Is anyone aware of a 4' 6" ultra light rod blank? So far, the closest I found is a 5'. There are some 42" ice rod blanks but I dont think those will do the trick either.

At croix used to make one is scII. Not sure if rod geeks has it or not

NFC FW461-1IM.

I looked for the St Croix, couldnt find it.

I was able to find the NFC blank. Thanks.

Ken,
If you want a 4'6" or 54 " ultra light 5' or 60" ultra light rod blank and chop 6 inches off the butt of the rod and build your rod.

Over the years, I have started with a lot of different power rod blanks that needed to be shorter. Chop, chop goes the saw and the shorter blank emerges.

The rod will work just fine, as long as you are only chopping from the butt of the rod and not the tip. Chop from the tip and ruin the rods sensitivity and untra light action.

Chop the butt of the rod to your desired length and move on.

A dremel tool with an abrasive cut off wheel on the tip does a great job of chopping blanks.
Or, you could use a shops high speed cut off tool with a 3 inch abrasive cut of wheel at the tip to chop the blank.

Best wishes.

Duh..I forgot about cutting the blank. I do have a dremel and have used it to remove reel seats.

Ken,
If you are not steadfast on CF, I have access to UL, FG vintage Conolon blanks as short as 3’11”. They are gorgeous with a coat of PG, the FG lends itself exceptionally well to UL, and you can fish a piece of fishing blank history at the same time. Fish Fighting Fun Factor at its peak!

Mark Talmo
FISHING IS NOT AN ESCAPE FROM LIFE BUT RATHER A DEEPER IMMERSION INTO IT!!! BUILDING YOUR OWN SIMPLY ENHANCES THE EXPERIENCE.

Mark..if it was for me, I would say yes. Was going to go with the NFC but customer shot that down due to $.

I will never build or use or recommend a rod shorter than 6 feet. Terrible hook sets, limited casting range, no reason to put up with those things when just a foot or so more length makes like a lot easier.

Find a 5ft. in the appropriate price range and cut it, as Roger said.

I am building on the NFC RIGHT now. Very nice blank. Keep 8n mind NFC is running them on sale. Add it to your cart and it is 49 bucks. I got mine on a even better sale for 39. Heck of blank for 50 bucks even with tax and shipping.

Might have to get one of those NFC blanks for myself. The client doesnt wanna go that high. Going to go with the MHX 5' 1 piece and cut it down.

Short blanks:

Over the years, I have seen a lot of folks fishing over the sides of their boats with rods as short as 3 feet and they were catching a lot of fish.

With a blank that short - no casting. But a short rod with a weight, a hook and a reel can put a lot of fish in the boat, if the boat is in the right spot.

Go to the side of the boat with a baited hook. Open the bail let the weight pull the line out until the weight hits the bottom. Reel the line up one turn of the reel and when the fish bites, reel it in. "Repeat"

In the right area, a limit of fish can be easily obtained using this method.

On some of the larger inland lakes the head boats will go out and for those folks not bringing fishing gear will be given a soft action 4 foot long rod with a closed face reel. The boat takes the anglers to the spot and or drifts a potential flat. All of the anglers have green 1/4 oz jigs baited with shiner minnows. The Captain instructs the folks to pull the trigger on the reel and let out line until the jig hits the bottom. Then, he instructs them to do a constant lift - of two feet and drop the tip back down. "{Repeat}"

The action of the jig is effectively saw tooth in shape. Typically the walleye, will hit the baited jig as it falls and when the rod is lifted, the hook is set and the fish is reeled in.

A dynamite way to catch fish for a person who has never fished before and knows nothing about fishing.

So - the folks come back to the dock with fish for lunch with little added instruction from the guide/captain of the boat.

Best wishes.

Hello All.

I built a 29-1/2" rod I use as a bait rod, I go to the side of the boat with a baited Sabiki rig, open the bail let the weight pull the line out until the weight hits the bottom, reel in a few turns then jig the line up and down, when the fish bites, reel it in.

I use it for cigar minnows, silver sided sardines, ballyhoo, pinfish, menhaden, shad and other baitfish.


Tight Wraps &Tighter Lines.

Bob,

New Bern, NC.

I did a similar post a couple weeks ago. a couple suggestions were the Phenix Elixir 5'6" UL blank. so I did order it. I got the rod a couple days ago. It feels awesome. I am still trying to decide if I am doing single grip or split grip and what I want to do with it. I have been playing around with multi color epoxy over a colored thread but I don't want to make it to heavy. So I'll probably do some kind of thread wrap with split grip with smaller turned cork grips and titanium guides. If I remember the blank was $49. Weight is .56oz , 1-4lb line, fast action
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