The new 1 piece versions of the Sidewinder blanks offer a more continuous action for people who aren’t planning on flying with their gear. The lack of a ferrule simplifies the building process and prevents any issues associated with expansion and contraction in hot or cold weather. The Sidewinder series is 100% carbon fiber designed for casting and working poppers, so they have a high recoil but moderate fast action to give more bend under load which makes the fight easier. The 2pc versions of these blanks have been used by premier manufacturers and custom rod builders both in the US and in Japan, and are well regarded as some of the hardest pulling rods available.

Which model is right for you? The best way to decide on which blank will work best for you is by the casting lure range you’re fishing. The line/drag rating on these blanks should only be used as a secondary criteria, since these blanks are underrated for how capable they are. The XL and L models are great for 50-80g lures like smaller 150mm Feed poppers targeting tuna in the 30-100lb class, you can also use some larger stickbaits or pencil poppers in the 60-100g range. The M is a great all around rod for a mix of different lures, capable of using larger 175 Tackle House Feed, Oceans Legacy or Nomad Chug Norris poppers for tuna south of 150lbs. The H model is the last of the more practical tuna models, especially for fishing in California, capable of fishing the largest poppers readily available in the US in the 130-150g range and stickbaits up to 200g. If you’re regularly targeting tuna in the 200lb range this would be a great option.

The heavier XH/XXH models are especially focused on giant trevally fishing where huge lures sometimes in the 200-350g range are required along with a heavy drag rating to keep them away from reefs and structure. Using these two models on a long fight with tuna would be almost as difficult as finding lures over 200g to cast, but the extra material in these models is helpful for the 300lb+ fish caught in some of the premier destinations in the US like the Outer Banks of North Carolina and Cape Cod.

These blanks are all 7’10” so they’re able to be shipped cross country without paying an arm and a leg.