Czech Nymphing Rod Blanks

[FlyBum]

Hi Everyone this is my first post ever. First thing a little off topic this is the most difficult to read forum I have ever been on and I have been involved with quite a few. Mostly do to the black background.

Do any of you all no of any good Czeck Nymphing rod blanks and where to get them that can be found for $100 or less I can find a few for $170. However I will need to of them to build rods for both my son and I. So I'm hoping to keep the cost down a little. Hopefully to where I'll have only a about a $200 max investment in both including reel seats, guides, cork and everything.

[AaronJasper]

Welcome to the site!

However, this is one question that might stump all of us. I did a few searches and only came up with complete rods.

It's difficult, from what I found, to make a specialty rod like a ten foot three-four weight rod for a good price. It looks like SAGE and G Loomis are the only ones that carry blanks for this, and unfortunately they come at a price.

You might want to consider, and I know it's more pricey than you were hoping, the Greys Streamflex 10 foot 4 weight. One benefit is that you don't have to take the time to put it together. An other clear benefit is that you can send it back if it breaks and get a new one. If you break a rod that you build, you only get a blank in return for your brokenrod. This leaves you to go purchase all of the components again. I know that they don't cost much, but the time to get them and rebuild the rod is costly.

I wish that I could recommend a rod blank that would work for that price. You might have posed the toughest question yet!

[afishinado]

Tough to find blanks at that price range. Here is something I found on a Rod Builders site. Look near the end of the page. I really know nothing about "White River" blanks, but not a lot of blanks to chose from - good luck.

http://www.schneidersrods.com/New%20Hot%20Specials.htm

[FlyBum]

Thanks Guys... Its what I figured, because I'm pretty good a interweb research and I've only found a few blanks. There is a really great small American made rod blank company in Oregon that makes some called Dan Craft, but the blanks are $179 IIRC and they are currently out of stock. Many rod builders say they are the best American made blanks available and at better prices than Sage and other big names. Still they are out of stock and at that price I'd be over what I've hoped to spend.

I have seen the 'White River' blanks over at Schneider's, but they are only 2 piece and I really don't want a 2 piece 10' rod.

I have been looking at the Greys, because Steve Korbay a Czech Nymphing Guru here in NorCal says he's fished many different Czech Nymph rods and so far they are the best. I've also heard they are fairly moderate action rods which happens to be my preference. My favorite rod right now is TFO Finesse 8'9" 4wt and I even own a Sage 486 ll. I like the more moderate action of the Finesse though even for High Stick and Short Line nymphing, I know I've been told I'm nuts to like the Finesse better.

Oh well maybe I'll just have to bite the bullet on a Greys and my son may just have to fish with my one of my other 4 weights or my Redington CT 9' 6wt. I'm really surprised Redington or TFO haven come out with any 10' 3wt or 4wt. A TFO Finesse in 10' 3wt or 4wt would be sweet IMO and they might even put out a blank.

[FlyBum]

Someone on another forum made a suggestion and I wonder what you all think.

A Batson Rainshadow F968-4 which is a 9'6" 4wt. What do you all think? They are only $57 @Acid Rod. They are a Moderate-Fast rod that supposed to be for Steelhead.

[bobo]

Have you ever looked on Ebay? I bought an entry level CZ blank - 10ft 4 pc IM6 soft 5 wt - from http://myworld.ebay.com/ro6231/ in Oregon. Low bid price with hardware stayed under $100. Some thread, epoxy/varnish, a rasp, and some spare time, and I've a passable CZ tool. He often offers 3 weights as well.

If you're ever near a Cabela's you mighty check their bargain cave - they sometimes have Sage blanks marked down.

Has anyone ever considered using a 'noodle rod' blank for CZ nymphing? 2 pc 11.5 ft blanks are offered for under $40 at http://www.dorber.com/steelheadblanks.html.

[FlyBum]

Bobo-

Thanks for the lead on the blanks on Ebay. I just may have to buy one of his 10' 3wts. Do you have much experience with building other blanks if so how do these compare quality wise to like Rainshadow or other more well known imports.

Tom

[Esopus Guy]

I have a buddy that seems do well with just dialing up the companies directly for blanks. Specially when a line is discontinued. He calls and asks if there are any blanks left around. More often than not he gets them, even when the blanks were not originally offered.

[catchm]

For many years I built all my own rods. Times have changed quite a bit since I started doing this 25 years ago. Things have evolved to the point that there is very little availability of rod blanks I am interested in. The Cabelas rod craft catalog, for example, now has only a fraction of what they used to offer and Loomis no longer offers blanks. I believe that Sage may be the only company offering its rods as blanks. I prefer fast action rods and many of the blanks offered, such as Rainforest are moderate action IM6 blanks. I'm thinking that the rod manufacturers don't want to be bothered offering blanks either because of warranty issues or they just want you to spend more $$$ by buying their complete rods. Another thing to consider is that there are quite a few very good rods offered at prices that make it almost senseless to build your own, like TFO and Cabelas CZN rods , all under $200 with good warranties.

[tim_y]

Hey,

Sorry to catch this one so late. I'm the guy that EGuy was talking about in regards to "hunting down" rod blanks. I've tried for a while to find a good czech nymphing blank (10' 3/4 wt) and have come up empty. The primary reason is tht companies only now seem to be developing rods specifically for that purpose, and aren't offering blanks. That's not uncommon for companies to hold off a couple of seasons before ofering just the blanks, it could be in large part to them having to meet their large initial demand.

Like Aaron said, you might be better off biting the bullet on this one. Even if you have a 10' blank out there, it most likely wasn't built for euro nymphing, and you can't be sure that you'll like the way it handles.

With that being said, I have ordered from that blanks shop on ebay. I built my 10' 6/7 wt. rod that I use for steelhead. It's not the lightest blank out there, but it handles long line and indicator rigs well.