams--and I'm not saying that as a fiberglass-devotee; it really is the right tool for that setting. The CTS quartz rods in the rod length you're looking are really good and not much more than the lower end graphites. Another advantage of fiberglass is they can really "work with" a range of line weights. A "true" 3 wt fiberglass can effectively load a 4, or even drop down to a 2.

Angelo

Mike,
Angelo is absolutely correct. CTS, and probably other glass blanks, have the ability to cast multiple line weights.
The CTS 7'6" #3 is a VERY sweet blank. I like a crisp rod. So I order my personal glass blanks in raw glass finish that can be fished 2 line weights up.. You might want to order one painted to slow it down a bit
Contact me if you want more info and price and my RB.org discount
regards,
Herb
Distrib. CTS rod blanks

I recently finished a seven-and-a-half foot, 4-piece graphite, 3-4 wt. rod for my son who is using it in the high Sierras. I bought the anonymous blank on line for $32.50, since it won't have to do any heroic long casting in those dinky mountain streams. I test-casted it when it was finished and was astonished when it threw a line 50 - 60 feet easy as pie. All the components combined cost less than $80, which is the only drawback: he can't brag about how much it cost - like Minnie Pearl and her hat with the price tag left on.

Phil, he can brag about how little it cost too..that,s even more fun..lol.

I would love to build on a fiberglass blank but, unfortunately, more $ than I'm willing to spend on a niche rod for me.

Phil - this type of build is what I really had in mind. Do you mind sharing the source of your blank?

ben: It's not so much "cost" as it is performance and catching fish versus $nobbish advertising and silly prices.

I have both a 7'6" 3 and a 4 wt that I build on, and they definitely do not even come close to putting a strain on the bank account

Ron Weber Wrote:
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> I have both a 7'6" 3 and a 4 wt that I build on,
> and they definitely do not even come close to
> putting a strain on the bank account

Okay. You've got my attention Ron. Care to share any more details on what and where you get them?

I have built 2 rods on the Winston WT blank. In my case they were both 7' 2 wt but they make a blank in the parameters you are asking about. I paired the with single foot fuji Ti guides and Golden Witch slip ring reel seats and they turned out to be two of the best rods I have ever built. They cast like a dream but are on the $$ side but I figured I would add to the conversation since I don't know your budget.

Marc

Marc Schwitters Wrote:
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> I have built 2 rods on the Winston WT blank. In my
> case they were both 7' 2 wt but they make a blank
> in the parameters you are asking about. I paired
> the with single foot fuji Ti guides and Golden
> Witch slip ring reel seats and they turned out to
> be two of the best rods I have ever built. They
> cast like a dream but are on the $$ side but I
> figured I would add to the conversation since I
> don't know your budget.
>
> Marc

Thanks Marc. That would be out of my budget for what will be a very niche rod for me. The Revelation and MHX are about as high as I would be willing to spend ($100ish). Something like Ron's build of $80 total is more inline with what I'm really wanting to do. That would put the blank at <$50 ideally.

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Mike: I went on-line and searched for "fly rod blanks" - but not by brand name. Maybe I just got lucky, but my no-label 4-piece graphite blank looks and performs as well as any and better than some that I spent seven times as much for. I could always email a expensive blank seller and claim I ruined the decal and need a replacement, then apply and flaunt the brand like Minnie Pearl flaunted the price tag on her hat on "The Grand Ole Opry".

Mike: I went on-line and searched for "fly rod blanks" - but not by brand name. Maybe I just got lucky, but my no-label 4-piece graphite blank looks and performs as well as any and better than some that I spent seven times as much for. I could always email a expensive blank seller and claim I ruined the decal and need a replacement, then apply and flaunt the brand like Minnie Pearl flaunted the price tag on her hat on "The Grand Ole Opry".

Ron Weber, I would also be interested in the fiberglass rod blank options you have? Please let me know?
Thanks,

Tim