Penn Carnage II & Carnage III Surf Conventional Fishing Rod

This is one of the better 12’ surf rod blanks out there. You may think it’s a waste but we fish a differently in Hawaii. To me whatever guides or seat was on the rod didn’t make a difference. I look for light and stiff high mod blanks and sometimes it’s a completed production rod that has a good blank. You may think it’s counterintuitive to deconstruct the rod as it’s was engineered with the guides. That’s where views differ as we need a size 16 top ring to allow the rub line knots through and production rods don’t place the guides on the spline. They usually place the guides on the straightest part of the rod so it looks better. Stripping it down allows me to set the reel seat height to my liking and put the type and size guides that I want.Since this rod isn’t painted it’s very easy to strip it down and hide where the old guides were. It also comes out cheaper than the closest competitors blank that’s only matte clear coated. Matte coated will show any light scratches and wear down fast than something that’s glossy. This is my opinion of this rod. Your mileage may vary.