I am looking for blanks that are similar to G-Loomis E6X 10.5" salmon mooching/downrigger rod. The E6X I have is a durable medium/heavy 10-30 pound, medium/fast action rod that has survived my clumsy hands for 6 plus years. I built two rods using the NFC SA 1065-2 (IM) blanks but they quickly broke fighting average sized chinook(King) salmon. I prefer the light feel and responsiveness of graphite over E-Glass. Does anyone have a suggestion on a good blank for this application.

Steve,
CTS has many Steelhead blanks to choose from.
The following are some examples:
EST1101-2 0.5-1.0
EST1105-2 Salmon / Steelhead 11'0" 12-20lb / 1.25-2.25oz
EST1106-2 Salmon / Steelhead 11'0" 15-25lb / 1.5-3oz
EST1105-2 12-20lb / 1.25-2.25oz don't have recent data - what I can see is OD14.5mm, tip 2.0mm, weight 141g
EST1106-2 15-25lb / 1.5-3oz don't have data on this one - poss 178g
EST 801-2. 0.5-1.0 OZ
EST 901-2 0.5 – 1.0 OZ.
EST 1001-2 0.5 – 1.0 OZ.
EST 1002-2. 0.75 – 1.5 OZ

Send email for secial RB.Org pricing If any interest you
Regards,
Herb Ladenheim
CTS Rep

Rainshadow offers these in their RX6, RX7, and RX8 series. The first two of these are lower in price as they are lower modulus. They are going to be in the wheel house of being less breakage prone while still being reasonably light.

Rainshadow BP1265 is what you're looking for

The Batson BP series are composite blanks. The most important thing we need to know is what you are using your Loomis for? Downrigger, 360, mooching, etc. Line weights/powers are subjective, how much lead and type gear you are using isn't.

Steve,

The SA1065s are herring + lead ball trolling blanks, but not recommend for Down Rigger applications. (They are almost fully loaded with the Down Rigger ball clipped on, so when the fish hits your lure, that will take them past the breaking point.

If you want the durability of e-glass, but the lightness of carbon, you need to look at some hybrids.

In the case of NFC the 360 pros, they are a blend of carbon and Zentron and the the “best of both worlds”

[northforkcomposites.com]

Aleks

Spencer

I use the rods in a typical west coast salmon trolling setup. 30lb line, flasher on the line above a spoon/hoochi/herring rig. Clipped into a down-rigger trolling 2 to 3 mph at 150 to 200 ft on the cable. One of the rods broke fighting a mid-sized chinook right at the boat when the fish took it's last run straight down. the other broke when trying to "pop" the line out of the down-rigger clip.

BTW: I very much appreciate the great suggestions on blanks. Very helpful.

SGF

Herb

I went to the CTS website and can't find any of these blanks. Can you send a link so I can take a look at them.

BTW: t's raining up here so I am having a great morning checking out all of the great blank suggestions.

SGF

Since you are using a downrigger, you can literally reel your flasher almost into your tip top. Something I learned in the Great Lakes salmon fishery has me using 8 ft. 1 pc. rods for that now, much handier, easier to get fish to the net and lighter also. My river Kwikfish rods are glass. custom builds on the Lamiglas BMB 96 1E, they don't feel anything like my granddad's glass rods. If you liked the NFC rods and want more durability, the Delta blanked rods I have fished gave me no idea they were a composite rod, just like carbon as far as I thought at the time. The Lamiglas Kwik series sure looks like the #1 bought rods out there. The Batson RX4 BP series truly are "Bullet Proof" and their BP 1266 blanked rod was tested with a large cross section of other brands and tied the G Loomis rod for the #1 spot in mooching rods in a Salmon & Steelhead Journal testing. They downrigger fish in Puget Sound right in their backyard, give them a call to set you up with the right blanks.

Spencer

Thanks for the info. I'll check out the Lamiglass Kwik series blanks. I did look at the RX4 BP blanks and NFC 360 Pro blanks, both of which look great. I'm still stuck on the 10ft rods for keeping the hook set during the "fight" so whatever I get will be in that length range. Besides they look awesome!!

Thanks again for the help everyone provided. It is much more efficient than the build and break research I was doing.

SGF

If you're fishing for average-sized chinook, 15-25lb range, the Rainshadow BP1265 is our most popular 10'6" "do everything" downrigger model. You can set your downrigger clip to the max and crank the tip to the water. This is great for solid hookups down deep, and it clearly telegraphs when you have a shaker on. The RX4 BP's are designed for this type of application. The BP1266 is another step up and great when larger kings are lurking about, bar plunking heavier gear, etc. We also have even heavier custom-modified build suggestions for Columbia River trolling applications (trolling 16-20+ ounces, etc.) We encourage builders and anglers to reach out to us at BatsonEnterprises.com to discuss specifics.

See all RX4 Bulletproof models here: [batsonenterprises.com] (there's also two new-for-2024 9'6" models shown)

-The Batson TEAM
BatsonEnterprises.com

Geoff

Really like the specs on that blank. Definitely going to build a rod on that blank. And. I will also take advantage of your offer to call and discuss specifics.

One Chinook and a hatchery coho this morning.

Life is good

SGF

Aleks
NFC is honoring the warrantee and sending me two 360 Pro 1065-2 (HYB) blanks. I'll build rods with these blanks this winter use them next summer and provide this post an update. I'll also build rods with the Rainshadow and Lamiglass blanks, but won't be using any of them until april 2024.Look for an update next summer.

Thanks to all for the advice

SGF