Having not even recieved my power wrapper yet my son in Jacksonville wants a surf rod to mount the Avet LX reel I gave him for surf fishing the beaches where he lives. I got a few LX reels from a friend with the co and Ryan wants to upgrade from his spinning gear to try and improve his distance casting. I am thinking 11ft rod but am looking for ideas on best blank, guides, seat etc. Please keep in mind I am a novice here but I am spending time on this site daily reading and learning.Thanks everyone

If I may suggest, check out CUI Products, talk to Terry Stupp and tell him I sent you! I am somewhat new to this site as well and haven't figured out how to post pics, but if you private message me, I can send some to your email. I purchased 2 sets of surf rod blanks from him, two 12 foot 2 piece rods and two 14 foot 2 piece rods that I am making as we speak in Honey Yellow, but they also come in Black. I also bought all the eyes and tip tops, reel seats, EVA Foam to make the handles and butt caps and Terry was real easy to work with because I told him what I wanted and he sent an invoice to me so I could check it against what he had online to make sure it's what I wanted. I highly recommend him! By the way, it started with me wanting to buy two 16 foot 2 piece blanks but because of new "shipping restrictions" for every shipping company, it would have cost $230 just to ship the blanks so I opted for the 12 and 14 footer.

There is a long list of sponsors to the left that are more than willing to help you select the right parts and pieces for your project.

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If you want 11´try the American Tackle ATX Surf in medium and heavy power.
I use them for a long time with zero problems.

You might include whether this rod will be used more for bait fishing or casting spoons and plugs, and how much weight you intend to cast. This will enable contributors to offer more specific advice.

Thanks to all of you, oops Phil I forgot that info. This will be strictly a bait rod and throwing 3oz max I would guess from my times fishing with him. The Avet reel is serious overkill for what he catches on avg but with getting out further he could potentially get into shark etc

I would check out Anglers Workshop private label surf rod blank made in the USA by Talon.They have a 11’6” 1-3 oz 50/50 split 2 piece blank and being under 8 oz is fairly light.

Another blank is the Rod Geeks surf series, they have 1-4 oz rod 70/30 split 2 piece blank. I have a St Croix Avid surf which is very similar to these.

As for guides I like the Alps mxn in black or tich but also Fuji just came out their cc guide frames is matte silver that looks great with Alconite ring. Probably would go with a 20mm or possibly 25mm if the reel is wide going down to 10mm.

For reel seat 20 mm dps graphite but they also have a 20mm with trigger if that is preferred.

I fish bait in the surf around Ponce Inlet and usually use 4 oz. storm sinkers or sputniks [6 oz. when tide and surf combine] on an 11' rod and a Slosh-30 reel and a shock leader for casting.. I would advise an 11 or 11.5 foot rod capable of handling 3-6 oz. of weight. The physical weight of the rod is not too critical since it will spend most of its time in a rod spike. I would avoid a fast action rod for this application, and I would recommend erring on the heavy side of tackle. He's bound to hook blacktips, and it's not fair to play them to death.

If I didn’t already have my St Croix Avid 11’ that I built I would buy the Rod Geeks combo that has 2 tips one with s glass moderate action 2-6 oz and a stiffer Carbon 3-8. That right there would cover at least 60% of the fishing I do here in N.C. I have a made in USA All Star 1266 1-4 ,that now doesn’t supply blanks, is great for lures and light bait.

Is he fishing for pompano or bigger fish like redfish?

One of my all time favorite blanks that are exceptionally versatile are the St.Croix or Rod Geeks 10'6 2-6 oz medium heavy rated blank, both are built on standard modulus SC II graphite and handle the low end and high end weight range really well and are extremely lightweight . I strongly dislike the medium moderate rated Rod Geeks and St. Croix blanks as they are way too slow and bend way too deep for me but thats me , other like them.

The old Ben Doerr surf series ( Not the Ben Doeer Elite, the Elite were constructed of SC III material) , the Premier surf and now the Mojo surf all used the 10'6 medium heavy rated 2-6 oz blank. The Avid's are great but again not the moderate rated ones i like the fast action ones the best and the same applies to the Legend Surf which uses St.Croixs SC IV material .

Imo Rod Geeks blanks are some of the best bargains on the market since they are essentially the exact same as St. Croixs blanks just at a much lower price point and have a huge selection of surf rods.

Thank you everyone you have given me a lot to look into and I truly appreciate all of you sharing your experience with a want to be fun builder and learning together with my grandsons.