So I know of the normal places for rod blanks.. but I have a guide customer that is wanting me to build a series of rods for him.. where else could I find blanks.. would be a 11’ or 13’ and preferably painted already(crappie)

Darrin wright Wrote:
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> So I know of the normal places for rod blanks..
> but I have a guide customer that is wanting me to
> build a series of rods for him.. where else could
> I find blanks.. would be a 11’ or 13’ and
> preferably painted already(crappie)


So what are the NORMAL places you know?

Mud hole get it

Finding long rod blanks suitable for making crappie jig poles is difficult, none of the sponsors here sell such blanks. I have used inexpensive 11’ 4 piece switch and Spey rods I’ve found doing searches on the internet.

They worked quite well as jig poles
Norm



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/04/2023 10:38PM by Norman Miller.

Darrin wright Wrote:
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> Mud hole get it


There are numerous places to buy blanks at, but until I know the ones you know then it seems like a moving target.

Mud hole and get bit are the only ones I know of

Here is an NFC blank under their Center pin category that they actually have labeled as a good option for a Crappie Live Scope jigging blank. [northforkcomposites.com]
The finish on that blank may make packing threads a bit more challenging but it is one I have been thinking about trying out. I have not yet built a dedicated crappie rod in that 10' to 13' category but it is something on my to do list at some point and I have been looking around at some options. NFC has several others in the centerpin or fly lineup that would likely also meet your needs but not going to be labeled as crappie blanks.

There is another thread going right now that talks about the wide range of techniques that crappie fisherman get into. The more you can find out what your customer wants the better. Some guys use those long rods 16' + and troll with them with fairly heavy weights (sometimes upto a couple ounces depending on their troll speed and wind/waves). Sometimes they slow troll with the rods fanned out in front of the boat (spider rigging) and other times they will have say a 16, 14, and 12' on either side of boat pulling either jig rigs or small crank baits behind at 1-2 mph. If being used primarily for trolling then the rod will spend most of its time in a rod holder. And you also have the guys who like longer jigging rods that they hold the majority of the time. Some guys prefer spinning reels and others prefer low profile bait casters. lots of options....

Anyhow, I've done a good bit of that type of fishing and definitely not a whole lot of rod blanks out on market specifically labeled for this type of crappie fishing purpose.

Here are a couple of the bigger factory crappie rod producers: [www.bnmpoles.com] or [acccrappiestix.com]
Very hard to build rods at the price points these rods are listing at... I've tried several of them and they are not bad rods for the $

I have only Crappie fished once in my life and that was as a little kid in the 1940's. An acquaintance of my Dad had a large piece of acreage with a big pond on it loaded with Crappie. He and Dad went out and caught a bunch of live minnows somewhere and we fished for the Crappie using a fly rod with mono and trolled very slow by oars with the minnow below a bobber and watching for the bobber to sink. Caught a bunch of BIG beautiful Crappie.

Depending on the number of rods your customer is looking for, you might consider developing a custom blank model with Batson. We do quite a bit of private label work for builders filling application niches like yours. You can get more info and submit an inquiry at BatsonEnterprises.com. Direct link provided below.

[batsonenterprises.com]

-The Batson TEAM
BatsonEnterprises.com

I too used a 9' flyrod with a spinning reel and monofilament sewing thread, which was, I think, about 1 lb test.