Any suggestions for a short, tight quarters BFS Blank for Stream Smallies? Would be used to throw light jigs/tubes, small weightless plastics, and maybe some inline spinners. Not for me but was on a different forum and someone was asking. Doing some initial research I landed on the below. Threw in the 6'-6" pointblank just because have heard lots of good review and possibly could be shortened a bit.

Anyhow, anyone got any thoughts/suggestions?

[batsonenterprises.com]
[batsonenterprises.com]
[northforkcomposites.com]
[pointblankrods.com]

Check out the MHX 6’ Light Shooter.

mhx SJ720 would be another budget minded blank id put on the list. also the SJ781 with few inches trimmed from the butt

SCVs66MLF if not budget minded. i think rodgeeks is now calling this the C566MLF. few inches off the butt as well.

In your links, I’ve built on the Eternity, Immortal, and the Point Blank series. I’ve been happy with all. The Eternity subjectively fit its various ratings closely and weighed and measured very near to its published specifications. It and the Point Blanks were very straight. The texture on the Points is pretty cool. Their various data sources and labels can vary quite a bit for some blanks. This also seems to be the only con mentioned in online reviews. Reaming grips for their straight butts is a bit of an art, but but very doable. The Immortals are priced very well, but they don’t have quite the light, crisp feel of the higher modulus blanks (they shouldn’t). I don’t put the same class of guides on them, so it’s not a completely even comparison. I can’t give any firsthand report on the NFC, but I want to get around to building on an XRay and a steelhead blank. The only freshwater series you didn’t mention that I build on is the SCV. Matt mentioned price. For me, these are an every few years splurge and need to be rods I’m going to use a lot. In summary, the Eternity for a balance of quality, performance, price, and being true to specs is pretty sweet. All of your choices are so good that your build will likely be more deterministic than the blank you choose.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/31/2023 12:41AM by Kendall Cikanek.

NFC SB601-1 (IM). Small fish or leaning toward the lighter offerings SB5100-1 (IM), faster, softer tip.

Should have put this in original post but the gentleman is looking for, in his words, "a TRULY non-noodle fast action rod". For the blanks that I suggested and/or have been mentioned on this thread does anyone have the CCS numbers? Or with firsthand build experience any of those that fall into the, "noodle, slower action" category in your opinion. I realize noodle and fast action are subjective so hoping for some CCS numbers. Thanks all for the great feedback thus far.

I took a quick look at the blanks listed, I don't see a noodle rod in the bunch, the MHX shooter is a close quarter, precise placement LMB rod blank similar to the G Loomis CR series. The NFC blanks are SB, Spin Bass and many times some of the fastest blanks a builder will find. Many of the choices you can make are on the CC Data Log El started a post a week ago or so back so you should have no problem finding it a few posts down from yours.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 01/31/2023 11:52AM by Spencer Phipps.

I'm confused. You said the gentleman is looking for a "non-noodle fast action rod". Then you ask / want data on noodle (slow action) rods. Did I misread something in your post(s)?

Tom Kirkman built and uses a rod extended to 6 ft. 6 in. on the G Loomis version of the NFC SB5100-1, he wrote an article about it in RodMaker and it is on the Task Specific Rod Building CD also. Light Line River Smallmouth article. Mine is a factory IM6 slip ring rod I bought in the 80's and used for your purpose and others since then. It was a favorite of Stan Fagerstrom, international angling ambassador, trick caster and Bass Hall of Famer, he used this rod and the CR, similar to the MHX shooter blank mentioned above in his demonstrations. Put SJR 700 in Google and see what comes up.

Mhx sj720 & Northfork SB5100 are what your after

I've been using the IMMWS62MXF-TC for several years and have cut one to 5 1/2' for kayak stream fishing. The full size one is better for me. I use either 6 lb mono or 10 lb braid with a leader usually with a 1/16th or 1/8th oz weight and a finesse worm. Have caught hundreds of bass up to 6-10 with the rods.

@Daryl I probably didn’t word it well but was looking to weed out the slow action noodles from contention. Thanks all for the feedback

Kevin Fiant Wrote:
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> @Daryl I probably didn’t word it well but was
> looking to weed out the slow action noodles from
> contention. Thanks all for the feedback

Got it! I think the shooter I mentioned, or that SJ720 Thomas would fill the bill. The others mentioned may be fine as well, but I'm not familiar with them.

Kendall Cikanek Wrote:
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> the Point Blanks were very straight. The texture
> on the Points is pretty cool. Their various data
> sources and labels can vary quite a bit for some
> blanks. This also seems to be the only con
> mentioned in online reviews. Reaming grips for
> their straight butts is a bit of an art, but but
> very doable.

Curious about the "Reaming grips for their straight butts is a bit of an art, but but very doable." comment....? Not on topic of BPS rods but I have a 6'-9" Point Blank being shipped as we speak that I'm planning to build for myself as a spinning setup and was planning to pickup the 7'-3" also to build into spinning setup. This will be first time working with Point Blanks... Can someone explain a bit more what I should be doing different when reaming grips on the point blanks? I'm a relative newbie so apologize if this is silly question.

I haven't laid eyes on the point blank but will take a few measurements where I want to place grip/seat. If very little taper then sounds like I'd be better off making a custom reamer with a straight dowel slightly smaller diameter than blank and then glueing some sandpaper onto it. Is that what you mean?

The Point Blanks are great blanks. What Kendall was referring to is Point Blanks have a butt section that have a uniform diameter for about the first 12”. They call it an equiradius butt. Thus, reaming a handle with a tapered reamer can present a little problem, so just ream from both ends, then no problem. They are among my favorite blanks, it should be noted that the butt ends of most blanks don’t match the taper of the most popular reamers. So, in my opinion. reaming a handle for a Point Blank is not much different from reaming a handle for any other blank.
Norm

luddite here - what is "BFS" Bass Finesse Spinning?

BFS = bait finesse system. A casting setup for casting very light lures to a number of different fish species, including bass, trout, walleye, etc. some people prefer using casting gear versus spinning gear.
Norm

If I remember right the lightest powered Point Blank is in the 500's wouldn't call that a light, fast smallmouth stream rod.

The PB661LF has an IP=411 gm, ERN = 15.4, and AA = 75. It is more powerful that most other L blanks. However, it is able to cast light lures.
Norm