David,

Hey man!

I can totally see how your MB 725 made a great chatter stick! Ever throw a spinnerbait on it? A Gavacho or Zara Puppy/Jr in lighter cover? That model can do many things well because it is designed so well, IME. In a way, I think the better the rod technology gets, the more versatile rods become despite the "niche" they may have been designed for initially. There ARE limits and ranges. I like to push them from time to time. What is your take?

I'm an old-school fisher dude with an appreciation of new-school technologies and materials. I like to fish the rod(s) I have in multiple ways because that was what I did back in the day. Old habits and all...
I often discover a wider range of versatility, and even excellence, for a particular rod this way. The MB 725 is one of those designs that has a wider wingspan than it gets credit for. It is relatively new to the market, too. Folks will find out for themselves the ranges this blank fishes at the head of its class.

Would relish dropping jigs into deep pools on the Danube for Zander! I'll fish with a reed cut from the bank if I have to. Otherwise, gimme that MB 725 or the SJ 764! I won't feel cheated with the SJ 736.

Hey Les !!

No, haven't thrown a spinnerbait with my 725 rods. Not saying I never will, because I may be fishing out of my brother's or someone else's boat in the future. But if I'm fishing out of my boat, I have other rods for spinnerbaits.

As far as a Gavacho goes. I bought one when they first came out. I was hoping it was like the Iobee (which is my favorite frog of all time) in that it would have a softer body and with that same awesome hook up to landing percentage that I get with the Iobee. I have never landed a fish on the Gavacho. I even bend the hooks out a bit, just like I do with all my frogs. Never landed a fish with it. I don't even have it in my boat anymore lol

Sadly, Jackall stopped making the Iobee a few years ago. I have 3 of them. One that's really beat up. One not so beat up, and one that is all but brand new. I've looked on E Bay for them but the prices people are asking for them is insane, so when the ones I have finally give up the ghost, I guess I'll start fishing the Live Target's I have. Not really sure how good the 725 would be with a Zara Puppy/ Jr. It doesn't really have the flex into the mid section that I look for in a rod for treble hooked baits.

As far as experimenting with rods to find out if they'd be good, or even excellent for, for baits other than what I built them for, I really don't do that much. Even though I had that most excellent chatterbait day with the 725, it wouldn't be a rod I'd even consider if I were expecting a chatterbait bite. It just doesn't have what I look for when throwing chatterbaits.

Now the SJ 736 X ray blank is a different story. It just has that feel of being a versatile blank. Pretty much anything up to about 5/8 oz, aside from treble hooked baits, is in those rods wheelhouse. Not a blank that's going to really move a fish on the hook set, but has a nice solid feel when setting the hook on a Texas rigged bait. And IMO, it is the perfect blank for a weightless 5" Senko.

I'm really intrigued with what I am reading about the SJ 764 C6O2 blank, but I already have far too many 4 power spinning rods, so I don't see one in my future. But one never knows, does one? lol

I received the 764air and I am not a fan. I was hoping based on spec and what I read that it would be a bigger brother to the 725.

Now I now, it a 4 power. We all know NFC ratings are all over the place. Took the gamble.

The spec that threw me was the tip top being larger than the 725. I assumed it would have more power.

The 764 is both slower in action and lighter in power. Very odd being larger tip and butt diameters.

Unfortunately, I'm going to be sending these back if possible as I really have no use for the blank. I prefer other models for a 4 power and cut down this would be close to moderate taper.

Oh well, I'll exchange for 725s as they are truly "The One" for any sub 3/4oz baits needing a faster taper. I'm very excited to build mine. Just flexing it and running it against surfaces, I can tell they are special.

Rob,

I re-set my CCS rig lately and here are numbers I have for the MB 725 and SJ 764. All C6's

MB 725 spin version:
IP = 790 grams
AA = 79

MB 725 cast version:
IP = 677.5 g
AA = 78

* I caliper measured the differences in corresponding diameters between these two 725 blanks and found the spin version was a bit thicker through the mid section; this may account for the differences in IP. My 725 cast version has a literal bump up in diameter size at 20 inches from the butt end - I can see it and feel it as well. The rods have a similar diameter just forward of the reel seat, but the casting version narrows more moving up the blank. Both AA's are almost the same at the tip. Sorta strange.

SJ 764 casting version:

IP = 775 g
AA = 83

This confirms my other tests that my own copy of the SJ 764 is right there with the MB 725.

My CCS numbers can be different than others so take them with a grain of salt. They are as accurate as I could make them.

I apologize if any of my data threw you off!

