advice for dropshot rod?

[Sarcazmo]

I love my first gen MHX hi mod 822 ds blank :-)

[jbabin76]

The Rod Geeks B473MHXS is also a good one, real unique blank with a great tip for DS but also a ton of power. When the wind really blows and I have to go over 1/2oz for my DS weight that's the one I pull out. Actually prefer it over the SCV.

Did you cut this blank down at all or leave it at 7-3? I've been thinking about building a drop shot rod on it, but was thinking of taking down to 7' at least.

[willwork4fish]

I've built them anywhere from 6'10" to the full 7'3" you don't lose anything you'd notice taking it off the butt end

[jbabin76]

Thanks for the quick response... how would you rate this blank in the sensitivity department??

[willwork4fish]

It's good, on par with Croix SCIVs. The MHXS is RG own design so there isn't a Croix equivalent. I've had a number of conversations with Bob Penicka who was running Rod Geeks a few years ago (I think he's since left or sold his interest) about the B Series. They used to just have the C series (C2, C4) and those were the same material as Croix SCII and SCIV. I'm not sure what exactly the technical tweaks were but he said it had to do with making the blank more durable. I've fished both the C4's and B4's and I don't find a difference in sensitivity.

It'll double as a nice shakeyhead and/or tube rod too. It's a real unique blank.

For what it's worth the B2MHXS makes a great jerkbait rod cut down to like 6'8" - 6'10" or so

[jbabin76]

I was even thinking about possibly using this blank cut down for throwing weightless senko's (wacky). The best production blank I've used thus far, and my go to rod, is the 6-10M shimano expride. I find it nearly perfect for that application. If I can find a blank similar to that, i'm golden.

[shfishinsticks]

Oh shit for sure...if you start building rods there's a good chance you'll have a room in your house that looks something like this...Attachment 387631

I got a spare bedroom that kinda looks like that. She's not happy about it though!

[jglenn21]

At least Mike built a nice rack for his collection

[ridgerunner6901]

I,m building 3 similar rods now. One for myself and my 2 sons. I chose the Rainshadow REVS610 MLXF. I'm impressed with the blank so far, very light at 1.5 Oz, and the action feels good. I'm sure the Immortal blank would be even better. Definitely go with Titanium guides, I like the Minima M Match and Minima SV for the reduction guides and for the running guides use Model F. Fuji has similar lines of Titanium guides and your builder can help you pick what he likes to work with. My costs ended up at a bit over $100 per rod, including reel seats and composite cork split grips. I'll post some pics when completed.
A custom rod is all about what you like, so choose accordingly.

I've been using this same blank with a set of Kigans and a minima reel seat for years. These days I do alot of dropshotting and it just makes a nice light sensitive rod with a good backbone. Sure I could build something thats costs about 200 more bucks but several successful seasons using this blank tell me its a good one.

[stein3411]

Been a G. Loomis junky for over 35 years. Personally for me and open water dropshotting, I've been utilizing a rod from their Walleye series (WPJR 821S GLX). I have numerous NRX rods and I absolutely love the feel and action of the WPJR. This rod would be a little light if fishing around cover but in open water it's $$$$$$$$$$.

[Spoonplugger1]

In today's world I'm not sure what a dropshot rod is anymore, a lot of the rods I see would have been finesse and swimjig rods not long ago. My two dropshot rods are built on different blanks maybe 6 years apart, a Shikari PP700 SHX and the Rainshadow RX8+ dropshot blank, I also have the RX7 version blank, but it is hugely different and I didn't think it would be nearly as effective. I've also got a Lamiglas XMG50 blank I've used in a pinch, but it's 7 1/2 ft. long and never got past the prototype stage and never went into production. Fits the smallmouth rod bill beautifully though.