Thinking about building a rod? Very cheap blanks for beginners to learn on.....

[Gemrod]

Color isn't my favorite. Chartreuse. But...nice fiberglass blank. I think 7'-8" THREE PIECE 5 wt. Don't quote me as going by memory but under $7 each. I think it was $6.66 apiece. I happen to prefer three piece anyway....and three piece blanks getting harder to come by.

Anywhooo....these might make excellent rods....and if not.....certainly economical enough to learn how to mount reel seats, grips, winding checks, guides, tip tops. Heck, try to buy two arrows for less than that!

Just fyi for anyone wanting to give it a go and not spend a bunch of dollars to get to play with rod building.

oh....ebay...search for fiberglass rods

[Kaboom1]

Here is the link folks....

http://cgi.ebay.com/Fiberglass-Fly-R...item4cefae9d67

[kbproctor]

I picked up two of these blanks. VERY slow action but CCS does rate them at #5. They are tip in butt ferrules, not the butt in tip we look at as "normal". I have painted these blanks. The bright lime green was too much for me. I haven't gone much farther with them but will post pics when they are finished out.

My thought is that these would make great blanks to base a rod swap on!

[Midwest Custom Fly Rods]

I saw those awhile back and was tempted to pick a few up just to see how they were. Obviously my first thought was to paint them lol. Kevin how is the paint holding up on yours so far? You use Fusion on them?

Steve

[kbproctor]

I tried Fusion on a Sevier blank and it is holding up well. On these, I tried Rustoleum's Universal which replaced their Plastic. I used the 'Oil Rubbed Bronze' metallic and it looks great. the paint holds up well on the ferrules, too. The paint has been on them for about 2 weeks and I can put the rod together and put a really good bend in it without the paint flaking or cracking. It does not seem to be as hard a finish as the Fusion, but more flexible.

Surface prep is crucial. I used a Scotchbrite pad to remove all shine, wiped down with alcohol to remove oil and dust, and then painted. Once the final coat was dry, I gave them a light once over with a gray Scotchbrite pad to smooth things up and called it good.

I guess time will tell.

[roygpa]

I guess I am one of few who likes that color. I'm tempted to buy one just for that reason.



Roy

[rainbowchaser]

Having spent some time searching for rods that my children laid down to play when the fish weren't biting I think an inexpensive hi-vis blank like this would be great for a kid's first rod.

[Panman]

I took the rod out today & hit several small creeks. First fish was rainbow about 8 inches. It felt bigger. Caught more fish and they also bent the rod more than I expected. The rod was slightly heavier than my graphite but I soon got used to it. The only negative is the rod came apart between the butt & center piece twice. I will have to make sure that the pieces are tight in the future.

Tim

[Kaboom1]

Did you rub a little candle wax on the male end of the ferrule? That should take care of the problem(thanks JC).

Brad