My buddy is looking for me to build him a tube jig rod (spinning), to use on the river, mostly in open water/rock shoals and lightly scattered weeds to target river smallmouth up here in NY. He is hoping to get a rod in Medium power range with a F to XF tip. Also looking for additional length so 7'3-7'6 would be ideal. Weights would be mostly 3/16-5/16 ounce... Any recommendations?

Off the top of my head, Point Blank 731 MLF. But others may have wider experience.

You could try a CARBON 2 INSHORE SERIES - C2SW76MLF from Rod geeks and cut it to the right length. It's rated for 1/8 - 1/2 oz. Let's us know what you decided to go with and how it performs.

Lee

Jay,
Consider the CTS AIR model:
[ctsfishing.com]

7'6" one piece 3/16 - 1.5 Oz
Also one or 2 piece - 1/8 - 3-8 Oz
Email me for RB.Org pricing
Herb
CTS Rep

Hesitant with a ML only because he does alot of snapping/cracking of tubes. I know he is leaning more towards a true medium or atleast a ML+ just been having trouble finding the length and power he wants. But I also know some MLs act more as a medium. So here I am looking for knowledge from the experts.

North Fork Composites (NFC) HS-7600-1 (IM) & HS-7600-1 (HM). 75% off listed price for 3 or more blanks. Stock up.

The American Tackle Bushido SJ68/6-12 makes a perfect tube jig rod, and works great for Smallmouth Bass. It is a Medium Light -Fast action blank, and offers great bang for the buck.

The American Tackle Matrix Spin Jig blank has a great option at 7' rated tor 8-14 line and 1/4 - 5/8 lures, and the carbon fiber weave butt reinforcement really looks great! As a fast action blank, these make great tube and jig blanks and are extremely sensitive!

Actually may lean towards the following:

IMMS72M
ETES72M

Really like my IMMS72ML so may bump up to the Medium for this build. An have been eager to get my hands on the new Eternity RX10

Gonna check out that AMTAK as well thanks

Sj68/8-15
Sj72/8-15
Both are my go to tube rods here in the great lakes region. Both are comparable to the lews mark zona and kvd tube rods.

With the Bushidos the ratings are listed as 3/8 - 3/4.... How does this blank feel, most if what he throws is 3/16 and 1/4 ounce, ratings seem like the SJ72 8-15 be too much. Never used the SJ series.

I just built (a couple of months ago) a spinning rod on one of the new RX10 Eternity ETEC72M blanks, and for me, it is the perfect tube jig spinning rod. Here is a link to a little write up I did about my first time out with the rod.

[www.rodbuilding.org]

The funny thing is, while I built this rod specifically for fishing tube jigs, I have actually fished a shaky head jig with it more often than I've fished tubes with it. It is an awesome shaky head rod as well. With specs of 10 - 17 lb line, and 1/4 - 3/4 oz baits, it may be more powerful than your friend is looking for, but IMO it doesn't fish to those specs. To me it fishes more like a medium power rod. Or I should say a medium power casting rod, which would probably translate to a medium heavy power spinning rod. If he's looking for a rod that will cast real light baits a long way, this is probably not a blank to consider, But if he is looking for something that will easily cast something like a 1/8 oz shaky head with a 3" Roboworm Ned Worm on it, and the power to set the hook at some pretty long distances, then it definitely a blank to consider.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/12/2021 04:57PM by David Baylor.

Jay, I just went back through this thread and see that you mentioned considering the RX10 ETES72M blank. A member of this site, I believe it was Michael Danek, built a rod on the RX10 ETES72M blank. Perhaps he will read this thread and give you his opinions on the rod he built on it. I do know that he mentioned the CCS numbers he got for the rod he built on the above named blank.

I did CCS tests for IP and AA on the rod I built on the ETEC72M and came up with an IP of 567 grams, with an AA of 74 - 75. The numbers he came up with for the ETES72M was an IP of 487 grams, and an AA of 79. The power of the ETES72M may be more in line with what you or your friend are looking for, and with the AA of 79 that he came up with, the tip is probably less powerful than the tip of the ETEC72M. I chose the casting version of the blank because I wanted the extra power for better hook sets at distance.

Anyhow ..... hopefully Michael will respond to this thread. He knows his stuff. I'm sure his thoughts will be a big help.

St croix sc5 76mf or the ml. One of the best blanks made for smallmouth. Wish Rodgeeks offered them in the sc4 series. I don’t think I’d be happy with a sc2. St croix can’t build a rod that great but their blanks are excellent

Lance suggested the hotshot blanks also very good choice. NFC is not the only that offers these blanks. I have a mhx hs9600 I use to launch small swim baits and at times tubes



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/14/2021 06:37AM by Jason Gofron.

The NFC HS7600-1 blanks mentioned by Lance are also superb small river steelhead, salmon, and large brown trout rods to about 25 lbs in weight. Use mine fishing spinners, plugs and spoons all the time. Excellent Lindy rod rod for walleye and it works for jigging.

Been using the G Loomis version of this blank for a long time (HS7600-1) and am sure it can do what you need but you can't go wrong with the Rainshadow blanks.

What do you want in a tube rod? Sensitivity. I have measured the true natural frequency of many blanks, and a friend with a different process, has also measured the true natural frequency. Most agree that sensitivity is proportional to true natural frequency. So what blanks have the highest true natural frequency? There are a couple that are close, possibly within experimental error, but Point Blank is always right in with or above any other blanks. The 701MLF Point Blank is in my opinion about as good as it gets.

If you are talking about 3/16-5/16oz of lead plus a 4" tube, a 1/4-3/4oz. mag bass blank is in order. When crawling tubes up and over rocks and debris on the bottom of the river takes a good bit of tip power. I'm typically fish lighter powered rods than many bass anglers. For most trips on my local rivers and lakes, my MB 843 is generally the most powerful rod in the boat, but I find it necessary for this application. Even though a typical tube jig is an open hook lure, it fishes more like a skirted bass jig to me. With lower weights and smaller thin walled tubes, a lighter power rod works fine.

However, if by river you are referring to the St. Lawrence where the depths are more like fishing a lake with a much steeper line angle, then a lower powered rod will serve with the weights in question because the presentation is closer to vertical jigging than pulling the lure horizontally.