DH Custom broke

DHCustom wrote:

Rule#2 to happy noodle ownership. NEVER leave your jigs attached to the hook keepers and, or even your rods when stored. We usually take the drag all the way off, or flip the anti reverse also when storing. Just cut your jigs off you will have a fresh knot next time.

Sorry Dustin, but this is just wrong for so many reasons. I truly believe that to be a successful angler for every hour you spend fishing you need to spend at least a couple hours preparing to fish. That includes showing up, jigs tied and ready for the attack. I also get most of that unwanted bend when relocating a hundred yards or so when you dump everything in a sled and run. Tying jigs on the ice is also difficult – eyes are tiny and any little unnoticed line from a previous knot blocking it makes it frustrating plus my hands would be froze before I even get started. So, let me market a little solution to you and to other noodle makers that want happy customers and that’s a low cost noodle saver. The price for my idea would just be a rod a year. I’ll test the first proto…

1. Take the kids to the circus to get brownie points to exchange for a future fishing day.
2. Buy a giant pixie stick and get them all juiced up, take a long bathroom break and leave them with mom so she never wants to go again.
3. Save the big plastic pixie stick tube and cut it slightly longer than the blank. Cut a slot in the tube so it slides over the bigger eyes on the rod. The tub should be big enough to pass over the first few eyes on the tip. On the tip side of tube make a 1/8th inch slit to put the jig hook in.
4. With the jig tied on pass the jig through the tube and slide the hook into slit.
5. Slide the tube over the blank and tighten the line to hold the tube firmly on the rod which is why I’m suggesting a very lightweight straw-like tube.

I’m all about the preparation for fishing, but what he suggested should only take 2 minutes of your time before you fish. The guy gave you a tip for a custom rod that you are looking for to preserve its life. He never said buy the most expensive custom rod if thats what your looking for man. I believe he is trying to help out all owners of the higher end noodle rods. If you want lower end ones there are many out there in fleet farm/gander/scheels/joe’s. I doubt custom rod builders will be able to produce a low end noodle rod at the price the big boys do. Will be interesting to hear his response to your comment.

I can’t remember the last time I went fishing and the jig that was on my line when I got there was still tied on when I left.

Sorry, it was a bad attempt at humor but maybe there’s something there in making a tube to protect your investment. Sounds like somebody needs a weekend and it also sounds like Dustin’s passion is ice fishing and he got into rod making to contribute to his passion but now his passion is taking too much time and he has no time to ice fish anymore. Sorry man.

DHCustom wrote:

Rule#2 to happy noodle ownership. NEVER leave your jigs attached to the hook keepers and, or even your rods when stored. We usually take the drag all the way off, or flip the anti reverse also when storing. Just cut your jigs off you will have a fresh knot next time.

Thanks for the tips. With Rule #2 another option is if the bait fits through the guides then slip the bait through the top guide or two and THEN hook it on a hook keep/lower guide so you’re not flexing and stressing the delicate tip.

I was in your shop a few days ago buying bait. I stop into DH custom often to buy bait. Every time I go in there I hope Dustin isn’t the one there. I like Russ a lot! I spoke with him at length the last few times I was in there and he is great!!! I asked DH a few questions about how the bite had been, how the ice was in particular areas, and if he had heard about any good areas to fish. I’m not sure DH said more than 6 words through all of it while looking extremely annoyed that I would ask for a fishing report. That’s a primary and fundamental part about owning a bait shop! If you want to build rods perhaps you should close down your bait business and focus on rod building exclusively or stick Russ in front of the store talking with the customers and you can dedicate your time to building rods. Although I appreciate your honest response to this post it’s clear your attitude has not changed. I’m not sure I’m ready to take my business to the BP down the street cause I appreciate small business but there are other bait stores like cabin fever and wayzata bait that are worth the drive for the superior service.

Kudos to DH for stepping up like that, very rare thing to see now a days it seems, especially in a platform like this. I own a handful of DH rods and have nothing but praise for them, I’ve yet to find a noodle rod with the balance between sensitivity and back bone that his do. Not to mention you can’t beat his prices.

DH built me a rod last month and I couldn’t be more happy with it! I walked into the shop for the first time and DH took the time to go through each rod he builds with me and gave me all the options I could have. When I got the call a few weeks later that my rod was ready for pickup, I immediately drove 2 hours south and picked it up. For the type of custom rod you get from DH, it’s hard to beat. Every small business has it’s issues, but quality is not one of them with DH. I know he was running around with his head cut off after taking all the orders from the show in December and he and another guy were hard at it building rods when I walked in the store. Again, this is what I experienced from only being in the shop twice! But overall we are all in this together, we need to stop all the trash talk on here and push forward as a group, community, family, or whatever have you! Whether its hunting or fishing, the majority of the criticism in our industry comes from others within “our family”.. We NEED to stick together and enjoy what we love and not be a critic first to judge when someone may be having a bad day or a bad year! I give DH credit and give him major kudos for stepping up to the call and calling himself out, it shows that not everyone is perfect nor can one person in this world please everybody, but that one person can step up when the time arises and make the statement needed to move forward in a positive direction. Thanks for my awesome rod DH, what you do is a work of art!

