Custom Built rod Questions?

I have been getting really into Rod building and It may lead to a small rod building business.

I just want to gauge what the demand is for high quality custom rods Ice and Open Water.
What are somethings that you would like to see on rods that say Tuned up Customs or another rod building company don’t have?

I have a couple of ideas on how to set my rods apart in a very congested industry. I just want to get the consumers perspective.

Thanks,

Mitchell

The “custom” ice rod market is flooded. I would guess a good 90% of the “custom” rods are built with zero customer input other than maybe wrap colors. Start making a bunch (I mean dozens) of different rods with different actions, compositions and lengths. Use those examples to get your own idea of how each rod you will be building will fish. I don’t buy into the custom rod craze, but I do own a couple. Some rods that people call custom, are just a very high quality production line rod. There is nothing wrong with a high quality production line rod, they are excellent and fish amazingly well. What I’m getting at is don’t get wrapped up into the word “custom” unless your end goal is to truly make custom rods to the CUSTOMERS desired spec.

It’s a fine line, many customers want a rod that fishes XX bait, so you sell them your “XX series” rod. Is that custom? Or a production rod? Set yourself apart from that and you have a solid chance of making it. Post some examples of your work, I may be interested in a rod or two!

Please don’t take any of my words and assume I’m discouraging the business, I couldn’t be any further from that. I’m also not ragging on any of the big name builders, I own at least 1 rod from all of the big players and each one is an awesome example of an ice rod.

I also love building rods. It’s a great hobby. I don’t want to discourage you but there are custom rod company out there that offers everything. Not sure what you could offer to help set yourself apart other than giving your rods away at cost with fancy thread wraps on them. There are multiple rod builders on this site that would love to make it their living. I hope your idea to set yourself apart works out for you. Best of luck.

I haven’t seen a noodle rod offered by any custom company thats longer than 36″. I custom ordered a 40″ bullwhip from TUCR and love it for standing up when I’m hole hopping. I would maybe look into offering a rod like that. I also feel like there a ton of companies making custom rods, but you have to do a good amount of digging online to find a lot of them. I feel like a small custom rod company will still do good from local business and word of mouth. I would also probably offer a rod with a nice titanium or nitinol spring bobber attached. I love noodle rods, but a good spring bobber on a stiffer carbon rod is really nice for tough bites. These are just my opinions though. good luck.

At ICAST I think there were about 200ish vendors that had category fishing rods. There is no way to break down how many of them had ice rods Vs regular rods. But I did talk to a lot of vendors in the northern regions that built them, even though they were not showing them at the show. Best of luck if you are able to make a go of it as a business. I would just be very cautious and aware of how saturated the market is. If you can create a solution for a void in the market, you’ll have something to sell

There are “Custom” rod builders everywhere. “Custom” is an abused word when it comes to most rod builds. I personally don’t build rod but I have bought a lot of rods from many builders through southern and central Minnesota. The one thing that I’ve noticed is that most builders are selling the exact same product, there cataloged built rods. Like I said before, I do not build rods but from talking to rod builders MudHole and Sportmans Direct are making up a high percentage of most “Custom” rods. IMO, the only way you’ll survive is by providing a product thats innovative, different and hard for others to rip off. I have run into three builders so far, that have fit this criteria and it seems all other builders are doing the same thing.

Also, the three builders that I referred to earlier, for two of the three builders, rod building is not there main source of income. I know that they put a lot of time into each rod and they are not trying to be the next TUCR, Thorne Bros. or Dh Custom Rods. These builders for a niche and thats their only focus.

Hope I didn’t offend any builders out there but this has been my experience so far.

Good Luck!

Rod building is a lot of fun. My advice, surround yourself with people you want to spend time with (rods take time), don’t try to get too big too fast, talk about what makes you good and not what makes others bad, remember that it will become like “work” quickly, don’t expect riches, allow time for yourself to fish.

Dan

Thanks for all the input.

I honestly think Customer Input and Research & Development is one of the most important pieces that A lot of rod companies are missing. Which is strange to me because consumers are the ones who will be using the rods and it would be smart to build something customers want and will use.

I know most likely it will start out small. I just need a part time gig/ outlet where I can put my passion for creativity and the outdoors to good use.

