Daytime sword blank recommendation? South east florida.

[limitless custom rods]

Hey guys, I'm looking for some blank recommendations for a daytime sword rod for SE florida. Fishing 10-15 lbs of lead in 3-5knts of current.
After using a few seekers and not being totally satisfied with them i moved over and have been using a calstar 6460xh for up to about 8-10lbs but it's always seemed to load up too much and makes the bite very difficult to see. I've fished the calstar 6460xxh quite a bit too for 10-15lbs and although it seemed to handle the weight better I feel as though there has to be something better out there. I've been eyeing the rainshadow rctb,fsu, and rsu blanks and wanted to see if anyone has used them for the same application and had any recommendations. Also any other blanks you'd recommend looking at would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for any advice you guys have.

 

[Capt Richie]

I have used a UC Raptor for 5lbs and it works great ..for two or three times that..you do run into the problem of the blank being to still..you may have to change your method & not the blank...

two rods one with a release clip .down rigger fishing

 

[Hector Garcia]

RCTB70XXH or RCTB76XXH

I have also seen people fish a seeker 2X4 and an OSP3X

 

[limitless custom rods]

I have used a UC Raptor for 5lbs and it works great ..for two or three times that..you do run into the problem of the blank being to still..you may have to change your method & not the blank...

two rods one with a release clip .down rigger fishing

I've done the down rigger method for hand cranking swords but it's a mess with too many variables and too much chance to screw up in my opinion. It works but it's damn near impossible to setup solo or difficuly with 2 guys. I'm just looking for another blank to try out that will handle the lead and still see the bite.

RCTB70XXH or RCTB76XXH

I have also seen people fish a seeker 2X4 and an OSP3X

The rctb70xxh has been an option I looked at...but wasn't sure if that tip would be too light for hanging 12lbs on average off the tip. If yoy have any experience with that I'd love to hear it thank you.

 

[Capt Richie]

sensitive tip that can handle 12lbs ?

 

[limitless custom rods]

sensitive tip that can handle 12lbs ?

Yeah as in has enough stiffness to handle 12 lbs of lead hanging on the tip but doesn't load up too much so the bite is still visible.

 

[Capt Richie]

BAJA Boomer maybe?

 

[limitless custom rods]

BAJA Boomer maybe?

I've tried it and it was ok...very similar in action to the 6460xxh so not really too much of an improvement.

 

[Hector Garcia]

I have not used it personally for swordfish but Duane Diego of Pinnacle Sportfishing has in So Cal. He has caught some nice swords on it. Unsure how much weight he put on it, but I think it could handle it. It was on a #4 butt and Alps HXN guides.

I have used it and have seen it used for big tuna and have seen the tip/back end be strong, yet light enough to feel a sardine or a mackerel move around. And its soft enough to feel the bites, atleast for me it was.

 

[Hector Garcia]

Another option that people have fished for swords and big blue marlin has been a Raimshadow RSU60XH. Ive seen 600lbers caught on it.

 

[af dreamer]

My son took a 670 and cut it from both ends until it felt right then wrapped it.Tom

 

[Capt Richie]

what tip do you plan to use with 12 lbs weight ?

I would not use a made in china blank ..call Randy over at UC he maybe able to help

 

[limitless custom rods]

Another option that people have fished for swords and big blue marlin has been a Raimshadow RSU60XH. Ive seen 600lbers caught on it.

This and the XXH were in my list to try...thanks for the input on that one ill definitely see if I can pull on one.

My son took a 670 and cut it from both ends until it felt right then wrapped it.Tom

Thanks I'll take a took at that one. Calstar 670 correct?

what tip do you plan to use with 12 lbs weight ?

I would not use a made in china blank ..call Randy over at UC he maybe able to help

Most people I know of use Winthrop roller tips including myself...never had one fail nor have I seen one fail. Have several friends who commercial daytime swordfish running 15 sometimes 18lbs of lead on 100lb braided line almost daily through winthrop tips and they hold up just fine. I may take a look at UC again. I know they make a great rail rod but for the fisheries I'm in being NJ and South florida I haven't fished one that really stood out to me pr had me impressed. As far as China made im all for American made but I'm also searching for function regardless of country of origin. I've caught many swords on "China made" blanks running 30lbs of drag at times with not a single one failing. I've probably pushed them up 45-50 lbs of drag on occasion when I hung bottom and was hoping to get my $60 lead and 2000ft of braid back. Out of curiosity have you ever fished daytime swords?

