Hi, my first post here. I have built a couple of rods on cheaper blanks to get my feet wet and now looking to build my first more sensitive rod.

I am primarily a smallmouth bass fisherman on Lake Mille Lacs and mainly fish NED Rigs and looking for suggestions on a rod blank, 7'6" in Med/Light Fast. Current rods that I have and would like to compare the new blank to are Dobyn's Champion Extreme and St. Croix Legend Elite. I am looking for sensitivity in picking up on the lite NED bite and thus thinking of using a VSS Split Grip, down locking, without foregrip and instead a carbon hood. Guide train would be reuse from a Champion Extreme or Legend Elite that were broken.

Your thoughts and comments appreciated.

Thanks

You may be able to get the same blank the Legend Elite is built on, through Rod Geeks. I believe the Legend Elite's are built on SCV blanks.

As far as other blanks go, I'd look at a Rainshadow RX10 ETES78ML . It's listed on Rainshadow's web site [batsonenterprises.com] but I don't see that blank listed on Get Bit's site or on Utmost Enterprises site, but the Rainshadow site shows the blank in stock. If it's in stock at Batson, Utmost Enterprises can get it. They're located right down the street from Batson, and are part of the Batson family.

Drop Carol at Utmost an e mail and she will get back to you with availability and pricing. She is one of, if not the best I have ever dealt with when it comes to customer service. Great lady.

The RX10 blanks are on par with any of the top name blank you can name.


Edit for addition. Forgot to mention, if the guide trains you'll be reusing are KR concept guide trains, then I'd say go ahead and use them. If the rods you mentioned don't have KR concept guide trains on them, then I'd save them for something else and I'd go with a KR concept guide train. If you're going to go with SS frame guides, the guides for such a build would run you probably less than $50. Worth the price when you consider the performance advantage that KR has over NGC or COF guide trains.

But that's just my opinion ....



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/28/2023 04:41PM by David Baylor.

Exactly what are the guides do you plan to use? What line do you plan to use? The biggest factor in sensitivity, IMHO, is the line, mainly braid less than 15 pound test (less than 15 to allow the lightest, smallest, guides), then very light running guides. If you are stuck with SS guides which are fairly large then you are wasting money on an expensive blank. If you want the ultimate in sensitivity go with titanium guides, size 4 running guides, titanium tiptop, and the most expensive blank you can afford (Based on TNF, the higher the price, the faster the recovery time, and most likely, the most sensitivity).

I would recommend the Point Blank PB731MLF
Length: 7 ft 3 in
Action Angle: F • 63-degrees (RDA) • 73-degrees (CCS)
Power: Med Light / 490gr (RDA) • ERN 20.6 (CCS)
Weight: 1.76 oz.

I really would recommend the PB701ML, but you asked for 7-6 so might not want to go to 7. But the PB701ML is ideal for what you want. I think you would like its faster action. It's my fav for all finesse.
PB701MLF
Length: 7 ft
Action Angle: F • 65-degrees (RDA) • 77-degrees (CCS)
Power: Med / 410gr (RDA) • ERN 19.8 (CCS)
Weight: 1.76oz.

Rod Forge HTD 76MLF will fit the bill perfectly for what you are doing, here are the specs:
HTD-76MLF 7'6'' Medium Light Fast 4lb-10lb 1?8-3?8 oz 1.78 oz Tip:4 Butt::0.498

I fished the Rod Forge 73 MXS when I filled Mille Lacs in June, and while the M rating might be more than you were wanting it certainly didn't hurt with all the 20"+++ fish that I caught up there. The XS = Extra Sensitive Tip was what made me fall in love, as big as the fish were they bit so lightly!! That XS tip detected every tick bite.
HTD-73MXS 7'3'' Medium Extra Sensitive 6lb-12lb 1?4-5?8 oz 1.58 oz Tip 4 Butt 0.493

I use an NFC MB735 HM for finesse jig work and that covers the ned rig as well. Awesome blank for it, as I am sure the Point Blank options are awesome too. I don't think it matters if you build the 735 HM as a casting or spinning configuration, just an overall great finesse jig blank.

I run 20lb braid on mine with a 10lb fluoro leader but I bet you could get away with an 8lb fluoro leader just back your drag off a little. Understanding you are looking for a 7'6, I would go with a 7-7'3, less tip weight and more options, plenty of sweep to set the hook.

