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Has anyone built on either one of these blanks? I'm looking for a small stream brookie/panfish rod and eyeing one of these as my next build. I know that H&H has the forecast on sale now, and the MHX is a bit more expensive, but the MHX line looks very interesting to me. Any other blanks in a similar price range that y'all know of would be great as well. This will be my second rod build, and is basically a moving to Virginia (SNP), present for myself.
As always, thanks for the help!
Joe Valencic gifted me with a 6'6" 2 piece 2wt he built on a Forecast blank. The first fish I caught with that rod was my first brookie in a mountain stream in the Shenandoah Range in Virginia while fishing with my great friend (and brookie mentor & guide!) Tim Grubbs (FAOL's Grubb). I got it on a #14 Klinkhamer.
Joe also built a 4 piece Forecast 6'6" 2wt for himself & he said his is a good bit faster in action. I have uplined mine to a double taper 3wt line & it performs very well.
I can't speak of your other option, but the Forecast blank will not disappoint & it's been proven in those Virginia waters.
Whatever you decide, enjoy it & tight lines!
Mike
While I am a big fan of Batson blanks, I'm not fond of their Forecast line. I have built on MHX blanks but not that particular one so I can't speak to it. If I were building that size rod, I would probably use the 6'6" Tiger Eye 2/3. I really like the Tiger Eyes in the lower line weights and the chestnut brown color is outstanding.
I'm building one of the MXH ones right now for a customer. They are a tad faster blanks then most others in the same rating. The forecast 2wt is pretty nice and a lot more moderate action (which I personally like better in a small stream rod). So it just depends if you like the moderate action small rods or the faster action ones. Tiger eyes are nice (I've build 100's on them over the years) but the Tiger eye 2/3wt is actually more of a 4wt IMO. Take a look at American Tackles 2wt Matrix series as well, those are very nice and a nice smooth mod/fast action. Another good option would be a Dorber 2wt. I've built a few of those and they are really nice, only about $40. made in the USA (AZ) and I believe they are also a FAOL sponsor if I'm not mistaken.
Steve
I built a Hook and Hackle Xi 6.5ft 2wt and love it.
I built a forcast 2wt for my brother. I just had to take it out to see how well it casts. I have to say, I like it a bit better than my TFO 2wt, and I love my TFO!
TT.
Have lived in VA for over 35 years, and have fly fished those mountain streams for more than 20 years. First, I will say that the best all around SNP rod is a 7' 3wt. Streams in the park vary greatly in size from the well known larger streams to the blue lines, and it's hard to build one rod to cover all situations up there.
Some of the 2wts that I have built and use up there are the 6' 6" 2wt PacBay Rainforest, 6'6" 2wt Batson RX-7, 6'6" 2wt Forecast, 6' 2wt Tiger Eye. Of those, the one that I would consider to be the best all around rod for up there would be the Forecast. The Forecast is faster than the Rainforest (which is really a strong 1 wt) and a little less powerful than the Rainshadow.
If it were me, and I was building one rod to fish the park with, I'd personally go with the 7' 3wt MHX.