Any particular application you build or like fly blanks built as spinning rods, and what fly blank do you prefer for it?

Thanks - Marc

Keep it simple - that's all I can handle!

A common application that client's request for a fly rod, is for a "dead stick" or "noodle rod" style fishing.
This is where the boat is out in the lake over some very negative fish, and a live bait is attached to a hook or jig and the live bait is suspended in the area of the fish. A long limp rod gives the ultimate bite detection for these very negative, light biting fish - to be able to be caught when conditions are very tough.

The weight and length of the fly rod blank is dependent on the amount of weight required for the fishing style and the length - normally longer is better - gives the fisherperson the time to get to the rod and work the fish, before the fish feels any resistance from the rod.

Be safe

Built quite a few in the 80's and early 90's for guys wanting 4 piece rods for Alaska and similar areas, we all started out thinking the blanks were more powerful than they turned out to be in the real world and had to step up into the saltwater sized blanks to get what we were looking for. Ultimately we ended up starting at a 9 wt, and going as high as we could find them. Lamiglas IM 700 blanks were the most popular as the tips weren't as stiff as the old IMX G Loomis blanks. There were a few Powell and T & Ts thrown in also.
The ones that really stand out was a sweet 7 wt. T & T spinning rod 10 ft. long that was used as a ultralight steelhead rod, and all the rods built on the Lamiglas Bluewater composite fly blanks. The Lamiglas composite blanks were just 4 piece meat rods that you could use to throw or strip your fly back into the teasers with, nothing about them was light, or delicate and they had a lot more power that other similar blanks I've used. Made nice salmon drift rods and could even be used for mooching and trolling, the 12 and 15 wt. blanks were the most usable.
One problem I noticed was the fly blanks for the most part weren't particularly accurate as gear rods, any presentation where you just had to hit the water were fine, more precise work, not so much.
The Lamiglas Bluewater fly blanks were fine gear rods, made me think they just designed some nice salmon/steelhead gear rods, two 8 1/2 ft drift rods and an 8 ft. back bouncer, cut them up and added spigot ferrules and called it good.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/29/2016 11:13AM by Spencer Phipps.

7 1/2 foot AmTac Matrix 3 wt for panfish, casting very small/light cranks.

8 1/2 foot 6 weight Rainshadow RX 6 for light jigs for bonefish.

For some, but not all manufacturers, building a spinning rod on a fly blank voids the warranty. If blank warranty is an issue check first before you buy. Otherwise go for it.

Donald,
I read your post and can understand what you are saying.
But, just from a point of curiosity - why would building the fly rod as a spinning rod or casting rod void the warranty?

I would think that a cast, is a cast is a cast. I would think that catching a fish, is catching a fish - no matter the blank.



Just wondering.

Be safe

The only reason I have built 3 rods so far on fly blanks was that the blanks were 4-piece and therefore highly packable. Still, the end result is quite nice. I used only Rainshadow RX8 blanks, assuming that they will be sufficiently fast in action and cheap to buy, as they have been discontinued.

The first one I built used an XF865-4 blank i.e. 8'6" 5wt. The end result is a moderate action approx. 6lb (maybe a bit more) rod, which will comfortably cast up to 1/4 oz. I use it for perch, chub and ide, all of which prefer a rod, which is somewhat noodly.

Next came XF9010-4 9' 10wt. Now this was a major surprise: it ended up being a nice 12lb 3/4 oz. steelhead spinning rod with mod-fast/fast action. Actually its power seems to be more than 12lb.

Number three is XF908-4 9' 8wt. Reminds me quite a bit of Rainshadow IST1082F in terms of everything, bar the number of sections.

Instead of going to the trouble of building a hybrid rod have you considered using circle hooks? Not only do circle hooks greatly reduce mortality in released fish but I find my hook-up to bite ratio improves considerably when I use circle hooks.

Instead of going to the trouble of building a hybrid rod have you considered using circle hooks? Not only do circle hooks greatly reduce mortality in released fish but I find my hook-up to bite ratio improves considerably when I use circle hooks.

