Hello all,

Im still new to rod building and im wondering if i can cut this SJ736 down from 7’3” to 6’10” for a topwater/spinner bait rod. Im also wondering what type of rod I should build this MB704 into. Any help would be great and appreciated.

Thanks,
Nate

Welcome to the club! I am about 40 builds in since I started last year and am always finding new challenges and opportunities.

One of my favorite builds is an SJ736 cut down to 6'9". It makes a great finesse jig/light TX rig rod and should handle regular frame spinnerbaits up to 1/2oz just fine.

I have also thrown chatterbaits on it and it does well with those too.

I have never thrown topwater on it, but think it would handle full size topwaters. SB105 & 125, kick knocker, super spooks, etc... It isnt a for poppers and smaller walking baits.

Its a really versatile blank and you should enjoy building and fishing with it.

Ive never built the MB704, but based on the MB705s that Ive built, I imagine the MB704 would be a good smaller topwater, lipless, and squarebill rod. As well as finesse/compact frame spinnerbaits and up to 1/4oz shakey head rod.

I have a MB704 I built to use as a spinning rod. It's a great rod for fishing Zoom Fluke type baits. I also really like it for fishing 3/8 ounce jigs on windy days when backlashing becomes an issue with casting reels. It is a very versatile rod that can be used for many bass fishing techniques.

I also have the SJ736 I built as a casting rod. It's a much stiffer rod than the MB704 and I use it as a heavier Jig and heavier cover type rod. To me it's more of a flipping and pitching to heavier weeds with a 3/8 ounce or more weight and a beaver type bait rod.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/20/2024 05:26PM by Leonard Bourdage.

I built a spinning rod on an MB 704 IM blank for a friend. He used it pretty much exclusively for fishing tube jigs. 1'4 - 3/8 oz with a 3.5" tube bait on it. He absolutely loved it. Caught a lot of fish, and won some pretty good money with it over the years.

I've got two rods built on the SJ 736 X ray blank. At it's stock length of 7' 3" I don't think it would be a very good top water rod, if the top water baits had treble hooks. But, taking 5" off the butt is going to be taking some power out of it, and slow the action, so it MIGHT change it enough to where might work ok for treble hooked top water baits.

As far as spinnerbaits, it will make a great spinnerbait rod at pretty much any length. As Patrick said, it's a very versatile blank.

As far as what Leonard said about the SJ 736. It definitely has quite a bit more power than the MB 704, but I don't see it as much as a heavy cover rod, as Leonard does. For what I look for in a rod power wise, I'd say it's more of a moderate cover, edges of heavy cover kind of rod. Baits up to about 5/8 oz, total weight of the bait being thrown. And personally, I think it just might be the best blank I've ever used for throwing weightless 5" Senkos. Also an awesome fluke style bait rod.

I forgot to add - if I used the sj736 for topwater, it would be on straight mono. As another poster mentioned, its pretty fast (even when cut down) for topwater.

Nate- I have a few SJ736 cut down to 6'9". They work great for treble topwaters like spooks etc up to 5/8oz with mono. and spinnerbaits up to 3/8 to 1/2oz on fluorocarbon (never tried any heavier). Been using them for over 4 years now and am very happy with them cut to this length. I agree with Patrick. I also use them light TX rig at this length too at times. I also use a SJ736 cut to 7' for buzzbait type baits.