Anyone have experience with the MB663? Was thinking of grabbing two of them to make jerkbait rods. I recently ordered the 664 and it's way too powerful. Looking to build the rod for throwing the standard 110 sized jerkbaits in 1/2oz size. Open to other blank recommendations as well.

I’ve built several rods on these blanks I’ve primarily used the IM but am moving to the HM for future projects. No issues with the IM but the HM is a higher quality blank for not much more money. These rods have been used mainly for small river smallmouth fishing but I think the medium power of the blank would be fine for jerk baits. It’s a fantastic fast action but medium power rod for all around fishing. Maybe someone else can better comment on its jerk bait suitability.

The MB663 is in your range for what you want to do but maybe a little week for a 4.5" 1/2 oz lure. The HM version should be a little lighter than the IM and a bit more crisp (faster recovery). You could also try a MB-704 and cut it down from the butt 4" to net 6'8" and it will slow it down to where it will work better for jerk baits. I use a lot of jerk baits but in the 3.5" 3/8 oz size and the blank I use is the P-703-1 HM LMX cut down to 6' 9" and really works well for these lures. A cut down 704 may be the ticket.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/12/2021 03:29PM by Lance Schreckenbach.

Lance Schreckenbach Wrote:
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> The MB663 is in your range for what you want to do
> but maybe a little week for a 4.5" 1/2 oz lure.
> The HM version should be a little lighter than the
> IM and a bit more crisp (faster recovery). You
> could also try a MB-704 and cut it down from the
> butt 4" to net 6'8" and it will slow it down to
> where it will work better for jerk baits. I use a
> lot of jerk baits but in the 3.5" 3/8 oz size and
> the blank I use is the P-703-1 HM LMX cut down to
> 6' 9" and really works well for these lures. A cut
> down 704 may be the ticket.

Appreciate it Lance. I ended up ordering a 704 and 703 in IM while the 75% off sale is happening to get a feel for these blanks power and action. Either way I'll end up trimming to an overall length of 6-7 to 6-9.