I am looking at 9 foot fly rod blanks to use as an ultra light spinning rod for panfish. I intend to use 3-4 pound test monofilament for the line, and prefer fast action blanks. I know nothing about fly fishing, so wonder what weight fly blank (4 wt, 5 wt, 6 wt, etc.) I should choose so that the blank works well with the line I intend to use. Can someone offer some advice? Thanks!

I made a pretty nice panfish rod from an AM Tak 7 1/2 foot 3 weight fly blank, the MAF 763. When you get too long with a fly blank, they become what I call "sloppy." I recommend going with a Rainshadow REVS72UL-SB
UL Trout & Panfish

7'2" 2-6 1/32-3/16 0.393 5 Fast 1.48 UL
1
$58.72
This was copied from Getbitoutdoors.com, a sponsor. This blank will be a lot "tighter", less sloppy, and will give better short cast accuracy than a fly blank. In my opinion.

You won't find a 9 foot fly blank that has what I would call a "fast" action in the sense of a spinning rod fast action.

The blank doesn't care about your line test, only how much weight you intend to cast. If you're looking for the typical UL power panfish blank, you'd probably want a 2 or 3 weight fly blank.

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I'd say the first question that needs to be answered is, "Do you have a compelling need for a 9 foot long blank"?

It might be helpful if you said, "I used to buy this blank to fill my needs, but production has stopped, so I'm looking for something similar".

Once upon a time I thought I understood what "a panfish rod" was. Then we had an invasion of exotic species. IMHO you want a lot more rod to handle a 1 pound tilapia/cichlid in heavy cover then you need for a 2 pound bass. Not sure if that applies to other parts of the US.

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

Thanks for the responses. I want a 9 foot rod because I do a fair amount of float fishing, and the additional length makes it so I can toss floats that are set deeper without having to use slip floats. Also, I fish primarily from shore, so benefit from a longer rod that gives leverage for longer casts.

I use 8'3 to 9'6" L to ML fast action steelhead blanks as long crappie rods. Crappie fishermen down here like the longer lengths for both float fishing as well as for jigs when fishing from shore. Like Micheal, I also don't like using fly rod blanks as spinning rods, just too sloppy for my liking. Check out the options from MHX, Rainshadow, and PacBay.
Norm

Choices inevitably involve sacrifices. A slow/medium action 9' fly rod blank might serve you well to lob float and bait. The slower action would be less likely to snap off your bait and the 9' length would provide longer "lob casts" - as long as your back-cast is unobstructed. No worries about hooked fish stuck in weeds: use your line, not your rod, to haul fish out of weeds. I would suggest a five weight rod since you will probably be lobbing the combined weight of bobber, split shot, and bait.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/18/2021 09:45AM by Phil Ewanicki.

I like the idea of a steelhead/salmon blank. Don't know if you will find one in the desired length and power but worth a look.

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

Eric,
Over the years, I have made several spinning rods from various weights of fly rod blanks.

After only a short use, I have given every one of them a way.

As the other posts have suggested- simply too sloppy an action to do what I wish to do with the rod when used as a spinning rod.

Rather - as others have suggested - I just peruse steel head, float, mooching blanks - all - in my opinion simply have a better overall action to do what I wish to use rod for pan fishing.

Whether it is for dabbling, punching brush, float fishing or distance casting with a weighted bobber - the stiffer butt section and the faster action of these steel head and salmon blanks - simply work better than any of the fly rods that I have tried.

But, perhaps you have a unique use for a pan fish rod that I am not familiar with, and find that a particular fly rod blank does a stellar job for you.

Many years ago, I ran across a couple of Shakari blanks - about the time that the company was exiting the blank manufacturing industry and found that this matched pair of blanks were simply excellent for the type pan fishing that I generally do. They are 7'10" and I would have to say that they are ultra light to medium light power with a moderate action. Very light and very effective as a crappie rod.

As others have said, a blank is a blank is a blank. It matters not - the label on the blank. If you find a blank that works for a particular function, buy it, build it and use it and enjoy it completely.

I agree with Roger and I haven't even used the fresh build I completed. I found a 7' 4wt, 4 piece S glass fly rod blank and built a spinning rod. It has a very sloppy feel to it and I haven't used it yet. It feels like it will be a very slow action.It looks real nice though. I will try it to see how it is but I'm betting one of my kids or grandkids will own it soon.

I would agree with what Phil posted. Fast-action blanks are all the rage these days, and they're great if you only use lures. But it sounds like you do a good amount of live-bait fishing, in which case slower blanks have the major advantage of not snapping your bait off the hook when you make a cast. There's an entire live-bait system, called Nightcrawler Secrets, that was developed by the staff of the original Fishing Facts magazine back in the 1970's; it revolved around using specially "conditioned" nightcrawlers that had been plumped up into optimal condition in the basement fridge over weeks' time and were then fished on light line, four- or six-pound-test, with no terminal tackle whatsoever, no float or weight, other than a very small Aberdeen hook. It was said that this method would catch any freshwater fish; and it caught a heck of a lot of fish. The rods they used for this method were spinning rods made on 8' or 9' fly rod blanks, and they used fly rod blanks specifically for their slower action because they would cast a weightless crawler a good distance, and wouldn't throw it off the hook like a stiff blank would.

I have been making these rods for many years and they will do things that a fast-action rod simply won't do. I regularly use a Gapen panfish float with nothing beneath it other than an Aberdeen hook with a redworm on it, and I can cast said rig twice as far with one of these rods as I can with a stiffer rod. An additional benefit that was alluded to is that the slower-action rod will protect light line in a way that a stiff blank won't.

Thanks for all the advice. I decided to try out a light steelhead blank (ST1142-MHX). The blank feels good, with a nice stout backbone and soft enough tip to handle 4 pound mono. I will start the build in the next day or so. I might still buy a 9 ft 5 wt fly blank into a spinning rod too, but this will be a good start.