Pac Bay Quickline

               In the world of rod building there are the Sage’s, the St. Croix’s, and the Beulah’s that are available as some of the higher end blanks.  If you are and experienced rod builder and have an extra $300-$600 laying around, then these are some the best rods that money can buy. Many obsessed addicted to steelhead fly fisherman would give up their first born child and their job to have one of these rods. However, if you are like me, your bank account laughs at you when you go to buy one these rods.

 

                As a result I started looking for a more affordable option. Over the past few weeks I have been working on a 9’ 4pc 8wt fly rod, built on a Pac Bay Quickline blank. When I purchased this blank, I was familiar with Pac Bay, but not with their Quickline series. I knew Pacbay as an affordable blank that was still of decent quality, but would have never put it there with Sage, St. Croix, or Beulah. But when I got home and pulled the blank out to play with it and start gluing things together, I was extremely surprised and happy with how nice it was.

The blank is black with a gloss finish and was 25% of the cost of one of those other high end blanks running only about $77.00. Like the other high end rods, it comes with a limited lifetime warranty, it is a quick action, and has well built strong ferrules. Overall a very nice looking, well built blank. I purchased the rod from Gregs’ Custom Fishing Rods & Tackle in Lake Stevens, WA, and the gentleman working there (I assume it was Greg) was extremely helpful and he too had heard good reviews on these rod blanks. I finished it off with a green Pac Bay Rainforest reel seat, black guides, and green wraps.

So if rod building is a hobby of yours and you are looking for a blank that will not break the bank, check out the Pac Bay Quickline series, Here is what some of the guys at Rodbuilding.org are saying about them:

http://rodbuilding.org/read.php?2,389251,389295

                http://rodbuilding.org/read.php?2,383834,383835