Cichlid's are popular aquarium fishes.

Russ , I don't think you should be concerned with the weight of the build too much you can lean the rod right up against the aquarium if you start to fatigue.


On another note I'm staying away from the CCS stuff until I put in the time to understand it better . To the OP David, please let us know how much you like the rod after you fish it and what you caught , I'm sure it will be more impressive than an aquarium fish. Not bashing aquarium fishing Russ , just a little less sporting than I prefer is all.

Russell, gotcha. You know .... I was thinking that a size 20 on an ultra light rod is going to look out of place, but looking out of place doesn't matter if there's a good reason for it. I've built a couple of crankbait rods, and the guide spacing looks out of place on them, with guides closer together deeper into the rod than they are at the tip. But that's where static load placement showed me where they needed to be.

And I bet peacocks would be fun to catch. Fighting dang fish, that's for sure. And I thought every fish would hit soft plastics. Heck I've caught common carp on soft plastics, and the fish actually took the bait in its' mouth.

And Chris, definitely lol on the aquarium comments. I've often thought of doing that. And I'll definitely post how much I like the rod, and what I catch on it. I am quite certain I am going to absolutely love it. It feels as special as the rods I have built on the NFC X ray blanks. And those blanks, at least the MB 736 blanks, are pretty darn special.

Well I'm off .... since I built the rod with smallmouth in mind, I'm headed off to my favorite inland smallmouth lake, so chances are the rods first fish will be a smallmouth. Unless of course a walleye or the dreaded channel catfish decide they want to eat a tube.

Maiden voyage with the new rod was a success. No non target species, meaning only smallmouth bass were caught. 8 keepers, 1 dink, and a couple lost fish. Best 5 (a tournament limit) would have went between 9 and 10 lbs. Nothing big, but nice solid fish. I was only on the water for 5 hours. It was starting to get crazy with pleasure boaters, and when you're fishing 300 yards off shore, you're out in their territory, and they like to buzz bass boats. The Wake boats are the worst. Very cool that you can surf on the wake the boat makes, but not so cool when the wake hits you and you're not paying attention.

Anyhow, as to how the new rod fished ....... crazy crazy good. I fished it side by side with one of the rods I have built on an NFC MB 736 X ray blank, and the Eternity blank is right there with the X rays. I love the rods I have built on the X rays so to say that this rod might be more sensitive than the X ray blanks isn't showing favoritism for a new rod, it's what I believe is an unbiased opinion. I was throwing the exact same jig head and tube combination with both rods. The only difference other than one being a spinning rod, and one a casting rod, is the line I had on them. I had 12# Seaguar Tatsu on the casting rod, and 8# Seaguar Tatsu on the spinning rod. Maybe the lighter line was responsible for some odd vibrations I was feeling with the new rod. Whatever the case, in no way does the Eternity blank take a back seat to the X ray when it comes to sensitivity.

There wasn't much wind so I was using 3/16 oz jig heads with 3 1/2" tube baits on them. The new rod casts great. 50' casts were nothing and little 20 - 25' underhand pitches were just as effortless. They were chomping it today so there was never a doubt as to if you had a bite or not. I was fishing rock piles in 9 - 11' of water, and the sensitivity of the rod had the rocks feeling very bitey. I set the hook into more than a couple of rocks. lol As far as the power and action of the blank goes, it's exactly what I was hoping for. The tip loads beautifully and transitions to a awesome backbone. Hook sets have that solid feeling thud to them. Today I was using open hooked baits but with the power and backbone of this blank, I am certain that hook sets with smaller Texas rigged soft plastics will feel just as good.

Biggest fish was about 2 1/4 lbs. and the rod handled it beautifully. A nice bend into the midsection of the blank so when the fish came 2' out of the water, it stayed pinned. Power to control the fish at boat side is there as well. I was easily able to pull the fish over on its' side and get its' head back down in the water when they would start tail walking. Smallmouth bass are so much fun to catch, and it weren't for the thrill of hooking a big largemouth in heavy cover, I'd probably say smallmouth are my favorite fish to catch. Man they're fun.

So there it is, my report on my new rod. This thing is one bad mammy jammy. The boys at Batson and Rainshadow hit it out of the park with the ETEC72M. If the other new RX10 Eternity blanks are anything like this one.......... wow. And I absolutely LOVE the fact that Batson provided the CCS numbers for the blanks. It made picking the perfect blank (for me) a very comforting choice.

I gotta get me some Team Rainshadow gear !!!

Sounds like a real winner to me . I know how much you raved about the X Ray blanks a few months back so for the new Eternity to be on that same level is a remarkable feat by the Batson team . Russ , I truly enjoy your posts and sense of humor, stop referring to yourself as an idiot you're the furthest thing from an idiot as they come . Happy 4th to everybody .

Congrats David and thanks for the review.

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

Yes the additionaof any weight even a tiny amount WILL reduce sensitivity as this is a process of stiffness to weight ratio. Any weight added reduces that ratio so sensitivity is reduced. By how much and if you can feel it by hand really depends on how much weight as a percent of the total we are talking about. Sensitivity is not always the primary concern. Just depends on the rod type and style fishing you're going to be doing with it.

The line you use most likely plays a noticeably bigger part in sensitivity than rod weight.

you are correct phil..gel spun braids have enabled me to build glass rods which make fish fighting more enjoyable than carbon but still get enough sensitivity..enough to fee a 1/8 ounce chatterbait at the start of a fifty foot cast on my glass rods..

Mike Ballard Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yes the additionaof any weight even a tiny amount
> WILL reduce sensitivity as this is a process of
> stiffness to weight ratio. Any weight added
> reduces that ratio so sensitivity is reduced. By
> how much and if you can feel it by hand really
> depends on how much weight as a percent of the
> total we are talking about. Sensitivity is not
> always the primary concern. Just depends on the
> rod type and style fishing you're going to be
> doing with it.

I used to think that too in every case. However, I have changed my mind after testing a number of JDM rods. I think there's merit to the question of oscillation and location of peak amplitudes. Some Japanese companies claim to design their rods with mass in mind so that peak oscillation amplitude using a typical reel that the rod will see (and of course the question is what is a 'typical reel' given the varieties of reels) occurs at the reel position. When I tested some rods by feel, this seem to bear out so that some lighter rods in the same series using same blank technologies actually felt less sensitive than other heavier rods in the same series. It was interesting to feel that the rods gave different level of vibration at different locations on the rod itself.

Mo,

The comparison of lighter blanks in the same line is not representing the ratio of "stiffness to weight." Lighter, or better said, lower CCS/AA numbered rods are not the same stiffness as the higher numbered CCS/AA rods in that same line. What is being discussed is two rods with identical CCS/AA numbers but one weighs 5oz and the other way 4oz. Same stiffness but different stiffness/weight ratio.

Understood. But the more sensitive one had lower stiffness to weight ratio...

How do you test your sensitivity? I would like to try and test using your method.

The winner in stiffness to weight ratio isn't always the winner when it comes to the ability or an angler to detect a bite With some techniques, a heavier rod can be easier to detect a bite with. It's not all about the rod itself s ability to transmit vibrations. There is more to detecting a bite than that.

That is why I was asking. Line type, line weight, lure type, lure weight and other non rod factors play a big role.

Understood. For me it's strictly related to the technique / presentation. If it's a slack, or semi slack line technique, where the bait is fished with the rod tip up, then the key, at least IMO, is how the rod and reel balance while in use. It's just easier to feel things if the rod is basically floating in your hand.

Cast and wind, tensioned line retrieves, or baits fished with the rod tip down, I'm taking the lighter rod every single time.