Cutting a Blank

[reviveourhomes]

I have a question, im wanting to make a rod for the small mountain streams I fish like Sea creek, rock and cooper. They have alot of bank brush and over hanging limbs so i want to make a short rod. Well the shortest i can find is a 6'6" which is good but i can only find it in 2wt. I really want a 3wt the shortest I can find in 3wt is 7'6". My question is can i cut the 7'6 blank down th 7' or even 6'6?

[Chuck Morris]

This can be done, but you wouldn't know exactly what you would be getting. I currently use a 6"6" 2 weight uplined with a 3 weight and it performs quite admirably on small streams. This might be an option for you.

[reviveourhomes]

Yeah i was wondering if i could do that too. I might just try to do that instead of cutting it. Thanks for the info. :D

[fishnpreacher]

http://www.hookhack.com/rodblanks.html

Scroll down and check out SCIII blanks--6ft 3wt 58 bucks
GL3 blank with free component kit 98 bucks

[GUTHOOKED]

I agree with Chuck - you never know quite how the action will change when you cut a blank down. The few times I've tried it the results were not at all what I expected.

If you want to go really short, Rainshadow makes a 5' 3wt that sells for about $30. Also, Lamiglas has some incredible short 3wt blanks in their Appalachian series, but they are a little pricier - around $100, I think.

[flytyfish]

I built a 7' 3wt but I can't remember where I got the blank. Ole Man do you recall the guys name that I ordered it from.It's a brown tiger eye color.I think I got the whole kit $57.00

[FlyBy]

Dorber has a number of shorter fly blanks- http://www.dorber.com/ . I've used the 6' 3pc 2/3 blanks. They make a nice rod and they're about $38.

FlyBy

[GonetoSeed]

Cutting the blank on the butt will change the action - slow it down. The power you end up with would be determined by the taper. Most likely, you will lose power, the original 3wt would end up 2 (or possible lower).

I agree with Chuck. The line rating on the rod is just the designer's suggestion. I've found that most 6'6" 2wts load and cast a 3wt line fine for the distances we most often fish on our smaller streams.

If you really want a very short rod, you can consider using a UL spinning blank. A rule of thumb for choosing the fly line rating is to look at the lure weight suggestions in 16ths and use the largest numerator given. For example, a UL blank rated for 1/16 to 3/16 oz lures would have the same approximate power as a 3wt rated rod. A great little slow action 5' 3wt rod can be built from the s-glass Forecast SPG601 spinning blank. This is a great little blank that costs all of $7.

[gkoostra]

I was at BassPro the other day and they just came out with a 5' 3 wt. Very nice and I think it was around a 100$ or less.

Gary

[Ivan]

http://www.schneidersrods.com/private_label_sale_fly_rod_blanks.htm