Les

Les,

No no, I appreciate your info. To be fair I am not as fancy as some and don't know CCS and all that well. I look at the bend profile images, tip, and butt diameters. Also, I will look on here and I have examined the CCS logs.

That said, my simple carpet bending test have the SJ764 well below the MB725 in power. The tip is softer and although the backbone is thicker, the SJ764 bends much deeper. Definitely more of a reaction bait type action to me. Being SJ I had expected faster.

I'm sure it is amazing, but unfortunately not what I hoped for.

So far, if your looking to step up to a true heavy with a faster action, the 7108 X-ray cut even 6" is really sweet. I have the handle glued up on mine at about 7'5" and it is still fast, has a softish tip, but shuts off mid blank for some decent power.

I'm addicted to buying...need to do more building.

Les, I know you and I have talked about the MB 725 blank more than a bit, but I can't remember? Did you build your MB 725 spinning rod with an XO Skeleton grip? I only ask because you and I have talked about how the XO skeleton grips affect the IP numbers on a blank like the 725 that bends so deeply into the butt section when it's under a full load per CCS standards.

The IP for your 725 casting build, while being lower than what I've gotten for all 4 of the 725 blanks I have, are well within what to me would be acceptable when you look at the differences as a percentage, and not a whole number.

As far as the MB 725 C6O2 blanks go. And this is just my take on the blank ..... and just to mention, it is the only 5 power NFC blank I have ever had in my hands. Let alone built a rod on. So I'm not sure if this is true of NFC 5 power blanks in general, but it's quite unique, in a very good way, in its' tip, its' mid section power, and its' overall power.

Of the bare blanks or completed rods I have here in the house at the moment, and this is just based on laying them side by side and putting various amounts of flex into the blank to observe the bend profile under different loads ..... the 725 C6O2 is closest to an MB 724 X ray blank as far as their tips compare. In this case, tips being about the first 12 - 14 inches of the tip of the blank. Put more flex into the blanks and the mid section power starts to show in the 725 C6O2 blank. Which makes sense as there is a 45 gram difference between the highest power of the two MB 724 X ray blanks I have, and the highest powered blank of the 4 MB 725 C6O2 blanks I have, or have built on.

Mid section power is hard for me to compare to the blanks or rods I have in the house, because the 725 C6O2 has a faster action than the others. But going by feel, the 725 feels very very close to how a completed rod I have built on an SJ 736 X ray blank. Which again makes sense because there is only 27 gram difference between my highest power SJ 736, and my highest powered MB 725.

The biggest difference between my 725 blanks, and any of the other previously mentioned blanks, is how deeply the 725 flexes when the rod is fully loaded, as mentioned above. And I didn't discover that, until I did CCS tests on one of rods I've built on the 725, using an XO skeleton grip. The XO skeleton grip made a huge difference in CCS numbers for the 725, over those I took on a bare blank. I can't seem to find those numbers right now, but as I remember, the difference was about an 80 gram higher IP for the built rod, over the bare blank. And the AA went up nearly 2 degrees as well.

I was so shocked by the difference that I pulled the blank out of the XO skeleton, and checked the bare blank again. Same numbers as when I initially checked it, but it wasn't until then that I noticed how deeply into the butt, the blank was flexing. It was flexing all the way to the forward support of my CCS jig. Which was about 4" further back than where the reel would be sitting, were the build done without using an XO skeleton. Eliminating that much flex bumped up the IP number substantially.

Anyhow .... as I and others have mentioned time and again. the MB 725 C6O2 is a very unique blank.

I don't know how many South Park fans we have here, if any, but if you're familiar with the show, specifically the World of Warcraft episode. There was a magical sword the game creators needed to get into the game, so the South Park gang of kids could defeat a very powerful player that was killing the characters of thousands of unsuspecting players. It was called "The Sword of a Thousand Truths."

That's how I look at the two rods I have built on MB 725 C6O2 blanks. I have two Swords of a Thousand Truths. With two more yet to build. LOL

Thanks for the suggestion on the 7108 X-Ray! A Heavy power rod with a fast action is very intriguing and not that common in my experience. I like the idea of a lock down point mid blank.

Tapers are a fascinating part of the physics of rods. Like you, tip and butt O.D.'s are often my first clue about the bend profile. The NFC charts are a quick look at how and where a blank flexes. I always check the test weights used.

CCS is a very useful tool for me as a comparative snapshot of a rod's power and action; kind of like the NFC bend profile charts. CCS is a tool like any other tool. Use it if it helps.

The Carpet Test is always part of my evaluations.

Get to building, young man! Let's go!