You guys have been helpful with making my first rod. I recently made my first rod on a St. Croix ML SCIII blank with micro guides. But I have encountered something counter to what I expected. The rod I built can cast my 1/16th hair jigs and lighter lures farther than any rod I have used, I can probably get it about 15-20 yards, which I would consider far for a 1/16th hair jig. But surprising my medium power fenwick aeotos can cast lures 1/4 and up farther than the ml SCIII. I have never used a blank quiet like the SCIII with such a soft tip like that. I will test again tomorrow, but I just wanted to get your guys input on this to make sure the casting distance was not due to my building of the rod. It this casting distance typical of this blank/Avid X?I would think a ML would be able to cast farther than a medium.  I fish from shore and casting distance sure does help out a lot in certain situations. 

 

Thanks,

Ryan

Not surprising that a ML would outcast a M with light lures and a M would outcast the ML with heavier lures. 

 

But with properly spaced guides, through static testing, I'm not surprised that you are getting better casting performance overall. 

25 minutes ago, flechero said:

Not surprising that a ML would outcast a M with light lures and a M would outcast the ML with heavier lures. 

 

But with properly spaced guides, through static testing, I'm not surprised that you are getting better casting performance overall. 

Ok thanks, just wanted a second opinion. My guides were a little unevenly spaced at the tip, but overall the ml has more of a balanced casting ability. 

To cast well a rod has to load properly, and it will do that only for a certain range of lure weights.  Sounds to me like this rod is loading better at the lighter weights.  The spacing at the tip is not a casting issue.  The only issue with running guide spacing might be that a section of the rod might get overstressed and would fail.  Not likely , though.   The reduction train is where the distance is made or not made.

 

Here is a top secret tip.  Don't tell anyone else.  Try 10-15 pound braid on it and it will cast any weight really well.  :-)  There is more to gain with the lighter braids than any move you can make with the guides.

A few unevenly spaced guides in the tip area is quite common when a proper static load test has been performed. It wont effect casting, but will improved how the rod behaves when a fish is on the end of the line.

 

There are way too many variables involved in casting distance when making comparisons between two different power rods.

Here is a good analogy for what you did when you built your rod. Your going to your favorite swimming pool and enjoying diving off the spring board, the next day you go back again, but someone has strapped a 50 lb. bag of sand to the underside of the end of the board, is it going to be as fun to use the spring board today? You did the same thing to your rod, but in reverse, you freed up the intrinsic power built into the blank and used it to get more snap out of the blank. Just like your rod, other than the obvious  sack, the spring board would probably look just as straight and just as inviting to use, but you would sure know better upon using it. all rods have a certain amount of power and response built into them, you can use it to cast and catch fish, or you can blow a punch of it starting and stopping unnecessary weight just like the modified spring board.