Hi Everyone,

I am very new to rodbuilding being a highschool teacher who was roped into teaching it as a subject this year with no prior experience. I completed a 6-8kg (13-17lb) spinner and got hooked on designing and building rods.

My next project is that I am planning on building a 30-60lb saltwater rod primarily aimed at species like Mangrove Jack and Fingermark.

Looking to find a rod blank in this line rating range thats about 6ft and has a fast action. My budget is roughly $100.00. Best I can find is a Samurai CG3 OS297.

Secondly with the guides does the line rating of the guides need to match the line rating of the rod? e.g. Alps XN Guides have a line rating of 24kg (50lb). Can I use them to fish using 60lb line on a 60lb rod blank?

Merry Christmas

Brian

Hi Brian, welcome to the forum! I recommend you take a look at North Fork Composites, they're having an awesome sale and make fantastic blanks (even though I'm new myself countless hours of research lead me to them). I actually called the other day about an order, I was too late to catch my error and fix my order because they already had it packed ready to ship, but I spoke with someone who gave me some great advice on blanks for saltwater fishing (I'm a freshwater fisherman who just moved to a spot that apparently even has a reputation in Washington state because he knew about some of the beaches around my way - absolutely blew my mind when he started talking about fishing where I live even though he'd never been here - in MA just about as far away from Washington state as I could be haha).

Also you should take a look at Mud Hole, if you don't know already, they offer an Educator discount for those teaching students to build - and you can buy yourself things as well being the Educator.

I tried to start something at the school I work for but couldn't find any traction - we have some pretty garbage policies that stifle growth and novel ideas.

I'm sure plenty of the guys around here will be able to point you in the right direction, stick around and I'm sure you'll love it here. Good luck with your builds and with your students!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/19/2022 12:22AM by El Bolinger.