Surf Rod Blank
 

Hi Gang,

Need advise on a surf rod blank. I have an Uncle that fishes the Canal for Stripers in the summer and for Reds and Snook in FL in the winter and he has asked me to build him a rod. Looking of 10 - 10 1/2 ft Graphite or composite that will be used as spin caster. His reel of choice is the Penn 9600 Spin. He will be using 15lb mono throwing no more than 4oz of weight. He wants to use it for Bucktails and cut bait. I build rods but have never done a surf rod or done much surf fishing. Any suggestions on blanks choice will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks In Advance

Hank Aldridge
dragnfly14

Wells, ME

Added - Info - 2 pc rod

1 or 2 piece--- how could you live in Wells and not surf fish--I worked in Wells and lived in Springvale for a couple of years in the late 80*s and that was the best thing to do.Used to fish the outer bar off Parsons beach and caught a lot of 26-- 33 inch fish back when the size limit was( I belive) 34 or 36.Biggest school of blues I ever saw was off there also for sand eel hatch.smallest fish like 10-12 pound range and there were thousands of them.Biggest fish caught that day was like 23.5 by a guy from Kennebunk that weighed it on the beach.

Hi Bawana,

It will be a 2 piece rod. I fished off Parson's Beach some back then. Mostly flyrod and surf a couple of time. I became disabled and do to a accident and unable to walk any distance. Now I fish that area by boat. For some reason Parson's Beach seems to be the place that the Blues showup first.

Hank

Might be helpful to know how low in weight you wan to go.

I like the All-Star 1266 it's a 10 1/2 foot two piece rated for 2-5 oz. You can go a little lower but it doesn't load up well.

I'll have to check on that - I only acked about max weight.

Thanks
dragnfly14

I havent done the Allstar 1266-2 but I have the 1206-2 which is a 10 footer with a larger tip and it is one of my favoite blanks. I set it up conventional but I would think it would work equally as well is a spinning.

That 15 pound mono may be fine for reds in Florida but he won't get far using it on stripers in the Canal.

I use 15--17 pound mono in canal. Its a challenge and I see a lot of people now using like 85 lb braid.That aint fishing its wenching.Sure you have some break-off and some chaffing but I like to give fish a chance.I use ande 20 mono to bottom fish the slack or a limited amount of 30 braid(have it on one vs 250s).Was even using 15 ande back when fishing Parsons beach with my first lami GLB108m and 4500 bait runner.My oldest kid used to use a fresh water rod with 10 pound test and had a ball catching schoolies to like 26 inches.IT took a while to land them but we were there for fun.Some days you eat the bear and some days he eats you!

You aren't doing the fish any favors when you use too light a line. IMO , using too light a line is not "giving the fish a chance" Call it winching or whatever you want , once hooked , you want to get that fish in quickly and let it go.

Anyway , everybody gets to do it their own way. Enjoy.

I too release just about all( like 99%) but most I see using the heavier braid would rather be beaten with a stick then release a 28 inch fish and they look at ya like your crazy when you do.Bigger line tighter drag more damage to fish from him thrashing around.Use all circle hooks now to help with the swallowing problem.If they break off the hook rots out and they won there chance.IF it was do them a favor woud not fish for them at all. But like you said everyone gets to do it the way he wants.

The problem with lighter tackle; = generally longer fights and more stress on the fish (lactic acid build up, etc..) I think the hook damage is the same with light or heavy tackle.. I'm not ripping them in at 5 knots either, there is still some playing them with braid or mono...