My brother-in-law asked if I can build him a rod on a blank that is similar to the St Croix Legend Elite LES96HF2 for Salmon fishing.

Rod specs are as follows...
9ft 6in 2pc
Heavy power
Fast action
12-25lb line
1/2-2oz lure rating

Wondering if anyone has a suggestion on what blank would be similar.

Thank you

Do you have the rod available?

Take a look at the Stryker salmon blanks. Although I have not used any of their salmon blanks, I have used some other Stryker blanks and they were extremely nice.

[strykerrods.us]

Norm



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/10/2024 10:32AM by Norman Miller.

Check out the ROD GEEKS line of rod blanks.

Dennis J. Danku
(Sayreville,NJ)

Spencer Phipps Wrote:
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> Do you have the rod available?


I have that rod built as baitcaster if your question has to do with measurements, etc..

It appears St. Croix is getting away from the SCV material rods, at least reducing their catalog, the reason the gentleman is asking around. If we had some CC'd ERN and AA values, we may get him close, Lamiglas never exceeded a MH in their high modulus materials and though G Loomis has made some GLX steelhead/salmon rods they sell very few and the guides won't touch them with a 10 ft. pole. Stryker blanks are IM7, Batson has backed off on their RX8 selection, no heavy ones other than the BB964-TC. It's a tight list for us to look at to help him. Things may be different now, but the last St. Croix rods I picked up years ago had to stiff of tips to please me in this category.

I am going to dig deeper into this. That rating is a slight step up from most of what is available out there. Up to 2 oz instead of 1.5 oz on Lamiglas, and NFC products as of late. I have a few older Lamiglas rods that have higher ratings for casting in heavy waters.

Spencer Phipps Wrote:
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> Do you have the rod available?


I do not. My brother-in-law lives in another state, I believe it's his friend or his brother-in-law that has the St Croix though. But I don't think they know how to get CC data.

Norman Miller Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Take a look at the Stryker salmon blanks. Although
> I have not used any of their salmon blanks, I
> have used some other Stryker blanks and they were
> extremely nice.
>
> [strykerrods.us]
> 1b5-d043
>
> Norm


Thank you, I will take a look

Dennis Danku Wrote:
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> Check out the ROD GEEKS line of rod blanks.


Thank you for the suggestion, I did already look at their salmon/steelhead blanks. They have an 8'6" with the same specs but he'd like to have a 9'6" though if possible.

Spencer Phipps Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It appears St. Croix is getting away from the SCV
> material rods, at least reducing their catalog,
> the reason the gentleman is asking around. If we
> had some CC'd ERN and AA values, we may get him
> close, Lamiglas never exceeded a MH in their high
> modulus materials and though G Loomis has made
> some GLX steelhead/salmon rods they sell very few
> and the guides won't touch them with a 10 ft.
> pole. Stryker blanks are IM7, Batson has backed
> off on their RX8 selection, no heavy ones other
> than the BB964-TC. It's a tight list for us to
> look at to help him. Things may be different now,
> but the last St. Croix rods I picked up years ago
> had to stiff of tips to please me in this
> category.

First thing I did was try finding CC data for that rod but I wasn't able to find anything.

Chris Rosell Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I am going to dig deeper into this. That rating
> is a slight step up from most of what is available
> out there. Up to 2 oz instead of 1.5 oz on
> Lamiglas, and NFC products as of late. I have a
> few older Lamiglas rods that have higher ratings
> for casting in heavy waters.


Thank you, I appreciate everyone's help!

I’ve got a couple of things going but should be able to get CCS data up before the weekend.

Kendall Cikanek Wrote:
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> I’ve got a couple of things going but should be
> able to get CCS data up before the weekend.


Thank you, that would be great

Hello Gary, A one foot extension on that RoodGeeks blank would be a simple procedure and give you what you want.

Dennis J. Danku
(Sayreville,NJ)

Hello Gary, A one foot extension on that RodGeeks blank would be a simple procedure and give you what you want.

Dennis J. Danku
(Sayreville,NJ)

Here are my measurements of the built LES96HF2. It took 604 grams to deflect the leveled rod 1/3rd the distance of its length. Someone else can decide how much a penny weighs and divide by that. Converting real units to variable analogs seems ill advised given the availability of accurate scales. The action angle was 73 degrees.

Now, let’s move from the quantitative to the qualitative. I find that this rod works float bobbers very well. The length helps prevent hook tear-outs, and it’s still manageable at landing fish in a boat. I’ve got softer rods in this length range that are more difficult for bringing salmon to net in 16-17ft boats.

I couldn't find any 9' 6" options that are still available so far, if 9 ft. will work the NFC SA906-2 (IM) and the discontinued Rainshadow ISA1087 I think would be in your power range, both would have a bit stiffer tip then your St. Croix I think. I believe Schneider's still has some ISA1087 around at a price worth taking a chance on, look to the left in the Hot Specials section. I know the NFC blank is the right power, but with the stiffer, slower Pac. NW style tip.

Spencer Phipps Wrote:
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> I couldn't find any 9' 6" options that are still
> available so far, if 9 ft. will work the NFC
> SA906-2 (IM) and the discontinued Rainshadow
> ISA1087 I think would be in your power range, both
> would have a bit stiffer tip then your St. Croix I
> think. I believe Schneider's still has some
> ISA1087 around at a price worth taking a chance
> on, look to the left in the Hot Specials section.
> I know the NFC blank is the right power, but with
> the stiffer, slower Pac. NW style tip.

It seems that we are at a point where a little more information on how the rod is going to be used will better dial in the options. If it’s going to be a float bobber rod versus a salmon spreader-estuary rod my choices would differ (although I have used this same rod for both purposes). There are about as many salmon techniques as Paul Simon found to leave his lover. Matching an out of production rod might not be as beneficial as matching techniques.

The NFC SA906-2 (IM) has an ERN of 618, AA of like 64 deg. if I remember right. the power of his ERN 604 St. Croix would be unnoticeable in use. His St Croix fast AA tip reminds me more of the tip angle on the two piece heavy power hotshot blanks that are 8 1/2 ft. rods They make great plug rods and one of my favorite salmon drift rods. The G Loomis SAR904C is probably the quintessential everything salmon rod for the PNW, Canada and Alaska in casting and spinning versions, Lamiglas also had similar good ones in all the carbons that Loomis had for that rod as did Rogue, Stryker, etc., but none belter in the eyes of decades of anglers, Gary got that one right.