Newer builder and looking for options of inexpensive walleye jigging blanks,both vertical and casting them.Only true blanks I see labeled walleye really are the rain shadow immortal,and we’ll that’s a bit pricey for my first attempts.Thank you

Any blank can be a walleye blank if it suits what you're doing. In fact, many blanks labeled as bass blanks in one category will be labeled as walleye blanks in another. Same blanks.

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Look at CRB over at Mudhole. They have inexpensive jigging blanks. As Tom stated, you shouldn’t get hung up on any specific species nomenclature by the manufacturer.

Keep an eye on NFC’s website. They run major discounts sometimes. Their SJ-703 is an excellent walleye stick.

The St. Croix blanks from their Eyecon walleye series should be available at Rod Geeks.

Lee,
Here in the midwest I mainly build rods for users of "Walleye" rods.

For anything except jigging, nearly any blank of the right length action and power will work for trolling, bobber fishing, or crank bait fishing.

But, jig fishing is a bit of a different animal - so to speak.

I expect that my jig sticks use the most expensive blanks in my rod collections.

The reason is simple, "sensitivity".
If walleyes are on the feed bag, so to speak they will bite on virtually any reasonable presentation using any rod and reel setup.

But, when the walleye are on the neutral or negative mode, then one needs to bring out the big guns - so to speak to get the fish into the boat.

For a jig stick, over the years, I have settled on a 6'6" medium light with an extra fast or "soft" tip to be better able to both feel and see the light bite of a neutral or negative walleye.

As you pointed out, it is really tough to beat the high end Rain Shadow blanks in the appropriate action. Another wonderful blank are the top of the line St. Croix blanks in the appropriate length power and action. Some of these blanks are available at Rod Geeks, as Spencer pointed out.

But, for other types of fishing, i.e. float fishing, a nice 7'6 medium light action works very well.

For crank bait fishing a 6-6 to 7-6" rod in a medium - slow action fits the bill. I prefer the use of a slow action rod for crank bait fishing to let the entire rod bend when a fish hits to keep the fish hooked up.

For bottom bouncing a medium to medium heavy in a 6' to6'6" blank seup with a casting reel is the ticket.

Best wishes.

Mr. Reed,
If you're looking for a Rainshadow Walleye rod blank recommendation I encourage you to reach out to us at the link below. Our staff will be happy to get you dialed in to the best model for your style of fishing. They'll can also point you towards a dealer with stock on hand, and possibly one with a sale going on. There are some absolutely awesome sales going on currently at Rainshadow dealers. See dealers here: [batsonenterprises.com]
Reach out to Batson staff here: [batsonenterprises.com]
Merry Christmas

-The Batson TEAM
BatsonEnterprises.com

Look at the specs for "Walleye" blabks in the high end RX8 Batson blanks.
Then compare those specs in the RX7 and RX6 series.
There are many that will be close or the same.
If we can be of help, feel welcome to call.
Merry Christmas,
Blessed New Year,

Best wishes,
Ron Schneider
Schneider's Rod Shop
Mountain Home, Arkansas
[www.schneidersrods.com]
mtnron40@yahoo.com
870-424-3381

You absolutely can't go wrong with Batson blanks. The Revolution and Immortals may be more pricey than your looking for but In my 40 plus years of Walleye fishing here in MN and many many years in Canada on Lake of the Woods. Batson makes a blank for every Walleye need!! Best I've ever built, used and Fantastic company to deal with!!! For light jigging My group and I have fallen in Love with the ulrta light Immortal Inshore Popping blank - IMMP70UL - No greater fun than 25" +ers on those rods!! - All the best - Marcus

Marcus McCleery

Haven't used the IMMP70UL for walleye as the waters out west I walleye fish demand heavier gear, that said I surely love my rod for a bunch of other things, smallies, trout, panfish, very versatile.

I think new builders should fully expect their first rod to turn out well. Mine did, it just took me much longer than they do now. My point is to build a rod you really want to use instead of one you are willing to mess up. Maybe you don’t start with a $200 dollar SCV blank and Torzite guides, but an Immortal with Fazlite or LZR guides isn’t near that strata. Utmost or Voodoo can help with pricing and sometimes GetBit has great sales on them. Ron being willing to help is worth a lot, too.

Every necessary piece of information to build well the first try is available in instructive videos. Two part epoxies and finishes work flawlessly with careful mixing, which is just as necessary on the 100th build. Doing simple wraps just takes care in getting reasonable tension and thread packing. There are dozens of videos and articles on how to do it. If one misses, it’s a dime’s worth of thread to start over. Reaming isn’t hard to do the first time if one takes care to measure where the reamer diameter matches the rod diameter. Again, just go conservatively slow. Leave off decals, trim bands, and completely optional things, like color preserver. I seldom use any of this stuff many years into building. A good caliper, syringes, self-sealing caps, foil dishes, and careful planning cures nearly every potential mistake. Finish in a dust free area.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 12/21/2023 10:28PM by Kendall Cikanek.

