Building a rod for a good friend of mine as a xmas gift from his girlfriend. We fish by boat in Rhode Island and both have a full quiver from scup to bluefin so new rods are always tricky. We always have a couple topwater plugs ready to go and I want to build a dedicated rod. Typically throw 1.5 - 3.5oz, casting isn't too much of a concern rather find a blank that is easier to work the plug. Thinking something 7' 6" and moderate action would work. Typically build on small diameter blanks, but thinking glass is the way to go. Definitely a spinning setup with 4500 reel. Love rapid reduction guide layout, but maybe more cone of flight or ngc to get some weight on the tip and slow the action down. Any ideas/insight?

You would slow the speed, not the action by such measures. Slowing the speed generally results in a much less responsive rod so you might want to think twice about such a thing.

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Correct. All too often I intertwine speed/action as speed describes action. I am indeed trying to slow the speed down as it will help with working the plug. Losing some responsiveness is ok. There is slack in the line most of the time anyway. Slowing it down will help with hookup too and avoid pulling it from the mouth. Basically I'm trying to replicate my 10' honey lam into a boat road. Possible?

Sort of, but rather than take a blank that exhibits a nice, crisp, high speed, and then slow it down by adding heavy components, I think I'd just find a blank that offers the sort of speed and response you want at the outset. Then fit that one with good components and a modern guide lay-out system. If you can't find what you want in glass, consider one of the lower modulus carbon fiber models. These blanks remain available from a lot of sources and though they're made with lower modulus carbon that doesn't mean they're not good quality - they simply won't have that extremely high power to weight ratio that in your case isn't needed.

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Dan,
CTS MAY have exactly what you are looking for in its Slow Motion model.
The standard blank is only made in 6'6". However one of my customers wanted it in 7'6" and paid for the design engineering. The design is now available for anyone who wants that model.
One problem is that you wouldn't see the blank until sometime in January - the CTS factory is closed for a couple of weeks in Dec/Jan for Christmas/new Years.

This is CTS' description of the blank:
[ctsfishing.com]

look forward to it

Dan
Lets see if this works better than before:
Slow Motion has an extremely smooth action in a slim, super light weight build.

These blanks are made from our super low resin 24 ton system. Having a single fibre type ensures that there are no transitions or complex interactions to hinder the progressive loading that can be caused by combining different types of fibre.

Material Grade: 24msi High Strength Carbon, Super low Resin System
Core: VeroCore™ Carbon Helix
Taper: Medium Slow
Action: Medium
Colours: Select from sanded finis

Great - this is the "Slow Motion" blank.
If you have interest ill get you oricing.
Herb for CTS



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/09/2020 03:42PM by Herb Ladenheim.

Sounds like you know what you want. We don't. I wouldn't be picking what you suggest. On the other hand, I'm imagining tuna on popping plugs. So I'm thinking more like Black Hole.

If I was you, I'd build the rod I always wished I could have for the fishing you want to do. Chances are high your friend would also consider it his dream choice.

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

Dan, you mentioned liking the Lamiglas honey blanks. I know in bass fishing the mooching blank MB 841 E or F is one that some of the popular crank bait rods are modeled after. I have a new old stock honey Lamiglas 6702 that was passed on to me several years ago that I use for some of my heavier bass cranks. I believe this to be very similar to the MB 841. Those blanks have the properties that you are looking for, but only lures up to 1 - 1.5 oz. That line of blanks also has the MB 963 M, which carries a line weight up to 30 lb. and a lure range of 1-3 oz. At 8', it may be a bit longer than you want, but a trim from the butt for a little compromise might help, but I wouldn't go too far for fear of affecting the upper end of the lure range, as you will be pushing it a bit.It may be worth a look, but I am out of my element with salt water rods. Seeker also very likely has something that would fit the bill as well, but I don't know a particular model to point you toward.

That said, if Herb has something that looks good, I would definitely go that route. When I made it to the ICRBE a few years back, the blanks in the CTS booth absolutely blew me away. They didn't have much in the way of the actions and powers I was looking for that day, but my jaw about hit the floor when I looked at and picked up a few blanks. A CTS is on my bucket list of blanks to build. I just need to find the right excuse... err I mean project.