I was commissioned for a 6'9" to 7' "Medium Heavy Finesse" rod by a local bass tournament angler. I took the time to really figure out what it was he truly desired and what he was throwing. We decided the solution was to cut down the MB 736 to 6'10" so the butt cap would make it a total of 6'11". The goal was performance first and finish with just a touch of color.

Blank: MB 736 cut to 6'10"
Guide train: Fuji BC Grey Fazelite 16H, 8H, 5.5L, 5 runners, 5 Fuji BCLGFT top.
Handle: NFC Soft Touch carbon VSS Split.
Reel Seat: Fuji VSS, SKSS hood with Blue accent carbon sleeve and blue aluminum trim.
Total weight: 3.9oz

I am excited that every build is improvement over the last. A lot of that is thanks to this amazing community of great people. Biggest of thanks to all of you who over the last year have helped me improve at a much accelerated rate over the first two years of building and teaching myself.

[www.rodbuilding.org]

[www.rodbuilding.org]

[www.rodbuilding.org]

[www.rodbuilding.org]

Again, thank you so much for the information you share and the lessons that have been taught.

Aaron Petersen



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/10/2021 08:53PM by Aaron Petersen.

Looks great Aaron. Nice clean work. Well done! As far as the choice of blank and the trimming you did, I am betting that makes an awesome spinning rod. I'm thinking it's probably awesome for dragging tubes and shaky head jigs in the 1/4 - 3/8 oz range. Bet it's a heck of a wacky rigged 5" Senko rod as well.

I have 2 rods built on that blank, they're both full length and built as casting rods. It's a very versatile blank, and the sensitivity is if from another galaxy.

Once again, very nice work, and great job on blank selection and the thought process you went through to come up with a rod that I am sure he is out of his mind happy with. It's what custom is all about.

Thank you David.

He throws a lot of larger shakey head on heavier than normal shakey head line. Some 1/4 finesse jigs and whacky rigs. His biggest complaint about his fairly high end retail rods were the weight. He did not have all day comfort and he told a story where he abandoned a working patterb because he was fatigued by his rod.

When I test cast it all I did was tie on a 1/4" flat washer. 20yds with a wrist flick. But I could not believe the way I could feel the grass when I drug it back. He is a big jig fisherman and I made the client an SJ 736 casting for his 3/8 to 1/2 oz needs. He has been loving it as well.

The best part about both those rods was that the reel seat fit perfect. When cut down the size 16 VSS needed 0 arbors. I actually slightly reamed the inside to get it down where I needed it. Ultra sensitive and less glue.