I found a Herter’s, RB9NO, 2-piece, 9’ blank. I’m look for guidance. I’m going to build a steelhead plug rod but the 9’ length is too much for a boat plug rod. I want to trim 12” from the butt and make it an 8 footer. I don’t care about the look just if will work. Any advise?

I would be more inclined to trim 6 inches from both the butt and the tip. I think doing that would preserve the power of the blank better.

You can judge for yourself what you're going to wind up with by adding a tiptop and then drying mounting a handle at the location that would make the rod an 8 footer. Now give it a test and see how you like the way it feels.

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Thanks for the insight but I’m not concerned about maintaining the power of the blank, it would even better if if it had a lower power rating. I just like the way Fiberglas loads when a fish grabs the plug.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/29/2023 10:33AM by Jim Whitehead.

Thanks Tom. Think that is the way to go and expect that I probably will end up with an 8 or 8 1/2 footer.

Since you’re not concerned about the power difference, I’d lop it off and not worry about it.

If you are sort of liking the idea of a lower power, don't trim the tip. I've never seen a blank that was either trimmed from the tip or lost some tip due to breaking that I liked. And trimming the tip will take off the lower power part of the blank.

Don't cut the tip!

If you have to cut it do that from the butt. Otherwise you will end up with a long pool cue.