I am having a friend build me a rod and he sugeested the Batson 1088 I mentioned above. I like to fish with large eels but I don't want a pool cue. I like to have some give with a good backbone, I need the give for distance casting. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
-Dave

Yes you can but not in the Canal.

The 1088 is nice and just soft enough that you won't de-jaw most of your eels - good eeling stick, decent backbone. Good for the canal? Maybe at slack ;) but not when it's honking (although I use my 1089 or 1088 at Pip's) - welcome to S-B!

30 years of buildin rods that my go to rod every time.

What would be the spacing for this blank, if its wrapped up spinning w/ reel seat 18-22" from the butt?

Krispy - what, no deflection test? If you don't get a rough spacing from anyone - I'll try to measure mine this weekend. You building a conventional or a spinner?

Spinning, the #'s will give me a good point where they should be. Thanks John

Sorry - mine are conventional - might be a bit off as the conventionals tend to have an extra guide or two.

From the tip , use 6, 13 , 21 , 30 , 40 . Thats just a place to start. tape the guides on and do the static deflection test to determine the final spacing. You give a range for the reel seat as 18 - 22. that's a big range. With that big a range on the seat , the above rough spacing guidelines is the best I can do.

tip......guide...........size,,,,,,your choice/////tip size8 tube, 10 ring

6........10...............12

143/4...12..............16

251/4....16.............20

391/2...25..............30

55........40...............40
real seat..# 18 fuji delux
//215/8 to the top of the seat from the butt

Thanks guys! I hardly ever fish the canal anymore.. I have moved to Westport and can't seem to travel long enough to get there without finding fish :). I just used the name to be consistent with SOL.

-Dave

Well then YES DAMMIT - it's an excellent rod choice.

What it offers is really the best bang for the buck in an all around eeling stick. Sure, you can specify your rod any way that you'd like for particular styles and locations and have 10 different rods but the 1088 does many thing well, not necessarily all great but it;s definitely pretty good... Just My Opinion ;)

Anyone have an opinion on the Batson 1088 blank?! No strong opinions on this board! How about the same Batson 1088 but for conventional? Probably with an Abu 6500C3. Reel seat size, guide size and spacing? I will be using this from the beach and from the boat so I like the reel at 20", a little closer to the butt than most recomendations. Capesams, it's one I got from you at Slip's get together.

I've been thinking of cork tape on the butt, maybe doubled up, with a 3M anti-skid tape overwrap, ala Loomis, finished off with a PacBay mushroom butt cap. Then a 5" cork foregrip. I have a stash of flor quality cork rings. I've done this on 3 rods and like the set up a lot. The anti-skid overwrap protects the cork tape when it is put in rodholders on the boat.

Thanks

assinippi - i use the 1088 Batson & 1089 pac bay sabre (soon to be replaced with Batson 1089) and like them both. I think the Batson is a nicer blank - and I use mine conventional with a souped up 6500 Mag Elite or with a Calcutta 400.

If I get a chance I can measure the guides but I'm pretty sure somebody has it on the top of their head :hihi:

As for that no skid tape, I'm not crazy about it. I did up an 8' St Croix spinner with that stuff and while I do like it somewhat and have gotten used to it, I thhink I like the feel of the cork better. But it is more surable than the cork..

I don't have any probs with the butt at 24" surf lenght in the boat. The biggest problem I have is that the Pac Bay mushroom caps don't fit in many boat rod holders - you may want to use a narrower profile butt cap than the mushroom.

:D thats the only set up I ever use. cork tape, trigger reel seat is a big plus. I like the cal. 400 best but also use 6500. 17# mono. for eveything.

I'm getting confused with the Batson lineup now. Is the Batson 1088 your talking about different then the Rainshadow 1088? Is it Graphite? I thought the Rainshadows were composite?

Same rod same maker they have 2% fibergalss

Thanks Mike!

BD - sorry about that but real men don't eat quiche or call their surf stick a "Rainshadow" :hihi:

Same thing Batson's just the builder

By the way - Batson has a little flash tour on how the blanks are built - interesting: http://batsonenterprises.com/blanktour.html

Thanks John... I thought that was the case. I got confused because I thought the Rainshadows were more of a "true" composite blank. As mike says, they're 98% graphite. I was thinking that maybe Batson had a composite line (Rainshadow) and a true graphite line. Now I know.