They have a couple 9' salmon / steel head rods that look to be a possibility for my future catfish rod. Judging by the weight and specs they look to be a good buy..

Any experience or thoughts?

Don't know which blank your talking about, but their fly rod blanks are great!

Have 2 MHXswb956 for stripers. Rod worked well stopping 30lber. Iwould not be afraid to use it for cats. Fast action with plenty of backbone. The other cat rod would be the same rod in a 7 power which would be stiffer. Good value for the $

The MHX series of blanks are, in my honest opinion, the best bang for your buck rod blank on the market. Their a very high quality blank, much more so on than their price points would indicate.
They're all I'll use anymore.

I've built on a few, not alot, and I really like the quality.

jeremy

All I use is MHX hi-mod blanks. Great rods. I agree with what Matthew said.

I like what little I have bought. However I don't think a steel head blank would the right choice for a cat fish rod. I look more towards a swim bait model.

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

I can't speak from experience about catfish blanks, but I built an 8.5' MHX steelhead blank for striper fishing. It's out in the field with the customer and I've had nothing but positive feedback on the rods abilities. It found it's way into the hands of another builder and he too has raved about how ell the rod casts and fishes.

Makes me think I better build on one for myself!

Well ...

I have built 3 of them for customers, the MHX1023, HS9000, and the SJ842. Two Salmon/Steelhead builds (casting) and one Trout build (spinning). All were very nice to build and easy to prep for applications. As for performance, all my customers called me on the phone form there favorite fishing spots and raved about how well the rods performed. I started using these when I first seen the advertisement from Mudhole. As a custom builder, I wanted to find a blank brand that I could call an equivalent to the $180 - $200 blanks but not have to pay that price and then charge my customers.

These Blanks I purchased were all under the $70 mark, and I set them side by side against another known named blank which cost in the ranges of $160. In my overview, the MHX blanks were in a better comparison to them cosmetically and overall feel. Static and load tests for guide placement were very easy, and the action stated on the blank were accurate to the tests for load. Application for finish was very easy, very little effort and the transparency look of the graphite through the color was excellent if not better than the blanks I have built thus far. It is in my opinion that you would enjoy building one of these and for the price and warranty they offer with the purchase! You could not be in better blank selection.

I have not experienced any warranty claims as of yet, but I can say there registration for the blank is very easy and quick! In fact the blanks come with there own information decal with stats and serial number on it. It only takes a minute to register and I do recommend you keep you receipt because they do ask for the purchase date of the blank, (you can get this from your order history with Mudhole online). In conclusion if your looking to offer your customers a valued blank and wanting to keep the build cost down this is a good option for builders of the craft to look at!

Good day! today folks

Rick H.

rwheil@msn.com

Website
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I would strongly recommend MHX blanks. If you have any questions about whether a particular blank would work for your application please call Mudhole direct and talk to one of their customer service people. They will have suggestions based on their personal rod building experience as well as feedback from their customers and pro staff builders. I have built a number of rods on MHX blanks and have received positive feedback from all my customers.

Be sure to register that blank serial number for warranty purposes.

Buzz Butters

I have 3 now and 2 more on order and plans to build more for my own use. so far they are great for the money or for any price they are still great rods

MHX and the Castaway Series from Lance at Swampland are both fantastic blanks. I can build on either of them, make a good profit and have happy customers. That's always a great combination.

I have built on the ST1143-MHX blank and am quite pleased with it. I haven't had a chance to use it yet (I built it for my fall trip to Alaska) but can tell you it would probably be a good cat rod for mid sized fish. It has quite a bit of back bone and I think it will be great at turning big trout and salmon in current.
They seem to be quite well constructed, especially for the low cost.
Can't wait to stick a big chrome Kenai silver in september on this bad boy. :)

Regards
Dave

Fishing is Life the rest is just Details

Well folks you just about have me sold. Now its just a matter of figuring out what blank to use

Here are the 2 that I was considering.... To give you a little info this rod will be used mainly on lakes or the occasional small river where fish dont typically break 10lbs - 15 lbs. They will be used from the bank throwing somewhere around 2oz of tackle and bait. Typically run braided line in the 15 - 20lb range.

I have a couple other rods I built and have been using that are in the 10-10.5' long range. They do the job fine but are overkill and pretty heavy. So this time I thought about building this one as light as possible, a little shorter, and ill use my bigger rods for the big rivers.

At first glance im sold on the first option. My concern is that its listed as Ex Heavy. I just dont think I need something that is Extra Heavy for sub 10lb fish.. but I may be wrong.

The 2nd is almost a winner but is listed as only being capable of throwing up to 1.75 oz bait. Thats right on the line of what I would typically throw so it may be fine.. Im unsure

Any suggestions.

SA1085-MHX
2
9'0"
4.12
15-30
3/4-2 1/2
Fast
Ex-Hvy
.621
6.5

SA1086F-MHX
2
9'0"
3.4
12-25
1/2-1 3/4
Mod-Fast
Heavy
.556
6
$77.00

If you are pretty much always throwing that 1 3/4 + range then I'd recommend getting the model rated up to 2 1/2 oz. I don't think I would get a model that tops out at what I regularly throw.

Regards,
Todd Vivian
Mud Hole Custom Tackle

todd@mudhole.com

Let me echo what others have said-these are nice blanks, not just nice blanks for the money. I've built two of them, both fly rods for myself. No doubt I will build more in the future. The registration and warranty features are nice-I can never keep up with receipts for a return years later. Mudhole took the pain out of that part of it.

I would err on the side of the heavier rod, and if you find it's too heavy (doubtful) it gives you an excuse to build another rod.


Drew

Drew Pollock Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Let me echo what others have said-these are nice
> blanks, not just nice blanks for the money.
> I've built two of them, both fly rods for myself.
> No doubt I will build more in the future. The
> registration and warranty features are nice-I can
> never keep up with receipts for a return years
> later. Mudhole took the pain out of that part of
> it.
>
> I would err on the side of the heavier rod, and if
> you find it's too heavy (doubtful) it gives you an
> excuse to build another rod.
>
>
> Drew

Well what about this... Since 9' is on the long side for what im looking to build what about taking 4-6" off of the tip of the lighter rod. I thought maybe removing from the tip would give me the slightly stiffer action desired.

Any thoughts?

Casey Abell Wrote:

> Well what about this... Since 9' is on the long
> side for what im looking to build what about
> taking 4-6" off of the tip of the lighter rod. I
> thought maybe removing from the tip would give me
> the slightly stiffer action desired.
>
> Any thoughts?



Sorry Casey-No idea. I've never caught a catfish, and don't expect to. Just me, but I would not chop off a part of the blank if you ever want warranty service. There have to be a ton of guys who fish for catfish, and I'll bet there is a great blank you won't need to cut parts off of, to do what you want.

Drew

A 7 1/2 -8 ft may be better. The shorter rod will give you more power to pull any big cats in.

Bill - willierods.com

I'll go back to my orig post. That swb 956 which is 7'11" or stiffer swb957 also 7'11" would work fine