Ordered one of these with the new yellow/black color scheme ("Stinger") with the intention of building a rod for bladed jigs, but have zero experience with that blank.

I need a good chatterbait rod desperately. I have lost three bass on chatterbaits this year that would have been PBs. One that almost certainly was double digits. Got it about ten feet from the boat and it came off. Same story with the other two. In every case I was fishing with a commercially produced rod that is a decent rod for some applications, but lacks sensitivity to feel a more subtle bite through the noise of the vibration and grass (meaning missed hooksets), and also does not have enough flex in the tip to really keep fish pinned.

I also have a MB725 C6O2 that I'm about to build. If it will make a better chatterbait rod than the Zentron blank, I can still use the Zentron one for crankbaits as it was designed.

Anyone tried either of these blanks for bladed jigs and care to share your thoughts on either/both of them?

I just finished a cb705 build. I cut mine down to 6'10. It'll make a great chatterbait mini max rod, or even a great 3/8oz jackhammer/stealth blade rod. You can go up to a 1/2oz jackhammer on it I'd think but I'd stick with a spunk shad type trailer if I did that.

If I wanted a dedicated full size chatterbait rod, I'd go with the delta cb706, the apfg 745 or (my personal favorite) the xray neo mb765.

The c6o2 mb725 is not going to be powerful enough in my opinion. I think it'd be good at the same range of baits as the delta cb705.

I have two rods that I recently completed that are built on the MB 725 C6O2 blank. I have to agree with Patrick as to its' power, actually its' tip power, being insufficient for a chatterbait. Especially if you're making longer casts. Big heavy hooks on chatterbaits and you need, at least IMO, a rod with some power in the tip. A mod fast action with a lure weight rating of 1/4 - 1 oz, with 3/8 - 1 1/4 oz being even better.

I'm not saying the MB 725 blank wouldn't do well with moving baits, but it wouldn't be on my list of choices for a chatterbait rod.

I don't have any experience with the blanks that Patrick mentioned for chatterbaits, but by looking at the bend profile loaded with 24 oz. on the cb 706 Delta that he mentioned. It sure looks like it would build into a great chatterbait rod.

I recently ordered 3 of these blanks specifically for the same purpose. Sometimes you just have to take a chance. A few of my predicted choices in the past have been misses, but, surprisingly, someone always comes forward and asks to have a rod made with those "rejects". There is always a purpose for a blank, even if what you originally got it for didn't work out. Curiosity is killing me on these.

IMO the CB 705 Zentron is too light in power for standard (3/8 and 1/2oz, normal blade size) bladed jigs in most situations (~650g IP). Most people prefer a little more length too, 7'2" or more...Seems trivial, but the action you impart to the bait when popping in out of grass is better handled with a touch more length. I built a CB 706 Zentron for bladed jigs and the length was the only thing preventing me from loving it, though it was still pretty good.

The CB 7106 cut down to 7'3" will give you the power and length you need (~900g IP), I have two of these on my bench right now. An MB 765 NEO cut down a few inches is very similar (~850g IP). I think I prefer the NEO right now simply because it's a little easier to build, the butt sections on the Delta Hybrids are huge.

John Santos Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I recently ordered 3 of these blanks specifically
> for the same purpose. Sometimes you just have to
> take a chance. A few of my predicted choices in
> the past have been misses, but, surprisingly,
> someone always comes forward and asks to have a
> rod made with those "rejects". There is always a
> purpose for a blank, even if what you originally
> got it for didn't work out. Curiosity is killing
> me on these.

Yep. These will be personal rods, so I don't really mind experimenting too much. The rods will get used for one purpose or another.

Sounds like the consensus is that the CB705 is good for the mini-max, maybe good for the 3/8 oz, and marginal/too light for the 1/2 oz?

I bought that CB705 blank really wanting the MB765 NEO. I thought it was out of stock, so I got the CB705 instead. I'm not sure how I missed it, but I think now that it was only the new gray and yellow colored versions of the NEO that were out of stock, so I just ordered one in the original color this morning. That MB725 C6O2 blank is one I ordered a quite a while back to be a utility rod, but I haven't built it yet. I was just kind of hoping it might would do ok with bladed jigs, too. So if not, no harm there. And the CB705 will still get used for traps, squarebills, and maybe some light topwater if it's not able to handle a 1/2 oz jackhammer.

Jason Whitman Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> John Santos Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I recently ordered 3 of these blanks
> specifically
> > for the same purpose. Sometimes you just have
> to
> > take a chance. A few of my predicted choices
> in
> > the past have been misses, but, surprisingly,
> > someone always comes forward and asks to have a
> > rod made with those "rejects". There is always
> a
> > purpose for a blank, even if what you
> originally
> > got it for didn't work out. Curiosity is
> killing
> > me on these.
>
> Yep. These will be personal rods, so I don't
> really mind experimenting too much. The rods will
> get used for one purpose or another.
>
> Sounds like the consensus is that the CB705 is
> good for the mini-max, maybe good for the 3/8 oz,
> and marginal/too light for the 1/2 oz?
>
> I bought that CB705 blank really wanting the MB765
> NEO. I thought it was out of stock, so I got the
> CB705 instead. I'm not sure how I missed it, but I
> think now that it was only the new gray and yellow
> colored versions of the NEO that were out of
> stock, so I just ordered one in the original color
> this morning. That MB725 C6O2 blank is one I
> ordered a quite a while back to be a utility rod,
> but I haven't built it yet. I was just kind of
> hoping it might would do ok with bladed jigs, too.
> So if not, no harm there. And the CB705 will still
> get used for traps, squarebills, and maybe some
> light topwater if it's not able to handle a 1/2 oz
> jackhammer.

I think you're spot on with everything here.

The c6o2 mb725 can do a lot of things really well. For me it's slots in as a finesse jig, shakey head, senko, and light tx rig rod for bottom contact but I'm sure it'll see time throwing compact spinnerbaits and bigger walking baits/pencil poppers too. Can definitely handle the mini max as well but I thjnk the cb705 would do that better with the glass tip.

Patrick Coco Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I just finished a cb705 build. I cut mine down to
> 6'10. It'll make a great chatterbait mini max rod,
> or even a great 3/8oz jackhammer/stealth blade
> rod. You can go up to a 1/2oz jackhammer on it I'd
> think but I'd stick with a spunk shad type trailer
> if I did that.
>
> If I wanted a dedicated full size chatterbait rod,
> I'd go with the delta cb706, the apfg 745 or (my
> personal favorite) the xray neo mb765.
>
> The c6o2 mb725 is not going to be powerful enough
> in my opinion. I think it'd be good at the same
> range of baits as the delta cb705.

Patrick nailed it in this post. The CB706 and NEO MB765 have very similar actions, but the NEO MB765 is thinner and lighter.

I built a Delta CB705 and a APFG745 for bladed jigs and they both work good. The tips are “light” enough to feel the movement of the jig, or lack thereof, and the blank has plenty of power to handle big bass. Largest bass I’ve caught was close to 7lbs on the Delta blank, handled it with ease. I’ve only use 3/8 or 1/2oz jigs.

This is the bass I caught on the delta blank, lower right corner partially shows the blank. I sanded down the ridges to a smooth surface.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/28/2024 08:17AM by MichaelTarr.

Nice! Thanks Michael. I have both the CB705 and the NEO ordered, so I should be able to put them both to the test and see which one I like better.