Just got an invitation to go Walleye fishing this June. I haven't used anything but fly rods for fishing for years, but I will be fishing leaches on a slip bobber from a boat, so need to build a rod. From what I have read, a 7' - 7'6" rod should do. I think light to medium power and moderate to fast action is what I'm looking for but I'm open to suggestions. I have looked at Mudhole (my normal supplier) and the MHX series has blanks that should work, but I'm open to any and all suggestions.

Not only haven't I fished a spinning rod in many years, but I haven't built one ever. Guide spacing is pretty straight forward, and the reel seat is understandable, however there are a lot of new styles that I don't remember seeing 30 or so years ago. But the big question I have is the cork handle dimensions. How long should the handle sections be for a 7' - 7'6" rod.

Any suggestion on blank specifications and handle sizing would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

A couple that come to mind, Rainshadow IP903, or IP903F two piece on sale at Schneider's in the Hot Specials. HS9000 & HS9001 RX7 hot shot blanks.

A couple that come to mind, Rainshadow IP903, or IP903F two piece on sale at Schneider's in the Hot Specials. HS9000 & HS9001 RX7 hot shot blanks.

Thank you. Apparently their site is down. My service can't seem to find it. I'll try again later.

Just tapped the Scneider's site to the left, everything was fine.

Hmmm, Cox is having some difficulties, not sure why, but I was able to access the site. However, I wasn't able to fine the Hot Shot recommendation. The Rainshadow looks good however.

For a slip bobber I prefer a 6.5 foot medium blank with a moderate to fast action, paired with larger guide rings to allow the bobber stop to go through the guides with little resistance. i usually use split grips on my rods. I like them more than a standard grip but it is just a personal preference.

I am by no means an expert but almost all the summer rods I build are geared toward walleye jigging and bobbering.

Used a "MHX S782 Spinning Rod Blank" for a dedicated jigging rod paired with micro guides for 1/8 ounce to 1/4 ounce jigs and it is by far my favorite of all my build to date.

Used a "MHX CS722 Cast/Spin Rod Blank" for a jigging and bobber build for my dad and he loves it for everything from pitching jigs in the spring to jigging rapalas in the late fall

[www.jannsnetcraft.com]

this is a reasonable priced blank and makes a good all around walleye rod if you want a 1 piece rod
I have made 3 on this blank and 2 I kept at 7 ft. for and cut 6 off the butt end for the heavier jigs used with 4-6 inch plastic jerk minnow tails.
good fishing

The best day to be alive is always tomorrow !!
Think out side the box when all else fails !!!
Wi.

Actually Matthew's recommendation would be a pretty good one. Also, the other popping rod that they are selling for $48 - which is a 7'6" blank would also be very good.

One advantage of the longer blank is the ability to cast your leech further from the boat or shore if you need the distance.

For a 7 foot rod, I would use at least an 8 inch rear grip. For the 7'6" blank, I would use at least a 9 inch grip and possibly a 10 inch rear grip. Any fore grip is optional. A nice trim piece of grip that is 2 inches long is nice.

If I were building it, I would use Pac Bay minima guides.

I would go with a size 20 match guide, Than a size 16 sv, a 10 sv and size 6 F guide runners to the tip with a size 6 tip to allow for slip bobber knots.

A nice reel seat to use with this rod is the size 17 Aero Grip. Make the reel seat down locking and cut a tenon into the front of the rear grip to slip nicely into the rear of the Aero reel seat. Very comfortable and sensitive reel seat.

I would imagine that I would have a total of 7 or 8 guides on the 7 foot rod. I would imagine that I would have a total of 8 or 9 guides on the 7'6" rod.

A popping rod makes a perfect slip bobber rod, because it has plenty of beef in the butt section to really get good distance with the weight of the bobber, but the light tip, helps to keep from pitching the bait off the hook or jig on the cast.

Good luck and good fishing.

Thank you everyone. All good suggestions. I am leaning toward the split grip approach myself. Thank you Roger for you instructions. As usual very informative. I look forward to the build, and the fishing trip.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/08/2017 12:29AM by John Wright.