Roger

I'm with you - a rod is a rod and a blank is a blank regardless of whether a blank is built up as a spin, fly, cast, etc.

My guess is that absent the wide adoption of Common Cents or similar standard quantifiable blank description, folks assumed (and incorrectly so) that an X weight fly rod blank was the equivalent of a Y spinning rod for a specific lure and line weight combination with the not so surprising result being a broken rod returned with a warranty claim for blank replacement. I sort of understand a blank manufacturer's position when someone builds up a spinning rod for the surf on a 3 weight fly rod and thinks the blank defective when it breaks,

Roger, the reason the warranty is voided is that the provider of the warranty says so. I think it has to do with more than just building a spin off a fly blank. It's just a general rule to protect the manufacturer from all the funny stuff we builders could do with a blank. Not to worry, you can do this with some pretty inexpensive blanks that perform very well for this application.

They can be a lot of fun. I like to build them for Ultralight applications. A couple that stand out as spinning rods are the Rainshadow RX-6 662-4 it's actually a very durable ultralight. I almost cried when my customer told me he "made a circle" out of the rod on a 15 pound carp. The lightest Ultralight that I have built is a 7'6" CTS vintage series fly blank in a 0wt. The guy targets big bluegills and redear and likes to play his fish. But something like this is not for the light at heart (especially with the cost of a CTS blank). That being said for both of them, even your fast action fly blanks will flex much deeper into the blank. A word of warning, don't build a fly blank if you don't care for moderate to slow actions on your spinning rods. They do have their place for folks who like the "noodle" type rods. I do love those RX6 blanks for durability and very good price point.

Me too - the RX6 are top of the heap for spinning rods from fly blanks - first for durability, second, the tips tend to not be over soft, but the over-all action is moderate.

Thanks All!

Thanks - Marc

Keep it simple - that's all I can handle!

I was building a lot of spinning rod using ALL STAR AUSTIN(TITANIUM)fly blanks 8' W 4,W 5+extension for fishing on jigs white bass with FIRELINE ORIGINAL SMOKE 4 lb.+4 lb.fluorocarbon leader.
I was lucky to buy some ALL STAR AUSTIN fly blanks ,before SHAKESPEARE destroy the ALL STAR COMPANY.
Fishing below the LIVINGSTON DAM on TRINITY RIVER ,TEXAS with this rods i was able to catch and 15 Flathead catfish,15 lb. long nose garfish,15 lb. buffalo carp and over 15 lb. paddle fish ,fault hooked on 1/32 oz. EAGLE CLAW HOOKS.
Is sad but today you can't find this ALL STAR AUSTIN fly blanks.
For fishing in salt water at ROLLOVER PASS,BOLIVAR PENINSULA ,TEXAS ,i was building some spinning rods on ALL STAR AUSTIN (TITANIUM) fly blanks +extension.
I DON'T FISH WITH SHORT FISHING RODS,just with rods over 10 '.The biggest fish catch by me ROLLOVER PASS,one 40 inch,23 lb.red fish(C&R) using on 16'4" telescopic rod build by me on TRIANA GRAND SLAM VHS , graphite pole made in ITALY by GABRIELLE TUBERTINI.
i was fishing on jigs with GULP MINNOW GRUB 3" chartreuse ,FIRELINE ORIGINAL SMOKE 4 lb.+14 fluorocarbon leader.

I'm with you on the blank is a blank, but when you build a fly rod your grip(s) and reelseat take up maybe 12 inches or so of the butt, build it into a steelhead/salmon gear rod you have a 12 to 14 inch rear grip, a 4 - 5 inch reelseat, than a foregrip. This places the end of all this where you see all the fly fishermen putting their other hand on the rod under a heavy load just before it blows up on them. On a gear rod blank the diameter is larger ususally and the wall thickness heavier in this area, I think that adds the bit of durability needed to handle the long grip.
The 1141 steelhead blank built by anyone isn't built like a similar power fly blank of the same length. Cut rhe blanks up in 6 inch pieces and measure the diameters and wall thickness I think you'd see quite a difference.

Great point, Spencer. I agree.