 

[Capt Richie]

good to hear your using W/T tip ..Fred does a great job & I say that not because hes a friend ..But he makes the best of the best..
I have built several sword rods for the northeast & the UC Raptor works very well up to 6lbs..havent had anyone ask for more than that so far...when you do find THE BLANK //please pass it on ..

UC makes the softest tip rail rods ..thats why I put it out...Im not a fan of Made In China Blanks ..and cut my ties with Phenix because of it...Been trying to get Fred to make ring guides ..I have another friend with a very large medical machine shop...He said yes but so busy we haven't been able to make prototypes ..

China is no friend of America & I really wish American co. would cut ties with them..

 

[af dreamer]

I understand about offshore products BUT,the masses of customers WONT pony up for the price of USA made products EVEN if you can find them!Try shoes for instance!FWIW,Tom

 

[Capt Richie]

I understand about offshore products BUT,the masses of customers WONT pony up for the price of USA made products EVEN if you can find them!Try shoes for instance!FWIW,Tom

UC , Calstar & Seeker seem to be doing ok ?

 

[af dreamer]

Just OK

 

[Hector Garcia]

UC , Calstar & Seeker seem to be doing ok ?

Yeah, but they cant keep up with supply most of the time. And seeker keeps using cheaper material, but charges premium prices for it. Nothing against UC, but with price increases, people dont want to spend 200-300$ on 1 blank. Especially something that most people use once or twice a year. And I can almost guarantee most of the stuff people purchase, even made in the USA items are made with foreign products as well. I used to work in a ton of sales for different companies, and almost everything, including stuff that had a sticker that said "made in USA" was made with foreign parts because of it beign cheaper to buy the materials elsewhere. Now everytime I see a "made in USA" sticker, I just usually said its assembled in USA.

Some companies do make everything in house, so I can say 100% they are 100% made and assembled in USA, but if I didnt see them make the carbon fiber, make the graphite sheets, make the fiberglass materials, make the resin, then to me it was just assembled here. They can say its another American company that sold it to them, but that company most likely got it from China or somewhere else.

 

[limitless custom rods]

good to hear your using W/T tip ..Fred does a great job & I say that not because hes a friend ..But he makes the best of the best..
I have built several sword rods for the northeast & the UC Raptor works very well up to 6lbs..havent had anyone ask for more than that so far...when you do find THE BLANK //please pass it on ..

UC makes the softest tip rail rods ..thats why I put it out...Im not a fan of Made In China Blanks ..and cut my ties with Phenix because of it...Been trying to get Fred to make ring guides ..I have another friend with a very large medical machine shop...He said yes but so busy we haven't been able to make prototypes ..

China is no friend of America & I really wish American co. would cut ties with them..

Nothing holds up like a winthrop tip or winthrop products in general. I've used and tested others and none of them held up as well as I would have liked. I understand the UC raptor for our NJ and north east sword fisheries I've fished them for swords and built on a similar blank aswell as a 600g jig blank for that 4-6 lbs of lead we need in jersey. however for south florida 4-6lbs is hardly enough to keep bottom in 400-600ft of water you'd never hit bottom on the sword grounds (1400-2000ft) down here without 9-10lbs at a minimum usually closer to 12 and 15 when the current is really ripping. Therefore it requires a fairly stout blank that doesnt load up too much under the weight but still fast enough to see that subtle bite thats greatly subdued due to the amount of weight we need to use.

Yeah, but they cant keep up with supply most of the time. And seeker keeps using cheaper material, but charges premium prices for it. Nothing against UC, but with price increases, people dont want to spend 200-300$ on 1 blank. Especially something that most people use once or twice a year. And I can almost guarantee most of the stuff people purchase, even made in the USA items are made with foreign products as well. I used to work in a ton of sales for different companies, and almost everything, including stuff that had a sticker that said "made in USA" was made with foreign parts because of it beign cheaper to buy the materials elsewhere. Now everytime I see a "made in USA" sticker, I just usually said its assembled in USA.

