Light Marabou jig blank for smallies

[Lyman X]

Need I look further than St. Croix  SCV76MLXF? I'm usually building on blanks that cost about 1/2 that, so out of my league here. All suggestions welcome. Thx guys. 

[spoonplugger1]

No specs, location or presentation needs given, how would we know? What do you need vs what you can live with? The 5S76MLXF is a very specific actioned and tip powered blank.

[MickD]

What does "tip powered" mean?   If it's medium light power AND XFast action the tip has to be pretty soft. 

 

The title of the post stated a rod for maribou jig fishing-I don't think for me I would go that long and ML-fast would be my preference.  SCV blanks are terrific blanks.  Many on this forum really love the 7 foot SCV medium light fast.   I use the 7 foot SCV medium fast for tubes, mostly 3/16 oz jig weight plus the tube and it's ideal.  I think a little lighter power would be right for maribou jigs which probably would be a little lighter.

 

But as I always say, you cannot have too many rods.  If you build it you will find a use for it, and being an SCV, it will excel.

[spoonplugger1]

The 5S76MLXF has an extremely soft tip compared the the standard St. Croix designs. Similar shaped, but more powerful tips were built into the Shikari P, IP, and PP 7000 blanks, and the G Loomis P8400. It has a soft ultralight like tip that has an abrupt shutoff. Many years ago Tackletour did a review of the finished rod.

[MickD]

Agreed.  So calling it "tip-powered" seems misleading.  What many don't realize is that if a blank has an XF action, the tip has to be softer/less powerful than a blank of the same power that is a Fast action.  Too bad we don't have universal use of CCS.

[cueball]

I assume that he OP is throwing 1/16 to 1/8 oz marabou jigs for smallmouth bass.  There are other options than the SCV576MLXF.  Get Bit Outdoors has their Liberty Series Drop shot blanks.  Mudhole has the NSJ870 and NSJ871 MHX Elite X blanks.  Elliott Rod Blanks has 73LF, though it is currently out of stock, and a 73MLF.  Rainshadow IMMWS72MLF is another blank, similar in power to a SC ML that would work.  NFC also has several options.

 

Blanks that are good for this technique will typically be on pricey side because they are long and to get a lightweight blank that has good recovery they will most often be built with higher modulus material.

[DogBone_384]

On 10/14/2021 at 9:26 PM, MickD said:

as I always say, you cannot have too many rods.

Tell my wife!

[HaydenS]

1 hour ago, DogBone_384 said:

Tell my wife!

Tell my parents!

[spoonplugger1]

There are blanks that when I bought the last ones over 5 years ago would have fit the bill, "similar" light tips, but also just a bit less power in the butt I think, but they deserve note. The MHX SJ9000, comes one, or two piece. Another one from MHX, longer, but very similar, the HS9600-MHX. In my opinion worthless as a hot shot rod unless you are pulling the size 70 minis for trout, they match up best in lure ratings, 1/16 - 3/8 oz., I wouldn't use them as my 3/8 rod, a joke in line ratings to other hot shot blanks rated for the same line from G Loomis, or Raindshadow. Again a bit less butt than the St Croix I think, but I think they would get the job done. Of course right now they may be hard to find at Mudhole, but one of the dealers may have one, I got mine at Angler's Workshop.

[Lyman X]

Yes, I should have mentioned 1/16-1/4 and has to be 7'6". I ordered the St. Croix. My other choice would have been the MHX SJ9000 at 1/2 the price and life warranty. When my son gets it for X-mas he won't believe I spent the money. Lol. (I can promise you this is the most I ever spent, or very likely ever will spend on a blank. (go ahead, call me cheap, I can take it) I'm nearly at the end of the road building rods for him, his rod locker's about full! If Elliot had a 7-6, I would have bought one. I've built him 4 rods on their blanks and he's very happy with them. I have an Elliot 6'10" MLXF sitting here I was tempted to extend, But didn't want this one to be a Frankenstein with unnecessary weight added. Thanks very much for the replies. ( If Point Blank had the right one, that would have been my first choice)

[papajoe222]

If he doesn't love it, send it to me. I've been looking to build a casting rod with this blank, but haven't pulled the trigger.....yet.  Yea, I'm cheap too.

[Chris Catignani]

On 10/18/2021 at 2:13 PM, Lyman X said:

...I ordered the St. Croix. My other choice would have been the MHX SJ9000 at 1/2 the price and life warranty. When my son gets it for X-mas he won't believe I spent the money. Lol. ...

You'll be happy with that blank.

[dv616]

I LOVE the St. Croix 70MLF rods.  This thread reminded me that I have wanted to try the 76MLXF too.  For those that have both, is there a big difference?  Looking at the Tackle Tour reviews of each and the chart, they look VERY similar in how the tip loads.  

 

[spoonplugger1]

dv616,

You need to look at the load chart again, the tip load section of the graph's first value is 2 oz for the 76 MLXF and 4 oz for the 70 MLF, the tip is far lighter on the 76MLXF, it is light enough to throw lighter lures well, is more sensitive because of the decreased tip mass in the blank, an also light enough to give you a visual bite indication that the fish doesn't feel as resistance because it is only their gill flaring to suck in the bait that you see. It is a completely different blank from anything you have used, or seen before. I love mine.

