spoonplugger1

My 5S76MLXF blanked rod I built is 15 years old or so, I have no idea if the pattern has been modified since then, that said my rod has an extremely light tip, ultralight like but because of the modulus it is not a bit whippy, once you get back a bit it changes to a firm lockup, more than I originally expected the blank would accomplish and the butt is on the upper end of what I expected as ML in that power range, of course it is a spinning rod back then. Tackle Tour did an evaluation of the factory rod in the past. Big Hand's evaluation is nothing like my SCV build, and I bet the Tackle Tour review, it will easily throw anything the reel will off the tip. In short it has a softer tip than the finesse and dropshot rods of that time period that I built and used in the same power range, and the butt is stouter.

Can't believe the young'uns don't know about my namesake? They have all trolled structure and break lines for bass right? Find something that floats, put enough power on it to troll, 5 - 6 foot stout rods, little cheap fish finder to find structure and stay on a break line and you're fishing. Half the time your plugs will tell you where to go to follow a break line. Spoonplugs rule!!!

Since we are talking kayaks and restricted fishing positions, I am going to recommend a composite inshore blank that over the years has been used by tournament anglers for swimbaits and umbrella rigs cut to a 7 1/2 ft. for those purposes. The angler that developed this design was Paul Elias and he won many tournaments with it. It's the Seeker Blue Lightning S glass/carbon CSW 808 blank again cut to 7 1.2 ft from the butt. The original blank is rated to 8 oz. but Paul said it was more like 5 oz. shortened and used for bass. The extra durability I think would be an advantage where kayaks and the needed extreme rod positioning is concerned.

The high end North Fork Composite blanks are the same price now, strangely the lower end nes are more expensive. In truth, all the best known blank manufacturers make them now. I've had them from Seeker Blue steel blanks, United Composites, Batson Rainshadow, NFC above, NFC has them to like 20-24 oz. lures. The good ones also work for umbrella, glide, swimbait and Alabama rigs.

Unless they have changed things, wouldn't that be their 6' 9" spinnerbait blank? A 7 1/2 ft. blank is usually designated as 764 if in feet, or 904 if in inches. Their catalog looks like the use the first one.

Did you try Google? They come in two sizes to fit a 13 or 15 mm reel seat. They are not full blown, everything in a package assembly, it's just the rear grip tube, you have to do your due diligence to get it done. That said you do know rod trim parts are pretty generic in sizes, you can take a Mudhole bling butt cap and put it on a NFC Soft Touch grip, same with a Batson butt cap I imagine. All will be 27 mm OD just like the opposite end that fits the standard reel seats to 18 mm, sometimes 20 mm.

The NFC is nothing like the Japanese assemblies that have been around for 15 years or so, the parts are available, I have seen them and built a few, essentially the whole system goes on the tube assembly and then it is attached to the blank. The NFC assembly is bulkier. The carbon tube assembly you put in the fancier reel seats is how the entire grip assembly fits in the reel seat of the assembly on the Shimano. I use the 4AXIS carbon tube grips which come close to 16 inches long.

If you just cut the epoxy and thread across the top of the foot of the guide, you can't hurt the blank, then just peel the rest off along with the thread, it not a very good adhesive so it comes off pretty easy. If you are putting everything back in the same place the epoxy patches will be covered with the new thread and not be a problem for you, just scrape them a bit smoother and you're done.

I would pick a swimbait blank over a flipping blank for that.

We were making BFS like rods back in the 80's to fish the small 1/8 oz. lures they came out with. If you are having a problem getting fish back to the boat BFS, there is a simple fix, go in and get the fish. You're not in a tournament, your just fishing, go get them. All of us fly anglers when we bass fish do it, we also had pushpoles like they use on the flats to silently put our boats in the weeds to cast. Mine when I bass fished with a fly rod was made from a wood closet rod and a foot I made out of a plastic furniture floor pad glued and screwed in place. Google what a Slider fly is.

If you replace the guides, you will have a Cone of Flight style rod like now, the guide closest to the tip, on its own will weigh as much as two of the low framed guides we use today, and it will stay lighter as you progress down toward the reel. Rods on the rack don't know what reel and mono size you will be using so they go big to compensate. The good custom rod builders haven't used a guide train like you have now, since the mid-80's when the Fuji New Guide Concept came out. Going to the new Fuji guides are no guarantee that performance will improve, a well-designed guide layout works just as well as any other, it's the layout, not the guides that make the difference, I myself have not had any problems with guide wrap so for me that is a non-issue. There is nothing new about guide height either, I have been using guides, easily available in similar high frames since the late 70's. Again, the layout is the important thing, not the guides, you can use what you want in that respect.

