This question will cross fishing with rodbuilding. I have an Abu Garcia reel that came with a rod I got a while back. I used the rod for experimentation when I discovered rodbuilding (now broken). I now want to use the reel again, but didn't want to spend a lot, so I got a CRB 6'6" IM6 blank in medium power. I chose to go a little heavier than what I was really wanting because I built up the light version for my daughter as my very first rod. That one felt more like an ultra light. It has 4 pound line on it, even though it's marketed as 6-10 pound class. Long story short, I expected the rod to be a little lighter weight than advertised.

Well I was wrong, the 6'6" medium version feels like it's closer to the advertised rating. I had intended using 8 pound on the reel, but feel like that's a little light for the blank. I contacted Abu, and was told this reel can put up to 8 pounds of drag, so I was thinking of throwing some 20 lbs braid with a 14 lb shock leader on. That would put my ideal drag setting at around 4-5 pounds. I'm kinda torn, because it's not really what I had in mind for this reel. I could buy a new reel for this blank, and a new blank for the Abu reel, but I'm kinda done adding to my spinning collection right now. I want to start making some baitcasters.

Would this be ridiculous to use a 2000 size reel for that line set up? With the diameter of the braid, I could fit about the same amount of braid as I would 8 lbs mono.

For what it's worth, I had to tie about 12 ounces to the tip to start getting a decent bend in the rod. This thing is waaaaaaaay slow too. I can't believe they market it as a fast!

Sorry if I'm rambling, I just want to get this reel back in commission.

I guess my first sentence was kind of a no duh...what I meant was that this question regards fishing just as much or more so than rodbuilding.

And when I say expected lighter weight, I mean suited for lighter weight line, not literally weigh less.

What lure weight are you using and what size fish are you planning on catching? If you are going to put the effort into building a rod for a specific reel and application make sure it's right. If the blank isn't what you want then put it on the rack and buy the right one. You don't want to regret building a rod. As far as cost there are many low cost quality blanks on the market. Check out mhx, rainshadow, American tackle, etc. Good luck.

Randy,
Simply put, it sounds like you have an extra heavy blank, no matter the marking on the blank.

If that is what you want, great - build the rod.

If you want a lighter blank, set this blank on the back burner - so to speak - and pick up a blank that matches what you want and then build the rod.



By the way, what is the size of the tip in 64ths of an inch.
What is the size of the butt.

Generally, the measure of these two dimensions will give you a ball park feel for the actual power of the rod.

I'll check that when I get home Roger. I know the tip is a 6.5. I checked it with the calipers but in mm, because I was ordering a new tip top. Decided to use a different guide.

Michael, my daughter has a rod that I built her up with the same blank in purple. I think when I was test casting I used a 1/2 oz and it cast really well. I'd guess .5 to be the norm, with the occasional .25 or .75 oz. This isn't going to be a purpose built rod, just a general freshwater/inshore rod, likely for bait rather than lures. I think the specs list the range as 1-2 oz. Haven't tested with that heavy yet.

Probably will go after some 4-6 pound blue cats, mid sized reds. Things in that range.

I guess all this is more about the rod though (now that I bought it)...the question I keep asking myself is, "do I really want to match it up with the reel I have on hand.". But like I said I don't really want spend any more time or money on spinning setups right now. I d like to build a glass casting rod for crabkbaits as my next project. Maybe one of the MHX or Rainshadows, I have built a couple on both those brands and have been pleased.

At this point I'm tempted to just replace the factory rod for $40 and move on to building some bait casters!

*EDIT* I don't know if this will work, because it looks like that is a plastic spool...NO THANKS! Working on finding a metal one.

Well I think I have a solution. I can build up the rod to work with this reel. A replacement spool is only about $7, so I can buy one of those and load it up with braid. Then I can either replace the factory rod from the combo or build a better one later. So I'd be able to use the reel with either setup. A ML/fast with the mono spool, and this stiff slow rod with the braid spool. And I wouldn't have to go buy another spinning reel for this rod! Win-win :)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/20/2016 12:13PM by Randy Weakley.