Hello, I was considering trying a Liberty DS 690 or 700 for panfish. Primarily casting 1/16 and 3/32 oz jigs and plastics for bluegills and crappies.
Anyone with experience with these blanks what do you think? Would it be a good pairing? Would they feel crisp or is the tip whippy? Too much midsection power (I don't mind some decent power on my panfish rods as long as the blank loads some with a decent fish)?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/30/2022 12:56AM by Tucker Jacobson.

Tucker, while I don’t have experience with the blank you listed, I do have a recommendation for you. I have built numerous SJ720’s from MHX specifically for this purpose. While I was stationed on the East coast the guys over there would float a river firing beetle spins and road runners into and around the brush for shell crackers and crappie just like the bass guys do with spinnerbaits for largemouth. It definitely fits the bill of having the “ crisp” tip you are looking for.

Tom

They may work, but looking at your priorities I would try the Rainshadow UL popping rod blanks, I use the Immortal series by the Revelations would probably work fine also, neither are whippy rods with more backbone than you would expect and forgiving tips that will throw both hardware and tender baits well.

The Liberty DS blanks have a lot of power once you move past the tip. I do not think it would be an ideal panfish blank.

I've built on the Immortal UL popping blank and that is more noodley in the top... maybe 1/4 of the blank than I prefer for jigging. I built on a 7'3" Light Elliot blank last year and thought it was perfect. Can get a lot of power behind those jigs on a good snap cast.

I've also used a Bushido 7'2 rated for 4-8 lb I believe and it's very good but also just a touch on the light side for me. Have a Revelation 7'2 UL and it looks pretty good but the light might be perfect for casting jigs. Finally, I have a Immortal 6'2" L walleye blank that I will extend about 6 inches that may work well too.

Always been curious to try the Liberty DS rods but I don't have a good idea of their characteristics.

Tucker



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/30/2022 09:46PM by Tucker Jacobson.

Calling the Immortal popping rod a noodle isn't very accurate. It is a nice rod but my preference for jigging rods may be slightly stiffer than average. If I give a good snap cast into the wind I don't like feeling the rod load/whip back and forth. I like it to recover quickly. All the rods I mentioned above work very well for various types of fishing but for casting jigs and plastics I like a crisp, slightly stiff feel.

Before I started building rods I just used my ML walleye rods for crappies. Any of the panfish labeled rods were too soft, slow, and whippy for my preference.

I have the same bushido 7’2” 4-8# blank. I have not built it yet, but it is way lighter power than the Liberty one. I have not built it yet but the MHX elite-x nsj 870 seems a step up from the Bushido in power through the middle of the blank but not as much as the Liberty blank,

Thanks to everyone for their replies. It sounds like these might be a little much for a typical panfish setup