Most of my build selection is now blanks that are no longer made in rod or blank. My dropshot rod would be a SCV 5S76MLXF, it has a lighter, more sensitive tip than most DS do and at the same time more butt than blanks I have tried in similar line/lure ratings. If you had St. Croix SCV blanks in 5C70MF it is rated with a lure spread narrower than I would, I see no reason why 1/4 to 3/4 isn't within its realm and it will work with just about any lure within those specs, my selection for the rod I'd own if I could only have one, it's that good. The Rainshadow XBB 944 back bouncing blank would be one, you could jig fish a huge amount of species with it salt and fresh, higher modulus so its sensitivity is not an issue, throw swimbaits, CR, etc. again versatile, I also like the XBB 942, but it isn't really that different and it's long gone from the catalog. Lastly, the NFC 700 X Ray, trout, panfish, BFS, small stream bass, you name the light/smaller stuff it will make you smile be it presentation or prey size. Love the lightest Immortal popping rod blank for this also if you need a bit more butt to horse fish with, closer to NFC SJ703 power but being also a fly fisher, I really see no need to go that way, though I own both. You always think you need more if you haven't used less.

With the Sportsman Show season starting, Edge Rods being a priority for that and orders made there, your blank being at the back of the list if there was none available, and not enough orders have came in to place another batch in rotation when prior orders are ahead of yours, the info you requested may not be readily available, this is something I have seen from all blank makers, not just NFC, I have waited months from all of them, but I have also always gotten my product, not stiffed once.

I have a simple question for you, you're the maker of blanks, and you have them on sale and you have close to 200 blanks of all types in your inventory. The world is picking blanks from that selection, you have a payroll to meet, material costs to contend with, rent to pay, family expenses like everyone else. Do you choose to make a large amount of every blank in the hopes that someday someone will come along and buy everyone, while you rent warehouse space and pay taxes on the inventory, putting my business in the control of customer selection and whim, or keep inventory down, build what is needed when it is needed like the successful companies like Toyota, etc. in fact this concept is named after Toyota. If you want blanks when you order them, immediate service, you can get a hold of them and see if they can supply that, and you will gladly pay MSRP on every blank. You forget they also make other products and factory Edge Rods, all these are making a higher profit than selling blanks, don't believe me, why do most companies no longer sell blanks anymore? You're the customer, you want it, why can't you get it just for the asking? If you want variety, innovation, etc. you protect it, if you want Chinese products with old designs and carbons, then why did you even bother going to the NFC site? You could have a 10 dollar produced blank, pay 500% profit to the company and then be happy as a clam when they send you a new blank out of their large inventory they can afford on the profit and market share you are supporting. You can do either without telling us all about it.

Tried and true Batson RX7 rod blank that has been doing what you describe for 20+ years, the SW967. If you are interested an old review on calfishing.com goes over just your specs and the lures at that time the rod fished well. It is also a casting machine, I own two and use them for far more an bass fishing with great results. Blanks like this and salmon backbouncing rods were what the swimbait blanks were derived off of. You're doing yourself a disservice if you only fish bass with a swimbait rod.

The MBR 844 is an old design, originally probably mid seventies IM6 and progressed through the carbons, the GLX is close to 30 years old itself, and frankly the 843 and 844 have never been a favorite of mine, the 783 and 784 were just superior in my eyes. The 783 is night and day better than the 843. Your other rod has length on its side and is a newer design, it doesn't surprise me these two things make it a better rod in your eyes. Keeping the weight down as you go longer makes for a better rod, simple physics.

Nice blanks, use the same carbon as Stryker blanks, similar to some of the Batson products I think.

Depending on the type of reel seat you are using, how do you put an exposed blank reel seat such as a Fuji ECSM on from the back?

Weird how a name change can reinvigorate a blank design line, when Rogue was around many rod builders loved them, but couldn't get the public involved, now that some others have bought the mandrels and use the same materials to build SOME of the exact blanks, the most popular ones from what I see, they are the cat's meow. Don't get me wrong they are nice, but odd to this old rod builder that they have come from the ashes so successfully.

You can also ream a poly foam arbor split it and glue in place, giving you a uniform OD to work with, more economical and faster I would think than cork tape.

It's just an acrylic emulsion, not a finish, you should be fine.

Nothing stays the same in this world, when St. Croix was a minority holder in the company the company was run by the owner, quality and paint choices were his. St. Croix buys him out, now it's their choices. The previous owner of Rod Geeks is over at Rod Forge, he is not the owner but seems to bring experiences to the table they listen to. The owner is the gentleman who makes Temple Fork Outfitter products, he brought production to the US in a new state of the art production facility.

Didn't know Daiwa made custom rods or sold blanks.

The MB725 I have handled and fished a short time, I believe like the MB705 HM it is rated to 3/4 oz., I would not even go there on either rod, the 725 being the lighter powered of the two, my max. would be 1/2 oz. and the tip throws little, light stuff beautifully. The MB705 HM is no more than a 5/8 oz. rod, and stiffer tipped, not the light bait rod the 725 is.

The SJ703 is getting good press as a BFS rod.