First time rod builder here,

I'm planning on building a rod for spring walleye run on the Detroit river, my choice of blank has been narrowed down the MHX Mag xf 6'3" mhxf, i believe this blank should do well with the 3/4 and 1oz jigs and I will be cutting the blank down to 5'6", i need help choosing guides and what size to run, this will be a spinning rod setup, right now I'm looking at the Fuji KL spinning kit but honestly I don't know what im looking at, any help is greatly appreciated

Thanks, Jim

Jim,
Good choice.
Since you are going to be doing spring fishing and since this is a short rod, I would make the guides no smaller than #6. A bit larger guide just makes things so much simpler.

I would use a size 20, 16, 10, and a couple of #6s to the tip with a size 6 tip. Easy and simple.

You don't need to use expensive guides and little to be gained by going to an expensive guide.

If you don't need a ringed guide, the Pac Bay mimia would work fine and be very inexpensive.

Otherwise you could go to any of the manufacturers less expensive ringed guide and be just as well off.

With a 5'6" blank, I would likely go with a 6-7 inch rear grip with no fore grip. I would use the size 17 american tackle Aero grip for good all day long comfort.

Enjoy the bite.

Be safe

Thanks Roger, the blank above listed is out of stock but a similar is, slightly larger butt and tip but i don't think this will hurt or affect me since I'm looking to handle heavy tackle, opinions?

What size tip is the new blank going to have.

The sensitivity of a jigging rod is all about the rod tip and the top 2-4 inches of the rod.

So, if you trim a longer blank to get your 5' 6" blank, please trim ONLY from the butt of the rod. DO NOT trim any thing from the tip of the rod if you still want a decent jig rod.

Working a heavy jig over the side of a boat that does not have a wide gunnel makes a lot of sense to use a shorter 5'6" rod since there will be a shorter lever action and thus easier to jig for 10-20 hours a day.

Remember, often, jigging at midnight is often the best time to catch fish.

Good luck

What size tip is the new blank going to have.

The sensitivity of a jigging rod is all about the rod tip and the top 2-4 inches of the rod.

So, if you trim a longer blank to get your 5' 6" blank, please trim ONLY from the butt of the rod. DO NOT trim any thing from the tip of the rod if you still want a decent jig rod.

Working a heavy jig over the side of a boat that does not have a wide gunnel makes a lot of sense to use a shorter 5'6" rod since there will be a shorter lever action and thus easier to jig for 10-20 hours a day.

Remember, often, jigging at midnight is often the best time to catch fish.

Good luck

The tip goes from 4.5 to a 5mm tip

Lots of Good Blanks out there, If your a Detroiter or live downriver, I would go to Jann's were ya can touch and check them out, And you can get all your bits and pcs their as well!! And get some input from the experts, It's not that far of a drive. Cheers Jaa [www.jannsnetcraft.com]

Another blank to consider would be an Rainshadow Immortal IMMWS62MXF. While the weight rating doesn't go up to 1oz it handles a 1oz jig just fine in a vertical jigging situation. I wouldn't cut it though.

How do you like to hold the rod? Do you like to hold in front of the reel or have the reel stem between your fingers? When vertical jigging I hold in front of the reel. I use the FUJI VSS real seat in a down locking position using a SKS hidden thread hood with a short fore grip. There are no spinning reel seat threads to get in the way and I can hold in front of the reel and touch the blank if I desire.

Even though you are not casting, I'd setup the guides using the KR Concept to keep it light...FUJI KLH or PacBay Minima will work. See here [anglersresource.net] for advice on guide sizes and setting up a KR Concept build.

Above is what I use jigging the D, Sag River, and the Lake Erie reefs.

That is my normal, most comfortable to me way of holding the rod while jigging, using a different medium action before i had a tough time feeling bottom, as In the tip was already flexed enough I lost my feel, i see alot of guys talking about this rainshadow blank though

The Immortal is a very light weight and sensitive blank. It will load up a bit with 1oz. but not too much in my opinion (I also rarely fish 1oz...mostly 3/4 oz and under). If too much flex is a concern the MHX blank appears to be slightly "beefier"...not by much though. I've been very impressed with all the MHX blanks I've built on and use them often.

I'd like to try a Rod Geeks C460MHF to see how it'd stack up. It's a fast instead of extra fast action but seems to check the other boxes.

Admittedly I have extremely limited experience vertical jigging. I've vertical jigged 1/2 oz and 3/4 oz blade baits for smallmouth, but that's it. With that said, the specs for the MHX MB753XF (if that's the blank being considered) sure seem under powered for the type of weights being talked about.

That, and surprisingly to me, there has been no mention of the power loss that is going to accompany taking 9" off that blank. My guess is that it is going to be VERY substantial. With the weights being talked about, I'd be looking for a much more substantial blank. Something with a 3/8 - 1 oz weight rating. It just seems that the blanks mentioned don't have the guts in the upper third to handle those kind of weight. Hate to see you build a rod that isn't going to work for the purpose you intend it to.

But ..... like I said........ vertical jigging is something I rarely do.

I have two 5 1/2 ft. Lamiglas Certified Pro. jigging blank rated 1/4 to 1 oz.

Hey Jim, Curios what you blank you ended up Narrowing it down to?? Tight Lines Jaa