Rod Blanks

[smallstreams.co.za]

Some sites where you can look at rod blanks:

www.feather-craft.com
www.mrfc.com (Madison River Fishing Company)
www.cabelas.com
www.sage.com
www.mudhole.com (I know it sounds a little suspicious)
www.gatti-flyrods.it (Has anybody had any experience with these rods?)
www.templeforkflyrods.com

Hope this helps

You did indeed miss AA Outfitters! Also, if they don't have it on their site, Gene will probably be able to get it for you ... best place to get stuff imho.

Also, I've been telling people about Gatti for years now, and no-one listens. They are the next big thing I reckon. Cast one a few years ago (client from the States) and they are absolutely awesomely fantastic!!!

[Clintfly]

Gents...

Bear with me on this one... I don't know my @ss from my elbow when it comes to all the different types of blanks, compossition, (figuring out the action bit ok) etc...

I've found a guy who has a few "no name brand blanks"...
They are known as "IM6" blanks? They come in the following configurations:
906 4pc , 905 2 pc and 865 2 pc...
Am I wasting my time here for my first try at building a fly rod?
The gent sais they are medium action rods... Not "dogs"???

Please give me some guidance on this...
My current favorite F/fishing thing is Yellows on the Vaal. Now and again still water trout, and occasionally when getting the oppertunity, Salt...

Cheers,

Clintfly

[ShaunF]

Clint,

When I was looking into building my first rod, I was very sure I would mess it up and was thus very hesitant to spend a lot of money on a good quality blank.

I chatted to a couple of people who convinced me that I should not go for a cheap blank. The reasons for this are that you will spend probably in the region of 40 hours to build the rod. If you're going to spend this amount of time and effort, it may as well be on a good quality blank. Its no good putting in all that work and at the end of the day you have a mediocre rod you don't want to even fish with. Buy something you are going to want to use.

I'm glad I listened to this advice when it was told to me, because at the end of the day I now have a custom rod I am very proud of and that I absolutely love fishing.

Thats not to say you have to run out and buy a Sage blank. There are many good quality blanks out there, and many can be had for relatively cheap. Just do your homework and build something you know is based on a good blank, and use good components.

Even if you build a crappy rod perfectly, its still a crappy rod at the end of the day. Last thing you want is all the time and effort you put in to a project like this to be wasted because the rod stands in a cupboard somewhere gathering dust because it fishes like a broom handle or a piece of spaghetti !

Just to add, would be that for your type of fishing, I would go for a good 4pc 5 or 6wt rod blank. 2pc rods are a pain in the arse in my book.

My 2c.

[ShaunF]

Shaun

I mailed Derek as well, but never got a response. Is it possible to forward me the pricelist? Many thanks if possible.

My next rod ... one made of processed carrots

Mario, I don't have a full pricelist, only a quote for the specific stick and components that I am interested in. If you still want this, let me know and I'll forward the email through.

[Clintfly]

Hi Shaun... I'm all fired up man... Can't wait to get stuck in... Your rod looks a million bucks...
The most expensive rod i've owned was a Stealth extreame 5wt 3 piece and loved it. In comparison to the Sage... Sorry... there is no comparison...Lost my train of thought now.............
What i'm trying to get at is, I don't quite see how spending +- R5000 on a rod verses say R1500 is going to make me catch more fish. (or should I say, I'm trying to convince myself). In fact, when my rod was donated to the masses, I bought a 2-3wt explorer (or 3-4, cant remember now) and hell, that was great. (donated aswell)
I don't have R4000 - R5000 to spend on a rod right now, nevermind rigging it out with R2000 reel and another R600 line and backing. My SWAMBO will have a hystarectomy.
As you can tell, I'm green with envy and again, your rod is tops!

I see your point however, I think I need to meet this thing half way...

Do you know what is a "IM6" blank? or what other blank should I be considering?

Thanks for the advise. I'll be picking your brain lots when I get started!

Cheers,

Clint

[dpammenter]

Clint, as much as i agree with Shaun about buying the best you can afford, i didn't go that route. i bought the cheapest blanks i could get my hands on for this simple reason:

i cannot afford to screw up a nice, expensive blank.

it's not that i doubt my ability to build the rod in any manner, but rather a matter of getting a little experience before i move on to something bigger and better.

no, the blanks i've got are not great. no, the rod is not going to be fished often now that i've moved to JHB, and unfortunately (as Shaun mentioned and i agree with) it's a 2 piece rod. BUT, the experience i'll gain in building it will be invaluable when it comes to building the next one.

again, i do agree with Shaun. get the best you can afford. i'm sure i'll be kicking myself one day for not doing that

2c

[dpammenter]

the IM6 part is just the composition of the graphite and as far as i know, that's what all the rods are being made of now

if you really want to get technical, look here

[ShaunF]

Hi Shaun... I'm all fired up man... Can't wait to get stuck in... Your rod looks a million bucks...
The most expensive rod i've owned was a Stealth extreame 5wt 3 piece and loved it. In comparison to the Sage... Sorry... there is no comparison...Lost my train of thought now.............
What i'm trying to get at is, I don't quite see how spending +- R5000 on a rod verses say R1500 is going to make me catch more fish. (or should I say, I'm trying to convince myself). In fact, when my rod was donated to the masses, I bought a 2-3wt explorer (or 3-4, cant remember now) and hell, that was great. (donated aswell)
I don't have R4000 - R5000 to spend on a rod right now, nevermind rigging it out with R2000 reel and another R600 line and backing. My SWAMBO will have a hystarectomy.
As you can tell, I'm green with envy and again, your rod is tops!

I see your point however, I think I need to meet this thing half way...

Do you know what is a "IM6" blank? or what other blank should I be considering?

Thanks for the advise. I'll be picking your brain lots when I get started!

Cheers,

Clint

Hi Clint,

IM6 is the type of graphite modulus used in the blank. Typically a faster action type rod, but more brittle than lower modulus blanks.

Like I said in my previous post, I didn't imply you must run out and buy a Sage rod or something really expensive. There are many companies out there that produce quality blanks. The guys on the rodbuilding.org forums seem to swear by Lamiglass, Pacific Bay, American Tackle etc, and these can be had for very reasonable money. My point was, do your research properly and buy a decent quality blank that you will want to fish with at the end of the day.

What I would stay clear of though, are noname products. Rather stick to something you can at least judge how it should perform/behave based on experienced rod builders advice and experiences.

[dizzy]

I'm in the same boat! I'd love to build a rod, but there is absolutely no way I'm spending 5k on a rod I could stuff up.
Another alternative could then be the TFO blanks?
They are about 1/5 of the price of a Sage?
Not bad rods as I have a bought TFO Professional which is an awesome machine on the water.
So you could get away with spending maybe 1 - 2k on a fairly decent rod then?
Does anyone know if optimax bring in the TFO blanks?

[dpammenter]

I'm in the same boat! I'd love to build a rod, but there is absolutely no way I'm spending 5k on a rod I could stuff up.
Another alternative could then be the TFO blanks?
They are about 1/5 of the price of a Sage?
Not bad rods as I have a bought TFO Professional which is an awesome machine on the water.
So you could get away with spending maybe 1 - 2k on a fairly decent rod then?
Does anyone know if optimax bring in the TFO blanks?

Hi Dizzy,

i'm waiting for Adrian (from Opti-Max) to get back to me on prices for TFO 8 & 9wt rods, and the lenghts available