Rod Geek blanks

[Bassbme]

I'm curious if anyone has experience with a couple of blanks from their Carbon 4 line of blanks? The blanks I am wondering about are the C466MF, and the C4610MXF. I'm interested in thoughts on the power of these two blanks.

And in reference to the C4610MXF, I'm curious as to what kind of tip it has. If you have experience with the C4610MXF blank, does it have a soft enough tip to fish a drop shot effectively? And if it does have a soft tip, what kind of back bone would you say it has? I'm looking for a soft tip with a good back bone. I have two drop shot rods that I built on a NFC6107 IM blank, and a Rainshadow Eternity2 ETES 610MXF blank, respectively. And while the both have the type of tip action I am looking for, they severely lack the type of back bone I am looking for.

What would be super helpful is if anyone has rods built on these two blanks, if they have CCS numbers for them? IP, and AA numbers would be of great value to me.

Thanks in advance for any opinions or info that is provided. It will be greatly appreciated

[shfishinsticks]

I have both the NFC and the ETE. IMO, they are the same blank and useless for big water/big fish. I have the c4610 built as a spybait rod. I put it on par powerwise with a 5S610MXF. It's more powerful than I like a DS rod to be. It is what I like a tube rod to be.

[Bassbme]

shfishinsticks, thanks a lot for replying. I genuinely appreciate it. And I am in complete agreement with you concerning the NFC and Eternity blanks I mentioned. Neither of them have the power curve I was hoping they would have. Especially the ETE610MXF. IMO it has less of a back bone than the NFC 6107 IM.

Anyhow .... I'm not familiar with the blank you compared the c4610 blank to. So I will ask this question. Could you describe what you like your tube rod to be? The perfect blank to me would be one with a soft tip. Not as soft as the NFC or Eternity blanks I mentioned, but not a whole lot more stiff. The tip would be about 1/4 of the length of the blank, then it would transition to back bone, with the whole back bone being in maybe a little more than 1/2 way down the blank.

Pretty much a like a fast action medium power rod, with a softer tip.

[shfishinsticks]

I'll check them out tomorrow. My benchmark DS blank is 5s69mlxf or 5s610mlxf.

[Bassbme]

shfishinsticks, once again thanks for the reply. I think my last post might be a little confusing. When I described the perfect blank to me, it wasn't what I like in a tube rod, it is what I would really like the C4610mxf blank to be like. I like a regular old fast action blank for a tube rod.

I've taken to throwing tubes on a casting rod I built on an Immortal IMMC73ML blank. When I would throw them on spinning gear I used a rod I built on a 7' Hydra SJ2 from their NG series. It's a nice enough rod, but not what I was really hoping for so I am selling it to my tournament partner. He loves it.

My plans for the new rod I want to build is to use it for drop shot (which is why I am hoping the tip is a kind of soft) and for light Texas rigs using 4" Roboworms and baby Brush hogs. Which is why I need it to have some back bone.

And again, thank you very much for giving me this help. I truly appreciate it. Just wanted to clear up something that may have been confusing.

[willwork4fish]

IMO the blank you are looking for from Rod Geeks is the C473MHXS. I have cut them down to 6'10" with no problem. I personally fish them at 6'10" and the full 7'3" and have built a good number of them for others (actually just sold one to a guy in my club last week). It's my preferred blank for heavier dropshot, 3/8 oz and up. It also handles lighter weights fine. I prefer it to the SCV610MXF actually for dropshot. It also makes a great tube, shakey head and small texas rig blank.

[Bassbme]

willwork4fish, thank you very much for your response. I greatly appreciate it. I actually looked at that blank as a possibility. I just wasn't wild about the 7'3" length, but I liked the description on Rod Geeks' web site. I've trimmed 6" off the blanks on two of the rods I've built, so I'm not afraid to trim a blank down that much, if it will result in what I am looking for in a blank. You've trimmed the blank down to 6'10" .... does it still have a good strong back bone taking that much off?

One of the other reasons I was leery about the blank you mention has to do with the dimensions of the blank. The butt in its' stock form was a little bigger than I wanted to go. I'm going with a split rear grip, and the grips I already have are a little small on their small ends. I wanted to keep reaming to a minimum just so the blank wouldn't be overpowering from a aesthetic stand point. I know ... maybe a silly reason not to go with a blank, but I have a certain look in mind for this rod, so ....

What I love about Rod Geeks' web site is that they provide dimensions at various points of their blanks. A 5" trim would put the C473MHXS blank right in the ball park of what I am looking for.

Decisions, decisions .......

And thanks again for the response. I really appreciate it.

[willwork4fish]

Yeah, it still has plenty of power at 6'10". I cut that one down to 6'10" to directly compare it to the SCV610MXF. If someone comes to me and asks for a dropshot rod, my first choice is a Point Blank 691MLXF...if they say they also want it for shakey heads, tubes, texas rig, finesse jig or they fish dropshot on bigger water then I steer them towards this one. There's 4 or 5 non-boaters in my club who have one of these because they only want to bring 1 spinning rod. It's a pretty unique blank, it's got a lot of tip especially in relation to the butt end power. The XS is "extra sensitive" but it's essentially just an XF blank...maybe like a MXF tip on a MH butt.