Pac Bay Quickline blanks are awesome. Super light, very sensitive, and a beautiful gloss black finish. The only possible problem is that they only make them in a 6'6" blank, or a 7'6" blank. If you're looking for a 7' blank, then you'd have to look elsewhere. I built two spinning rods on the QLSJ782 blank that I use for drop shots and shaky head jigs. I have no problem feeling even
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Robert, a lot depends on not only what size "traps" you'll be throwing, but also how long the casts you'll be making are. If you're planning on bombing casts with any "trap" over 5/8 oz. I pesonally would go with a heavy power. And actually, based on my experience with my trap rod (it's 7' medium heavy power, medium fast action Shimano factory rod) my next trap/crankbait rod i
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Miles, unless you're throwing extemely heavy baits, and based on the rods you mentioned, you aren't, then there really should be no need for you to pinch the line between your finger tip, and any part of the rod or reel. Once again I hope you don't take what I'm saying the wrong way, because I'm certainly not saying you're casting completely wrong, We all have our own ways or little quirks castin
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Personally, and please don't take this the wrong way, but I think your problem with the 6' MH, and the problem you're worried about having with the rod you're in the process of building, is casting technique related.
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I'd never throw a rattle trap on some of the blanks that Mud Hole has rattle traps listed in the column of recommended baits. While I can understand Todd's recommendation of a medium heavy power, mag bass blank, the MB843, for ripping "traps" through grass (you need that kind of power to rip the bait) I'm thinking landing a fish hooked on a lipless crankbait with what amounts to being a
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I have no experience with the CB66M or CB70M from the RX7 series of Rainshadow blanks that Geoff mentioned. But I do with the CB66MH blank. It's a beautiful blank. Light and surprisingly crisp for a crankbait rod. With a super smooth action. I can't imagine the blanks that Geoff mentioned being any less impressive.
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Jay, my thoughts on handle length mirrors yours. For me a shorter rear grip on a jerkbait rod is definitely the way to go. On the rod I described earlier, my rear grip is (end of the butt cap to back of the reel seat) is 7 3/4". This is just another one of those things you may want to consider .... if you're not using a reel seat that requires you ordering it to fit the blank at a specif
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I just started building rods this past year, and my first build was a jerkbait rod. The description of the type of rod you want to build matches the type of rod I wanted as well. Something with a fast tip so it would be able to impart that darting action, and be sensitive enough to detect a light bite during the pause with a suspending jerkbait, But a rod with some bend into the midsection of
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I use a method of finding the straightest axis that I read in a past thread on this site, and it works great. Put the blank in your hand wrapper or power wrapper and position the wrapper so you can place the tip of the blank close to a vertical surface, Tape a piece of regular notebook paper or graph paper to the vertical surface, so that one of the horizontal lines on the paper aligns with t
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If you're looking for a really awesome blank, and just wondering about the HM- MHX as an alternative to the blanks you mentioned by name, you may want to also consider the Immortal or Eternity2 series of blanks from Rainshadow. I built a rod on an Immortal blank, and it is an awesome blank. And many other members can tell you about the Eternity2 series. Give them a look if you're simply lookin
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Adam ..... it sounds to me like he (the brother in-law) doesn't prefer the moderate fast action. At least that's the interpretation I get when you say he wants something with not as much whip, when wiggled. Moderate and moderate fast action blanks "wiggle" more when you shake the rod or cast, than a fast action blank would. I'm curious as to what type of baits he's planning on using
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Phil ...... if you've read and paid attention to the responses in this thread, and other threads where the topic of a balanced rod and reel has come up, you'd have noticed that none of the advocates of that balanced package, have mentioned balancing a rod for its use in conventional casting. In an earlier post in this thread, Joseph speculated that balancing a rod and reel combo with casting i
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I honestly don't understand the aversion that some builders have to adding weight at the butt of a rod in order to achieve a balanced rod and reel combination. Either they don't believe that there are actual advantages of using a balanced rod and reel combination for some types of fishing techniques ...... which there clearly are, and those advantages are quantifiable. Or ... they believe that t
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Nate ...... if I took a picture of the rods I've balanced, all you would see is a rod that looks completely normal. Everything is epoxied inside the blank in the butt of the rod, then the butt grip and butt cap are added. I've used a foam reel seat arbor sanded down to fit inside the butt of the blank, and then ream the inside of the foam arbor to allow the weight I use to fit inside. I've do
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I'm compelled to pass out the accolades as well. Beautiful work, and very tastefully done. That's a rod to be proud of. Well done !!!
