Hello every one. I have a new hobby and questions to go along with it so I'll start with this one...
How critical are the the line weight specs for rod blanks. Like i said I'm new to this and plan on my first build to be a 7' to 9' Musky/Pike casting rod and most of the blanks that i have looked at that claim to be for musky are rated 60 lbs or less. I plan on spooling an Abu Garcia C4 6600 with Suffix Briaded 80 lb test for casting and trolling. I welcome any input for a successful build! thanks for the time

Line weight specs may give some idea of the power of the rod, but you can line up your rod with whatever line you want, no matter its pound test. Your technique of handling the rod and the drag setting on your reel will prevent damage to the rod.

Line weight specs, in my opinion, are the most meaningless specs given for blanks/rods. I think every spinning rod I use is grossly overlined according to the line weight specs.

Hey Bart, welcome to the forum! I'm new myself, but I would recommend looking at the blank lure rating, it's stated power and action (can't always be trusted but all we have to go by if we can't actually feel it or know someone whos used it) and also its designated purpose by the manufacturer as in "inshore" "musky" "freshwater" etc.

Just about every retail rod, and I think blank, specs line wt based on mono and some will add a braid weight (but not many). Often people are throwing 30-50 pound braid on rods slwith a maximum line of 15-25 pounds. It seems more of a tradition thing than a meaningful rod spec nowadays. I've never considered it when shopping or fishing for like 15 years.

My input for a successful build is to start with 1 or two cheap full build kits from getbitoutdoors.com. you can get a blank and all components (not tools and thread etc) but everything you would have if you took a rod apart. Especially if your first build will be big fighting fish, wanna make sure if you drop some cake on a blank and all the components you get it done right.

You can also strip down an old rod if you want, or just practice wrapping guides on rods and then unwrapping and re-wrapping.

I forgot to put masking tape over my seat threads for my first build, didn't really make a difference (slight bit of epoxy on the edge of the threads) but I want to do things right - so I made a check list of things to do before I start a build.

Good luck with your first build man, keep asking questions here and watching lots of YouTube.