As I start a build in an Oregon spring that just won’t come while watching my alma mater make the sweet sixteen, I got to thinking about my few favorite, most sweetest of blanks. It was readily apparent that several stand above the rest I’ve built on and/or fished. What do you see as yours, and what does it take to rise up to an elite status?. I’ll offer mine to start the discussion.

For fly rods, hands down it’s my more than twenty year old Thomas and Thomas VE904-3. It’s that perfect blend between fast and progressive. It casts, works flies, and fights fish all to my liking. Every time I think about building a more contemporary four weight, I realize that I am totally satisfied with this rod. I feel the same way about the St. Croix SCV72MM crankbait rod I built a few years ago. It cast its weight range of crankbaits better than any other rod I’ve ever seen. It works them well, hooks up about everything, and lands at the same rate. Crankbaits work well here, and it’s the rod I use the most in most years. For saltwater, hands down it’s the United Composites GUSA-Mega79. It does so many things well from lingcod jigging to salmon trolling. It’s so strong and still sensitive and good at controlling a jig. Number four is a three way toss-up for me. I really like the SCV70MF I built for a lighter jerkbait rod with a three inch butt cut. The Rainshadow RX10 610MXF drop shot rod is in that range of function, too. Finally, the Point Blank PB761HM flips nicely, handles the really deep crankbaits with aplomb, and even casts spinners and spoons for salmon pretty well. I probably like whichever one of those I last used the best. There are plenty of rods I like, but these are the most special ones.

Fly rod ETEC 908-4, Rainshadow Eternity II
Spin finesse, hard to choose, PB701MLF or St Croix SCV70MF
Spinnerbait Loomis , the old blend spinnerbait blank built as cast (SP8002?)
Travel spin Rainshadow SB841-3 (Very versatile RX6, surprisingly fast recovery speed and sensitivity)

Hard to leave the PB731MXF built as cast off the list. . .

I don't think I have ever trimmed a blank to get what I wanted, with the thousands of blanks out there I have always found what I needed.

I have two rods built on NFC MB 709 IM blanks. I figure having two rods built on the same blank means I really like the blank. lol I use the rods for flipping and pitching, mostly Texas rigged soft plastics. in heavy cover for largemouth bass. It has awesome power, with a great mod fast action for handling big fish on a short line, close to the boat. Sensitivity is really really good as well. I feel very confident whenever using those rods.

I have two rods built on NFC SJ 736 X ray blanks. Same thing as above pertaining to having two rods built on the same blank. Extremely versatile blank that does a lot of things, extremely well. Not a blank with the kind of power I like for fishing heavy cover, but more than enough power for moderate cover. Crazy sensitivity from those two rods. I primarily use them for bottom contact baits in open deeper water, fishing for smallmouth bass. But I also use them for pitching weightless Senkos and lighter Texas rigged baits for largemouth bass. IMO it's the perfect blank for fishing 5" Senkos. I have 8:1 gear ratio reels on both of the rods, so that limits the baits I throw with them, but I have no doubts they would be great for spinnerbaits as well as hollow body swimbaits. All for bass.

I have a spinning rod that I built on a RX10 ETEC72M blank. Hard to describe just how good that rod is. Sensitivity is crazy good. Power and action are just right for the type of baits I throw with it, which is tube jigs and shaky head jigs, for smallmouth bass.

And finally, I built a new jerkbait rod last year on a Rainshadow REVS 68ML blank, which I trimmed 7" off the butt of the blank. So far I have only used it to fish jerkbaits, and while I haven't caught a bunch of fish on it yet, I really like the way it's working out. It's way better than the first jerkbait rod I built. Sensitivity is really good, and it has a nice bend into the mid section of the blank. I will be using it as a top water rod this year, and I have zero doubts that it will be a very good top water rod. Mostly smaller walking baits, and smaller to mid size poppers. It feels just right.

And a very honorable mention for a rod I have built on an Immortal IMMC72MH blank. It's really really good. A real fish mover on the hook set, and awesome sensitivity. I use it for flipping and pitching for bass, and if I need to get fish out of the middle of heavy cover, it's the rod I use. Awesome for hollow bodied frogs over matted vegetation as well.

Two old friends, Fenwick FS 61, the first rod I bought myself as a youngster and walked so many streams and lakes with and still do. G Loomis SJR 700 IM6, my Umpqua River Smallmouth rod among so many others species for decades. G Loomis ST 1025 IMX, first rod I ever built, and rebuilt 2 times. Lamiglas GLB 90 2M, Lamiglas made two rods with this The Puget Jigger and the Willamette Special. 7 1/2 ft., 30 lb. G 1000 graphite live bait blank, 2 piece. Caught so many salt and freshwater species with the rod, I don't know what I would have done without it. So handy, so useful.

Spencer, re your comment on the twice rebuilt rod, same for my Loomis spinnerbait rod. I took some advice from someone not realizing he was advising for a much different rod and put grossly oversized guides on it. I later replace them with smaller but still large guides. Then stripped the rod, refinished and rewrapped with micros, candy apple/black/gold and a feather inlay. Finally got it right.

There are commonalities I’ve noticed for most rods that have become my favorites. They all bend with a nice, fair curve. They don’t have hinge points or abrupt shut off points. They have a fast recovery even though they may be more progressive or parabolic than some fast or extra fast actions. The RX10 drop shot is my only exception, and it’s certainly not a rod I would use for non-vertical techniques. Most are also longer rods for their segments.

Spencer Phipps Wrote:
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> Two old friends, Fenwick FS 61, the first rod I
> bought myself as a youngster and walked so many
> streams and lakes with and still do. G Loomis SJR
> 700 IM6, my Umpqua River Smallmouth rod among so
> many others species for decades. G Loomis ST 1025
> IMX, first rod I ever built, and rebuilt 2 times.
> Lamiglas GLB 90 2M, Lamiglas made two rods with
> this The Puget Jigger and the Willamette Special.
> 7 1/2 ft., 30 lb. G 1000 graphite live bait blank,
> 2 piece. Caught so many salt and freshwater
> species with the rod, I don't know what I would
> have done without it. So handy, so useful.


Hey Spencer, I grew up fishing the N Umpqua for trout and the main Umpqua for smallies. Grew up in Oakland. Where abouts are you?