Hey Lee,

I've built many walleye rods over the years and for many different situations. As many have stated, the blank you choose should be geared to how you're going to use it. I find a medium-light blank in the 6'6" to 7' length will be a good "all-purpose" rod. However, if you're going to troll or pull bottom-bouncers, that particular blank will not perform. Your question was geared toward pitching jigs mainly, I believe. The Rainshadow blanks suggested above are great ones, as are many of the MHX blanks (DS822 or SJ812) but you mentioned "inexpensive" in the post as well. I would consider those blanks as moderately priced and well worth it! However, if you are truly looking at a more inexpensive alternative, I'd take a look at the CRB IS701ML. They do a fine job for most anglers and are great all-around rods. If you do pull small cranks or bottom bouncers, the IS701M is nice. Hope this helps!

Chuck

><))))">….><))))">….><))))">….Just Fish

Prior Lake Rod Building Guild
Instagram @pl_rod_building_guild

Thank you everyone for the responses,much appreciated.First thing learned is there’s no such thing as inexpensive in quality.Should have stated I’m pretty fresh in chasing ole marble eyes as well after 40 yrs of chasing whiskers so I still have the bigger is better mentality.For my first build I’ve come up with a revelation revs72m as I figured if it wasn’t great for jigs,rippin raps etc I can still use it for gold eye and skipjack fishing.I’ll definitely be taking all of your advise on these other blanks and purchasing.Once again Thank you all

Lee,
If youhaven't already tried, I would like to suggest trying a walleye rod build on one of the Revalation medium light popping rod. They are typically 7'6" in length. But, if you want a shorter rod, do NOT trim any material from the tip of this blank. Trim only from the butt of the blank.
The secret to the fish catching ability of this rod is the soft action of the top 2 feet of the rod.

The reason that this blank is called a popping rod is that it was designed to cast live shrimp to blue waters on the coast and " pop" the bait across the water to entice the bite of the fish.

Also, the soft tip really excels when casting live bait for Walleye. The soft tip has the give to soften both the acceleration and the deacceleration of the bait, to minimize lost baits during the cast.

Best wishes.

I'm betting you guys can help me out with this. I've fished for walleyes for decades, but 95% of it has been trolling crawler harnesses, dragging bottom bouncers, and pulling cranks. I've actually only jigged for them 3 or 4 times in my life. My go-to rod is a 7" ML St.Croix Legend Tournament Walleye, fast action, 4-10#. I generally make my own rods, but the deal I got on this one was so unbelievable I jumped on it. It has handled 4# small mouth bass, 6# walleye, and everything in between without a whimper.

So a friend of mine wants me to build a special rod for his dad who lives out west and jigs for them 95% of the time. The walleye he usually catches run 14"- 20". He calls them his "Good Eaters" which they no doubt are. I'd like some recommendations for this build if you would. I intended to keep it REALLY light so that he would be able to enjoy the fight and still land the fish without too much difficulty. I have a couple of blanks in my shop I'm considering: a Phenix M1, 6'9", light, fast action, 4-10# line which is a really nice blank, but I'm afraid that it achieves it's power too quickly (about 1/3 of the way down), and a 6'6" OEM blank I got from Mudhole rated Light that behaves similar to the Phenix but the tip is softer for about 1/2 of the blank before it stiffens up. Roger, I'm not clear on what my best tip action should be; Fast, X-Fast, or Slow.

Knowing what I have and the anticipated use, are either of these suitable? Money isn't really an object. I intend to use a Fuji KSKSS16 reel seat with a dragon scale wrap between the hoods, and I'm considering using ALPS titanium guides (Y's and PMK's) because Get Bit has very good prices on them right now. My only challenge there would be adapting the ALPS guides to a FUJI KR Concept layout, which I haven't tried before.

I'm also open to a different blank if you can suggest one better suited to the intended use.

Thanks!

The 7ft NFC P702 HM would probably fit that bill. I built one recently for light jig/minnow applications for walleye. Seems about right to me for 1/8-maybe 1/4oz jigheads. I also have used a ML St. Croix 7ft scv for years. The P702 is approximately the same action maybe a touch faster but one level down in power



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/31/2023 07:18PM by Brian Jackson.

The jig fishing I do out west requires a more powerful blank then I built when I was in Michigan, the rivers are deeper, steeper, and faster. The reservoirs are built on these rivers so they are the same less the current to a certain extent. A 20+ lb. fish is also not as rare, even though what you describe is the norm. !/2 oz. jigs are our bread and butter, and heavier, Heddon Sonics and jigging spoons are used out here more than I ever did or seen back east also. 6 to 17 lb. line fast action rods are where I start, and MH Mag Bass works for the 1 oz. jigs, Sonics and spoons.