I have recently been introduced to the art of building fishing rods. An old man that I have come to know has shown me how to start with a blank, some string, and a box of parts and end up with a custom made rod. I really thought that there would be a learning curve involved and that my first rod would not turn out well, but it did. I built a 5.5ft crappie/trout rod. I made it that short to control my casts working in the small waters that I fish for trout in in Colorado. I have had the rod out a couple times already and it performs flawlessly. I had Henry order the parts for me (he gets a big discount) and we got top of the line parts throughout. It still cost me ~$60, but the MSRP on all that stuff tallied up to over $200. I have only bought one high priced rod in my life, and it is one similar to the one I built. Tell you what...I don't know if it's just the fact that I take pride in building something functional, or it is just better...but I prefer my built rod vs. the bought one. Anyway, I had no idea this could be done, and I think that I have found yet another offseason addiction. Anyone else into rod building?
I built and rebuilt some rods many years ago, I used to also tie my own flies and jigs but I just don't have the patience or the eye sight I used to have. I reallly enjoyed it. A standard wrap wasn't to hard to make look right but putting designs in the wrapping was tough.
I have a split bamboo fly rod I bought from a lady years ago that I've been wanting to rework just haven't got around to it. I was in a local fly fishing shop the other day and saw a rod very similalr to mine that had been redone and they wanted $400 for it. I think I gave that lady $15 for the rod I have. It may get traded for some gear this year.
I didn't even attempt to make any designs with the wrapping...It was hard enough to just get it straight and tied off right. I am meeting up with Henry tonight to plan rod #2. I think I will build a 6.5' medium fast action cranking rod this time to use with a new baitcaster that has been laying around my garage for a while.
I meant to comment on the 5.5' rod, that is what I use for small trout streams and it is the ticket. I am looking at buying a 12' rod for the Crappie this year, I have also used the ultra light for crappie but I think I have found something with the big limber rod for Crappie, I'll let you know.
I have never built one from scratch but have rebuilt quite a few. There are some great books out there on how to make some of the decorative wraps on the butt section. I was able to get a nice result on a couple of my rods. Took a couple trys but is worth the effort when you get it right. I also learned from an older man on a cheap flea market rod that I had found. Caught tons of fish with it and received many compliments on how origanal it was, Goo Luck!
Any hobby that allows you to use the end product just adds to the overall enjoyment. I don't know anyone personally who builds rods but I can see where it would be nice during the long winter nights to relax and create a custom rod. I just purchased three new rods for a pike fishing trip this summer, I never thought about building rods for myself?????
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