Mudhole and other companies who sell rod building supplies are making a ton off builders. I want to figure out who they are getting their supplies from and cut out the middle man. If I can do that I can sell a high quality and affordable rod.

Thanks,

Mitchell Jasper

mjasper24 wrote:

I want to figure out who they are getting their supplies from and cut out the middle man. If I can do that I can sell a high quality and affordable rod.

If you want to do this you need to start by getting a tax ID number and fill out the proper paper work.
I also know 6 other people who make rods that don’t belong to this site. Rod builders are everywhere.

I will get a tax Id once I form a LLC.

Wild River Distributing is a wholesaler for rod components.
http://www.wildriverdistributingllc.com/d_wild_river/
That or you have to go straight to the manufacture. But I don’t think you would be able to buy the quantity they require to be direct.

Yep, most have a minimum order for direct fulfillment…

There are a few things you need to think about if you want to make a living or even supplemental living from rod building.

You need to find a way to set yourself apart. Threadwork, innovative features, true custom blanks made for you by a supplier (usually Chinese sadly), creative handle designs, etc.

You’ll need to accept the fact that your time vs the money you make won’t replace a day job unless you’re working minimum wage. That’s why you see most one man shops functioning as a side business.

Legitimizing your business with a sole proprietorship, LLC, tax id, FET, etc. etc. is going to be a pain – do things right, keep track of $ or get an accountant, review with an attorney

You need to market yourself, create interest, create a customer base, etc. in order to be successful

Be prepared to take a loss the first couple of years as you build supply inventory, build a customer base, spend on marketing and sponsorships

It is a competitive market. I hate to say it but there are some shady things that have taken place, especially the last couple of years between folks building ice rods.

If you use Facebook join a rod building group and the ice rod building groups out there – lots to learn!

Mat Peirce wrote:

I hate to say it but there are some shady things that have taken place, especially the last couple of years between folks building ice rods.

Could you elaborate more on this?

if you decide to make a business out of it there is a special excise tax that need to be included. it is like 14% or more can’t remember exactly.

Kichler custom rods is a full custom. Al will build anything you want and has is own line that nobody has. better pricing then tuck for a lot more custom.

The F.E.T. is 10% up to $10, this is an additional tax on top of the other taxes paid out, city/state/federal…etc. This tax applies to the manufacturer of the final product. I’ve been doing my research on what I need to do to start up. All I really want is to pay for my fishing “toys” and provide people with an affordable custom/hand made fishing rod.

My 2¢

mjasper24 wrote:

I honestly think Customer Input and Research & Development is one of the most important pieces that A lot of rod companies are missing

Have no idea where you are getting this impression from. Any thread you see on here eventually ends up with many of the rod builders on here, big or small saying talk to the builder and theyll help figure it out. Not sure how to get more of customer input than the customer telling the builder what they want.

R&D? Any builders on here want to give a number on number of rods they’ve built and redone or made altogether new to fine tune what they wanted out of it? Promise we won’t tell the FW how many rods ya got laying around

Personally I’d make rods even more blingy, more sparkle, more holographic crap going on. Have the customer take a personality test and with those results it will help make the rod. This rod isn’t the one you want, or need, this rod is you man. Probably go over well with all the emotional super special younger generations coming up. Have a statement where not any 2 rods will ever be the same. Yup, retain the specialness. Then jack prices up and watch the money rain down.

I wouldn’t be nervous about setting up a business. Pretty easy and nothing ya can’t figure out from a few books. Lots of help out there for free as well if ya look.

Honestly, good luck man. I’m pondering the idea of starting a 2nd business, and quite frankly people can give you all the advice we want but in the end it comes down to what you know and have confidence in. What do you have to lose? It’s a rod building business, start small, if it fails you’re out what couple grand?

So what reel do you guys suggest putting on these nice custom rods?
One to target those big green backs!

I don’t know the profit % on a rod, either ice or open water. But you will have a hundred guys begging for “free” rods to become your pro-staff. You need to attend shows all over the ice belt if you think you are breaking into that market. Space rent, food, motel,gas, you will need to sell a bunch of rods. Personally I would scrap the “business” idea and make them for friends and friends of friends. The amount you make will tell you if it’s a viable business or not.

Never quit chasing your dream, however you need to eat while chasing that dream.