Some companies do make everything in house, so I can say 100% they are 100% made and assembled in USA, but if I didnt see them make the carbon fiber, make the graphite sheets, make the fiberglass materials, make the resin, then to me it was just assembled here. They can say its another American company that sold it to them, but that company most likely got it from China or somewhere else.

Couldn't have said it better myself. Its hard enough getting customers to pay for premium products aswell as our time on custom orders and throwing another 200 dollar increase in there for a USA made blank and most people won't want to pay for it. Not saying that makes it right I do believe in American made with American components and materials being an awesome thing but I'm also realistic and believe that everything has its place. I recently had someone want me to build then a blank with a very intricate decorative wrap and guide wraps all titanium guides a titanium roller tip and custom cork grips on a UC blank and when I told him it would be over $1000 because components alone cost almost $800 retail he blew up saying how thats ridiculous and im a ripping him off. In reality I wasn't charging him any more than I charge for my usual rate on any build he just couldn't accept that high quality components cost a premium. Would the rod have been great yes but would the equivalent with overseas products would only cost him 1/3 the price and in all reality he'd catch fish just the same. I have that same interaction monthly where people wont pay for USA made or premium components and the vast majority of people won't. Especially when they could have 3 rod with non USA materials for the same price. Ultimately untill American made products are competitively priced with overseas products and able to meet Quantity demand (something that calstar, seeker etc. Have really been struggling to do in recent years) then we will not see a shift towards American made products. Thrasher seems to be filling that nice of price point and American made but still im assuming their production Quantity isn't able to keep up just yet if we completely cut out overseas. So ultimately we need to strike a balance between the two.
products.

 

[Capt Richie]

I dont have that problem with clients ..in fact they request that their custom rods are not built on Chinese crap...and the fact how much they love us ..steal everything and anything they can says it all...

use blanks made in Korea they have a large factory there ..Mexico anywhere but china

 

[JohnnyK87137]

Had one custom sword rod built by checkingbottom out of Texas. It’s a calstar boomer jr.

All alps guides with a Winthrop roller tip and Winthrop bendabutt.

 

[SergeyS]

A CX 70 Viper might work well for your situation, they're commonly used for deep dropping in AU down to ~2000 feet albeit with less current so they're using smaller weights typically. Around 4-6lbs for the Raptors 24kg, 6-10lbs with Vipers 37kg and 10+ on Invictus 37-60kg.

These guys have some videos of the rods in action for reference Florless Rods Deepdrop

 

[Capt Richie]

some really nice idea's & rods built on American made blanks & butts...I have had zero problem getting product from American blank Co made with American products ...

its the offshore components that are a problem with covid & the supply chain issues & lets not forget the 25% tariff put on them a few years ago..That were all paying for...even more reason to buy American ..

 

[limitless custom rods]

Had one custom sword rod built by checkingbottom out of Texas. It’s a calstar boomer jr.

All alps guides with a Winthrop roller tip and Winthrop bendabutt.

View attachment 1385391

How much weight do you usually use on that? The boomer Jr is similarly rated to the 6460xh which I've used a bunch just wondering how it differs.

A CX 70 Viper might work well for your situation, they're commonly used for deep dropping in AU down to ~2000 feet albeit with less current so they're using smaller weights typically. Around 4-6lbs for the Raptors 24kg, 6-10lbs with Vipers 37kg and 10+ on Invictus 37-60kg.

These guys have some videos of the rods in action for reference Florless Rods Deepdrop

Appreciate the recommendation ill definitely go check those out and the videos when I get a chance.

 

[JohnnyK87137]

How much weight do you usually use on that? The boomer Jr is similarly rated to the 6460xh which I've used a bunch just wondering how it differs.


Appreciate the recommendation ill definitely go check those out and the videos when I get a chance.

Had this built for west coast style (not as deep as the east coast or gulf with less current) 8# is the sweet spot. Checking bottom was very knowledgeable and doesn’t mind having a conversation even if not ordering it’s worth giving a call just for the info.