I built a halibut rod from an Allstar blank for a good friend of mine who used to live in Alaska. He chose to match it with a Calcutta reel. What a combo! He caught a ton of butts with it over a span of 5 years before he moved back to WA. I even got to fish with it a few times, hooking into a number of 100+ pound butts. The rod made playing these monsters a whole lot 'o fun. I will be looking to build my own halibut rod with an Allstar blank.