Three rods to choose from, what would you do?

[bigslackwater]

Recently I ended up buying 3 blanks. I build a few rods each winter to pass the time. They are Rainshadow RX7s a 10' 5wt, 6wt and a 7wt. All two piece models, all 10'. I'm thinking about keeping one and possibly selling the other two. If you were in my shoes which would you want to keep and why? What fishing applications would you find these rods useful for? I'm not trying to post this as a means to sell my fly rods...I've never sold one before and may end up keeping all three. At this stage I'm just looking to see what these rods would be good for (stream size, stlye of fishing etc...) and what you would do in my situation.

 

[Fishidiot]

Well I suppose it depends on what rods you already have. Personally, I fish a lot with streamers and for bass so I can always use more big sticks and would likely favor the 6 or 7WTs.
Also, you might just want to hold the other two for future winter projects. It's always nice to have some extra blanks or rod building components laying around so that in the event you need to build a replacement or put one together for a friend, you have the stuff on hand.

 

[krayfish]

Keep the 5 & 7. Sell the 6 to buy components for the additional blank you keep.

 

[bigslackwater]

Good points...I never thought about saving them for later. Maybe I'll build the 6 first, then if I find I want to go higher or lower I can go back to the bench. I already bought components for all three.

 

[PennKev]

The RX7 10" 7wt in 2 piece is a dog. Built one, used it twice and sold it.

As for the others I don't know. I have had mostly good experiences with RX7's except for the above. However, They are older blanks and I would expect them to be fairly heavy in 10ft models and probably rather slow too. I'm guessingg the 5wt will be the best due to it being the lightest of the three. Should be a useful nymph rod if it is tolerable to cast and fish.

Kev

 

[PennKev]

P.s. I'd actually sell them all. 10ft 2 piece rods are a PITA to haul around.

 

[Millsertime]

I was looking at buying the 2 piece rainshadow 10' 5 wt or a 4 piece MHX. Why did you choose the rainshadow? how much $ ? Where from?

 

[bigslackwater]

I've built a few Batson Forcast and Rainshadow rods and I like them. I started out on cheap blanks and I'm moving up as I get better...so far I like what Batson makes and I'm satisfied. I've never really fished with any high end rods so perhaps I haven't been spoiled yet!

Here is what I have in my collection:

Forcast RX6 6'6" 2wt 4pc
Forcast RX6 7'6" 4wt 4pc
Generic IM6 9' 5/6wt 4pc
Generic IM6 10' 3wt 4pc
Rainshadow RX7 10'8" 7wt 4pc (switch rod)

So what I need to figure out is what would round this collection out nicely. The two piece rods are huge but I drive an Suv with the seats down most of the time and doubt I will be taking these on many far away trips. It is what it is.

 

[PennKev]

Millsertime wrote:
I was looking at buying the 2 piece rainshadow 10' 5 wt or a 4 piece MHX. Why did you choose the rainshadow? how much $ ? Where from?

I would lean toward the MHX. They get quite a bit of praise and are a newer design and newer materials. Also, 4 piece is the way to go IMO.