A typical split grip might have a 2 inch long butt section and a 4 or 5 inch rear grip behind the reel seat. I would still make the distance from the butt of the rod to thee rear of the reel seat at 8 inches for the 7 foot rod and 9 inches for the 7'6" blank.

i.e. keep the butt section at 2 inches and the rear grip at 5 inches and increase the space between the front of the butt section and the rear of the rear grip as needed to insure the spacing of the rear of the reel seat to the butt of the rod.

Good luck

The 7 ' 2 " Immortal walleye blank is a nice blank, very affordable now. Take some 4 " swim baits and 1'4 oz bullet jigs with you and snap them off the bottom. You may be very surprised how effective that aggressive technique is on walleyes.

I'm not sure what function a "rear grip" has on a split grip spin rod. [www.rodbuilding.org]

Hot Shot blanks are seen under universal blanks on the Schneider site.

As you pretty much hold a spinning rod on it's reel seat, I agree with Michael. Unless you'll be putting the rod in a rod holder at times, a rear grip on a split grip spinning rod can be, as Michael's link shows, nonexistent. I've only built two spinning rods, each of them with split rear grips, and I made the grip against the reel seat 2 1/4" long, and that is more than long enough.

Also, since you do hold a spinning rod on the reel seat, and the seat can be installed either up locking or down locking, I wouldn't base my rear grip length using one end of the seat or the other. I'd base it on where the reel's stem is at when installed in the seat. I'm thinking about 14" from butt to stem would be a good number on a 7' rod. Slightly more on a 7'6" rod.

If you are going to be doing light finesse, like leeches on a jig, then a really comfortable, sensitive , setup is to upock the seat so that you can build an epoxy coated foam ramp off the front of the reel seat hood. Make it about 1/16 inch smaller in diameter than the hood so that you can easily place epoxy up against the shoulder provided by the front face of the seat hood, use 3 or 4 coats of epoxy for topcoat. Before doing that make sure there are no voids left unfilled in the foam and that the foam to blank interface is completely filled with epoxy. See the link on my previously posted link. Also consider a size 17 seat, better ergonomics than a 16 for almost all hand sizes.

Michael,
I have to say that for myself, the rear grip provides comfort as well as bracing for the palm of the hand.

I would personally never build a spinning rod without a rear grip to ease the stress on the hand during long periods of use.

Rather than having the grip get smaller as it leaves the reel seat, I prefer it to get larger so that you have a nice "ball" to fill your palm for maximum comfort and sensitivity.

If it works for you, that's the way to do it. I guess my hand never grips the rod in that area. I agree that if you're going to grip it, bigger is better.

Depends on the presentation that doing, but this is what I personally use for Walleye.

For Bottom bounce I built up the RainShadow REVELATION REVC76M - [www.rainshadowrodblanks.com]

For top water I used the RainShadow REVELATION Crankbait REVCB76M - [www.rainshadowrodblanks.com]

7'6" to 8' rods would be perfect length for the above.

James Taylor
Batson Enterprises
BatsonEnterprises.com | RainShadowRodBlanks.com | ALPSForeCast.com | Build2Fish.com

James Taylor Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Depends on the presentation that doing, but this
> is what I personally use for Walleye.
>
> For Bottom bounce I built up the RainShadow
> REVELATION REVC76M -
> [www.rainshadowrodblanks.com]
> velation-bass-casting/
>
> For top water I used the RainShadow REVELATION
> Crankbait REVCB76M -
> [www.rainshadowrodblanks.com]
> v-bass-crankbait/
>
> 7'6" to 8' rods would be perfect length for the
> above.

Top water walleye?

_________________________________________
"Angling is extremely time consuming.
That's sort of the whole point." - Thomas McGuane



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/09/2017 04:13PM by Chuck Mills.

Chuck Mills Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> Top water walleye?

Trolling with small Crankbaits - a faster trolling than bottom bounce. Depends on water conditions of course and a shallower area as well as night time. Learned about it from a cousin who's a walleye guide here in WA, which he proved to me.

Bottom bounce typically is more productive though.

James Taylor
Batson Enterprises
BatsonEnterprises.com | RainShadowRodBlanks.com | ALPSForeCast.com | Build2Fish.com