Hi, thanks for the responses.

Turns out a local fishing store (Thorne Bros) which builds custom rods has St. Croix and Batson blanks and sells the blanks along with Fuji components to the public. So I am planning on getting an SCV blank. Not sure yet on which one. I use 8lb braid and 8 - 12 lb fluorocarbon leader. The guides will be Fuji KL-H and KT Titanium Frames from my broken Legend Elite.

The post at KR Concept is a great posts and had provided me with a lot knowledge to use in the build.

Will you be getting the Thorne's predator blank or the regular St. Croix (rod geeks) SCV? I have both a factory Legend Elite 7'6" MLXF and a Thorne's predator 7' MLXF. Very similar blanks, can't go wrong with either. The medium predator blank is more unique. It has about the fastest tip of any rod I have felt. Like maybe 15 inches of the tip bend under moderate pressure. I keep thinking I want to get one, but with an action that unique I'm not sure what I would do with it. I wish I knew the AA, but it's much faster than the point blank MXF I have.

I'd go 7 foot Legend Elite ML, F or XF. Should be ideal. I'm not familiar with the Thorne blank. 7-6 length won't balance as well as 7.

Oh my gosh Peter, are you in the Twin Cities Area? Do you build rods?

These are the rods I am considering.

70MLF Rod Geeks extended 3".
76MXF Predator
76MLXF St Croix
80MLXF Predator

The gentlemen I spoke with at Thorne's was pushing me towards the Rod Geeks 70MLF extended 3" at the handle to 73. His comments that this is his favorite finesse rod and that he has 5 of them.
I originally had the St. Croix 76MLXF but before taking on the water, took it back and replaced with the 610MLXF but as I have now transitioned to longer rods, really never use much. It might become my drop shot. I thought as a 76 is was to floppy and not enough backbone. Thornes has this in stock and I will look at again.
The80MLXF I am thinking could be used for NED and also hair jig (Fieder Fly).

70MLF as is or extended, will work fine. I would go 7' to keep its action/response tighter. But probably not a big difference.

I built up a SCV 76mlxf. I have not fished the short MLXF rods, but I think the short ones are softer into the middle of the rod. The 7-6 has a very soft tip, but it transitions very quickly into the backbone. So much so, that there is not a lot of “cushion” when fighting a fish compared to say the 70mlf. The scv 70mlf is the rod I compare all my other finesse rods too. It is my baseline for a great Ned rig rod and a pretty good drop shot rod too.

I have never been able to check out a Point Blank rod, but the only thing that surprises me about those recommendations are they are a lot more powerful than the St. Croix 70mlf. On paper, they do not seem like a good Ned righ rod unless you are on the heavier side (maybe 1/4 oz jig heads???). But, again, never having fished them, hard to say. Point Blank has a great reputation. The St. Croix 70MLF rods seem to run in the low to mid 300’s for IP power (ERN around 13, AA around 70-72 (but see a SC4 with 80 on the list too).

Yeah, I actually live pretty close to Thorne Bros. I've built a fair number of rods and also have a few made by Thorne's. To me the 7'6" MLXF has a lot of backbone, but I find it fights fish nicely. The way I fish ned and hair jigs is similar, more floating/swimming through the water than jigging on the bottom. For that I think a longer rod works great. If you plan on fishing them like jigs on the bottom, I have found it is easier to control them with a bit shorter rod. I do think the 7'3" MLF would be the most versatile. Great for ned, small jigs, jigging for walleye, and decent enough for hair.

I’m another one for the rod geeks 7 ft ML fast rod . It’s what I use for a Ned rod . One of my favorites.

Phil
Give the MHX line of blanks a look. Good bang for the buck and a extensive selection of technique specific blanks. I also fish for smallmouth mostly on the Juniata River in central PA, also sometimes using neds. I have built rods on MHX blanks (along with many other brands) for myself and my friends and am very satisfied with their quality and performance. They stack up well with all of the rest.
Rog

Phil when you say Thorne Bros sells these blanks and components to the public, is it a walk in the store thing or do they sell online as well?

Lynn, I believe it is walk in only.

I believe Elliott rods/blanks are tied to Thorne Bros.