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Phil, unless you're using a cane pole, it should go without saying, that the balance point should be determined with the reel attached, and full of line. Where the rod and reel combination balances is a matter of personal preference. I prefer the rod and reel to feel neutral in my hand, so I try and have the balancing point right at or slightly ahead of the reel seat's front hood. Some people
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Considering the amount of weight you'll be using, I'd also suggest that you look for a mag taper blank, but with a much higher power rating than a normal drop shot rod would have. Here in the states, most drop shot rods, and subsequently the blanks they're built on, have lure weight ratings in the vicinity of 1/8 - 3/8 oz. I doubt a blank that was actually designed for using a drop shot, would do
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Cameron, hopefully part of your better understanding is in realizing that for some types of fishing, using a balanced rod and reel combination isn't simply marketing by some mass producers that are trying to make a quick buck. And that it is something that not only bass anglers can benefit from, but something that every angler that employs similar tactics and equipment can benefit from, regardles
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Personally I don't have to the need to worry about passing knots through the guides on a flipping or pitching rod. If I use a leader for those techniques, which is rare, I don't use one longer than 4'. With a leader of that length, the connecting knot never passes through the tip top, even when landing a fish. IMO the rod performance you gain by using lighter micro running guides, more than ma
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I don't feel I misinterpreted the OP's meaning by my comments in my first post. Pitching is nothing more than a lower energy form of casting, and to do it well, requires a rod with a tip that will load with the amount of weight being used. I guess I just feel that if a blank will pitch the described bait/weight combination well, then it would most certainly cast that same combination just as well
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I don't have any experience with either the Immortal 72M or 73ML blanks, but I do have experience with the Immortal 72MH blank, which is why I find it interesting that you say the 72M doesn't load well enough with the weight and bait combination that you mentioned. My reason for saying that is, I routinely use that size bait and weight combination with the rod I built using the 72MH blank, and fi
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Joe, the description in your last paragraph is pretty much what the old Shimano Speed Master Fightin Rods had for reel seats. The butt of the blank was over sized in diameter, and depending on the model, either part of the blank was cut out and a plate type reel seat was recessed into the blank, (that's how the pistol grip casting rods were made) or, they had what amounted to a split reel seat, w
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The Alconite rings are actually lighter than the same sized SIC ring, so you're gaining a bit in that respect. I also believe, although I'm not sure, that it's a thinner ring, so you're gaining a bit of ID for a guide with an Alconite ring, over the same size guide with an SIC ring. Hopefully Jim Ising will see this thread and either verify or disprove my beliefs concerning the Alconite rings.
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I'll be interested in the results as well. The topic of how Point Blank gets their ratings came up in a thread about CCS numbers a while ago. At the time, I tested one of my rods using the CCS, and also tested it using the CCS but adjusted it to use the "working length" of the rod that Point Blank evidently uses. At the time I was unaware as to what portion of the working length of
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If the client is going to be throwing Senkos, or other similarly thick bodied stick worms of 4" and up, I'd go with a medium power, fast or extra fast action blank. Something with a nice light tip and good back bone. If he's going to be making long casts you need to be careful and not go too light. Senkos and the like, are pretty thick baits and even though there are various ways of Texas ri
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I understand what Bill is saying as far as Fuji pushing the boundaries and coming up with innovative ideas, that even though they may go against the grain of accepted thinking, they're ideas that are proven to work. The KR GPS works, and works quite well. And it doesn't match any of the other choke guide placement methods, exactly. But this .... and Jim, this isn't directed at you, ....... th
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I have a question that hopefully Jim can provide an answer to? Where can I find the specs for these blanks, other than in the Mud Hole catalog? The reason I ask is, I can't help but think there are several typos in the listings on Mud Hole's web site. (not assigning blame here) One seemingly glaring one being the specs listed for the PB761XXHF. A 6 - 12# mono line rating, for a blank rated for
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Bill, I've yet to use a double worm or fluke rig, so I could only guess why one bait is taken over the other. I would think that the speed of the retrieve you're using would have something to do with which bait is taken more often. My guess would be that using a faster twitching retrieve with shorter pauses, would trigger a competition response from a bass, causing them to take the first bai
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Bill, Joe's reference to needing a faster casting stroke is what I was trying to convey when I said that you'd be "firing casts, verses lob casting" Using the speed of the cast to load the blank, verses using a lighter powered, slower action blank that allowed more of the length of the blank to load. With that said I'll also be honest and say that I have very little experience with
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I couldn't agree more. Carol is an angel, and Mick is a god send. They are top notch, just like the products they sell.
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