I have spent more time looking at this site than my wife in the last 3 months.  I have my rod wrapper built (thank you for all the great ideas) and ready to start ordering parts to make my first rod.  For my first rod I would like to make a Sturgeon Ice Rod.  Since I will be using this rod in a portable house and room will be tight I think I will build it to around 42” with a bait caster reel seat and 16” handle.  The rod needs to have a very soft tip but heavy backbone.  The 42.5” Rainshadow STUB50 E-glass heavy power, medium action blank I think would work if I sanded the tip some.  I am not sure if this is the blank I should go with.  I saw one other post about building a Sturgeon ice rod, but I don’t want to cut an 8’ blank down that far.  I have no problem trimming a blank, but not that much.  I am open to any suggestions or ideas.  Thank you.

Mike,
I have built a lot of heavy action rods for ice fishing and make them from 40-55 inches long depending on the client.

I only use one blank. i.e. the
[www.rainshadowrodblanks.com]

.385x.105x72.

This is a 6 foot solid glass blank that is virtually unbreakable. Do not trim anything from the tip. Trim only from the butt of the blank to get the length that you wish and you will be good to go.

In a rod of this sort, do NOT use a hollow rod. Only use a solid core rod to handle the stress and the cold temps that are encountered with ice fishing.

Be safe

Thank you for the great tip Roger. That blanks looks like it will work well for what I am doing. Since I may sometimes use this rod outside would you go with the size 10 tip that I read was suggested in a different post?

Mike,
Yes, that is what I use for all of the running guides and tip top for rods that will be commonly used out of doors in sub freezing weather.

On a rod of this sort, weight is a non issue. But on a rod of this sort, icing is an issue. With this tough rod blank and size 10 guides and tip top, the fisherman can beat the rod against the ice to remove ice on the guides. The rod and tip will take the beating and come back asking for more.

Tough to say to do this to a rod, but this is a real world and this is what the fishermen are going to do, to keep on fishing when the temp is dropping and the wind is howling. They don't have time to be delicate with their equipment. So, tough and unbreakable is the watchword for rods of this type.

Good luck

I also use that blank for Large lake trout rods and Bay of Quinte Walleye rods where the walleye grow to 15 lbs,

Rolly Beenen
Rovic Custom Rods