I'm looking for a blank for a spinning rod, around 7' medium power fast action. Generic I know, but basically an all purpose bass spinning rod. Something like 1/4-5/8 oz weights. I want to get several of them to build for members of my fishing club. What do you think is the best value blank around the $50 price range? Pac Bay Arctos is my first thought, just wanted to see what other options there are. Light and sensitive would be my priorities. Thanks.

Peter......CRB Color blanks might be an option....I have built on several of them for charity purposes. They are light and not to expensive.

Hey Peter,

I recently built a 6’9” medium fast pacbay arctos and it’s a great all around spinning rod for your purposes. The build ended up weighing in at just 4 oz. Though I used some cheaper SS guides I’m sure you could get that weight down if you choose your components carefully. Sensitivity is pretty decent for the price I have to say as well.

I built on a pacbay ASP753-2 which is a 6' 3" 2 piece 1/4-5/8 oz.. After limited use it has been a good blank.

You could also take a look at the Revelation series from Rainshadow. I am building on my first blank from that series. A REVS 68ML SB. It's listed under spinning blanks, but I am building it as a casting rod that I'll be using for jerkbaits. It's a nice blank, and seems pretty sensitive. I cut the blank down to 6' 2" and I currently have the rear grip and reel seat installed on the blank. Presently it weighs 3.4 oz. I'm pretty confident that it will come in under 4 oz once completed.

Anyhow ...... they're nice blanks. A beautiful satin black finish, and it's a pretty straight blank, with just the slightest curve in the tip area. I think I am really going to like it.

Mudhole, CRB IS701M, $39.40.

Have fun

John

The Arctos and the Quicklines before them are nice blanks, well worth the price of admission.

The Rainshadow REVS72M is probably outside your $50 budget but a great blank as mentioned above - though GetBit has a Thanksgiving sale at the moment with 20% off that gets it close - close enough I’d spring for the extra…

CAM from Thrasher is impossible to beat for $30 in my opinion. Build a lot of their CAM 7' Heavy, Mod-Fast, 10-20lb, 3/8-1oz. Worth a look. Have caught scup to albies to big stripers on that blank.

Also really hard to beat the NFC mag bass 704 IM if you are willing to spend an extra 10 bucks per blank. Order 3 or more right now and get 75% off.

Thanks for the advice. I have considered most of the blanks mentioned. Revelation is a great blank, I have built several, but a but more than I want to spend when getting several blanks. Can get other blanks at a discount as well. With NFC I never know what I am going to get, both with their blank ratings and their quality. Not gonna take a flyer and buy 5-6 of the same blank, and a pain to order one, test it, then order several more. CRB blanks are nicer than I expected when I built my kids rods on them, but the more moderate action and stiff tips are not what I am looking for. No idea about the Thrasher blanks. It is unclear what exactly they are made of. They talk about high mod, IM, and SM, but then simply list "composite" as to what the blanks are made from. Despite the "Magic Wands" series, I get the idea that their purpose is to be super strong saltwater blanks. Again would be a total crapshoot to buy one, and looking for several of the same blank. Maybe I will get just one to try, wouldn't be the first time. I've also considered rainshadow RX6 which I really like in lighter powers, but the 7' med is much heavier than the arctos and I suspect less sensitive (lower modulus graphite). I'm always happy to learn something, so I what I said above is wrong, let me know. Appreciate everyone's insight.

Consider the Batson "Forecast" series, and some models come in color choices.
here is a link;
[www.schneidersrods.com]

Happy Thanksgiving,

Best wishes,
Ron Schneider
Schneider's Rod Shop
Mountain Home, Arkansas
[www.schneidersrods.com]
mtnron40@yahoo.com
870-424-3381

Peter,

The reason why we run promotions is to make it easier for rod builders to try our blanks. If you have an issue with quality or a power of a product - feel free to shoot us a note. Keep in mind that pre-preg has two variables, fiber content and resin content, and it is sometimes +/- 5% From batch to batch or pre-preg, (so if in one batch, the fiber content is higher, and in another lower, the "stiffness" of a blank may vary.) The way we mitigate this, is by doing a spot check against a flex profile retain, and if it is within an acceptable range - it is released to shipping.

If you are looking for a $50 blank - take a look at the Delta range.

Aleks

Peter Yawn Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thanks for the advice. I have considered most of
> the blanks mentioned. Revelation is a great blank,
> I have built several, but a but more than I want
> to spend when getting several blanks. Can get
> other blanks at a discount as well. With NFC I
> never know what I am going to get, both with their
> blank ratings and their quality. Not gonna take a
> flyer and buy 5-6 of the same blank, and a pain to
> order one, test it, then order several more. CRB
> blanks are nicer than I expected when I built my
> kids rods on them, but the more moderate action
> and stiff tips are not what I am looking for. No
> idea about the Thrasher blanks. It is unclear what
> exactly they are made of. They talk about high
> mod, IM, and SM, but then simply list "composite"
> as to what the blanks are made from. Despite the
> "Magic Wands" series, I get the idea that their
> purpose is to be super strong saltwater blanks.
> Again would be a total crapshoot to buy one, and
> looking for several of the same blank. Maybe I
> will get just one to try, wouldn't be the first
> time. I've also considered rainshadow RX6 which I
> really like in lighter powers, but the 7' med is
> much heavier than the arctos and I suspect less
> sensitive (lower modulus graphite). I'm always
> happy to learn something, so I what I said above
> is wrong, let me know. Appreciate everyone's
> insight.

Look at the Rainshadow RX6 SP843. I have built several for inshore use here in Texas with no issues. I think Get Bit has sale on them now.