[MickD]

I'm sure you're going to love the rod you build on the SCV blank.  I'm doing some work that is revealing the true natural frequency of rod blanks and rods.  Most experts believe that sensitivity is proportional to true natural frequency (no weight added to the blank when tested in order to get the frequency down-true natural means just tweak it and measue its natural frequency).  What it has shown so far is the SCV is one of the highest natural frequency blanks out there.  Among the best.  And I have not found blanks that cost less to be as high.  So you are  in fact getting good value  for your extra investment.  At least I haven't found the outlyer to that yet.

[dv616]

Based on the graph, the readings are very close at 2, 4, and 6 oz. But any 8 oz and above the 76mlxf is more powerful.  But, now that I have the blank in hand (only flexed it against the floor a few times so far) the tip does feel lighter than the 70MLF.  It seems to have a faster shut off than the shorter St. Croix MLXF’s I have handled at the stores before.  It is a unique blank for sure.  I have not encountered this blank on a store rack (at least not in a long time so I can remember the properties).

[MickD]

I'm sure you're going to love the rod you build on the SCV blank.  I'm doing some work that is revealing the true natural frequency of rod blanks and rods.  Most experts believe that sensitivity is proportional to true natural frequency (no weight added to the blank when tested in order to get the frequency down-true natural means just tweak it and measue its natural frequency).  What it has shown so far is the SCV is one of the highest natural frequency blanks out there.  Among the best.  And I have not found blanks that cost less to be as high.  So you are  in fact getting good value  for your extra investment.  At least I haven't found the outlyer to that yet.

 

Whenever you have two blanks with the same power the XF action blank will have the less powerful tip.  Has to be in order to make it XF.  

[Lyman X]

Mick, Been away a bit. I have started building this rod and yes he will indeed love it! Any advice on how to apply the rod spec. decal?  It's a about 3/8" high x 3" long white lettering on clear background, on a light blue backing sheet.

[MickD]

Peel and stick, right?  Many builders recommend putting it onto an initial coat of epoxy.  Avoid touching the adhesive because you won't be able to eliminate a little distortion from the fingerprint.  Carefully align it before placing it (yes, hard to accomplish, be patient).  Once it's down I always put the backing paper on top of it to protect it, then vigorously rub it down with a burnishing tool to make sure it's really stuck tightly with no voids.  Then I apply a thin coat of CP on the edges to prevent any possible lifting that could be caused by the top coat of epoxy.  Since CP dries quite rapidly it doesn't seem to attack the edges like the longer-curing epoxy sometimes does.  It will be invisible under the epoxy.

[Lyman X]

Thank you very much Sir! I plan to lift it from the backing sheet with scotch tape at each end and position it. Will use epoxy base coat and CP. Thx, Lynn

[dwtaylor]

I have this sv 7'6"mlxf blank I built into a hair jig/small tube rod and the tip is quite light as mentioned.  I dont throw hair jigs a ton but do use this rod for that purpose from time to time.  Works great for that but use it mostly for light ned rigs and 2-3/4" tubes with 1/8 to 3/16 jigheads. 

 

Reach out to Matt Stefan (MLF/FLW pro) about what he uses in the MHX line.  The scv blanks are a little overkill IMO for hair jigs.

 

[MickD]

1 hour ago, dwtaylor said:

The scv blanks are a little overkill IMO for hair jigs.

I'm interested in why you've  come to this conclusion.  I'm able to measure the true natural frequency (no weight added to the tip to slow them down for easier counting) of blanks, and the SCV blanks are among the higher natural frequency blanks, so their recovery time will be faster than most blanks.  I think this should translate into a little longer casts than lesser blanks.  For me, casting distance is an issue with light hair jigs which catch the wind more than something like a Ned of the same weight.

[dwtaylor]

3 hours ago, MickD said:

I'm interested in why you've  come to this conclusion.  I'm able to measure the true natural frequency (no weight added to the tip to slow them down for easier counting) of blanks, and the SCV blanks are among the higher natural frequency blanks, so their recovery time will be faster than most blanks.  I think this should translate into a little longer casts than lesser blanks.  For me, casting distance is an issue with light hair jigs which catch the wind more than something like a Ned of the same weight.

Its a top of the line blank for a technique which doesn't require top of the line performance.  Op requested something a little less costly as they build on blanks half the price.  

 

I actually just bought a revelation revs76ml on a black friday sale this morning that I am going to try as well but I wont know how well it performs until next season.

 

[dv616]

Next time I place an order, i will need to add an NPS 20 to try.  I wish Cabelas still carried some supplies.  It is a pain that everything is online orders.  

[MickD]

15 hours ago, dwtaylor said:

Its a top of the line blank for a technique which doesn't require top of the line performance.  Op requested something a little less costly as they build on blanks half the price.  

 

I actually just bought a revelation revs76ml on a black friday sale this morning that I am going to try as well but I wont know how well it performs until next season.

 

Thank you.  Revelations are very good blanks for the dollar, IMHO.