I see a lot of people wanting to bend over backward because the man admitted he needed to do better but here it is a year later and the same problems exist with his service. Do you let a killer lose cause he fessed up to the crime but continued to commit more crimes? I am all for forgiveness and second chances but i don’t see DH holding up his end of the bargain. Prove me wrong DH! You have a very nice shop in a great location, show your customers you appreciate them for more than your rod building business. Here is what I like about the service Russ provides- he is friendly, he smiles, he takes the time to point out where people have been reportin good bites, he takes the time to give me up to date ice reports, hell the other day I saw him reading outdoor news and I made the comment that I was interested in getting a subscription to it, I was in my car leaving the parking lot after having made my purchase and he ran out and gave me his copy so I could see if I like the magazine! That’s service worth writing about and recommending.

Wow, I don’t think comparing your 1 encounter, should represent what he has been doing all year ? Maybe your a DB ?:???: Who knows ?

h

As communicated in PM’s to big_g I feel slightly petty for digging up an old post and responding. DH, I don’t mean to bash you or your business publically. Ive heard great things about your custom rods and would be interested in getting one for myself. I like your store and I would like to see you succeed. I would also like to have a better experience when I come in there. In my experiences with you, you can seem to be unfriendly and I don’t get a very welcome feeling buying bait from you. I will continue to visit your store and I only hope this message reaches you and has a positive impact.

I want to apologize to crappie also, for the DB comment, unneeded. I am trying to edit but IDO is in top form again… NOT WORKING ! As I said in a pm to crappie, sometimes we paint with too wide of a brush, myself included.

yeah and ill just complete the group hug here and say im sorry to make comments publically about your business DH. I have nothing against you personally and I now recognize that perhaps it would have been more appropriate to address that with you personally.

Hey, we all have our opinions. BUT, regurgitating a post that’s over a year old to discuss any issues that you have had in the past is a bit counterproductive. The reason I hire people like Russ, Andrew, Dane, and Grant is to provide you with the customer service you all deserve. True, I do get busy and this is why I have people to help you. Being local crappie55369 i would think you would address any issues with me, or my business personally. Thanks for the continued business, and you are 100% correct. Customer service is top priority at DH. is now, and has been for now 3 years.

Tight Lines!! DH

Hows this for CS??? Dustin wouldn’t sell my nephews any rods 2 days before the ice show. He said if you want a rod, go to the show. REALLY????? So they said F-it and went and spent 400.00 on Tuned up rods!!! With that attitude he lost many customers!!! Including myself!!!

seems odd, but also looks like a trend.

Dustin, I love your rods. Spoke with you on the phone before, you were great. Keep up the good work, you can’t please everyone. I once had a bad experience at a McDonalds, hasn’t stopped me from going back. You’re Al Dente rods are so good, I want to sell one of my Thorne noodles to order another one from you…I use mine for everything from small Walleye to Sunfish.

I really like the service I received from scheels in Rochester when I bought my tucr Precision. The guy working (early 20s) knew everything about them and helped me pick out the one I wanted. So kudos to them!

Let the free market decide the destiny of your small business.

One tip dh. If you have a truck with company graphics on it, don’t cut people off pulling out in front of them and then pull in to your place of business. On another note, I love all of my dh rods! I think I have 6 now, just don’t cut me off anymore.

rainman2 wrote:

Hows this for CS??? Dustin wouldn’t sell my nephews any rods 2 days before the ice show. He said if you want a rod, go to the show. REALLY????? So they said F-it and went and spent 400.00 on Tuned up rods!!! With that attitude he lost many customers!!! Including myself!!!

This is the most ridiculous untruth. Firstly if they came into the shop 2 days before the show, we didn’t have rods on the shelf to sell. At that time EVERY ONE was ordering online, or filling out custom orders in store. DH, nor any of it’s employees have ever refused to sell a potential customer our products. Absurd.

Also, I find it absurd that you would expect that you, or your family be treated any differently than any one of our loyal, and satisfied customers.

I am not one to mince words, you guys should go fish, we actually have ice now. Step away from the computers, take off the e-thug hat, and do something.

Respectfully,

Dusty Gesinger wrote:

One tip dh. If you have a truck with company graphics on it, don’t cut people off pulling out in front of them and then pull in to your place of business. On another note, I love all of my dh rods! I think I have 6 now, just don’t cut me off anymore.

feel better now ??

Looks like I’ll be sticking with tucr.

??? I don’t get it.

I live right around the corner from DH. Been eyeing a DH “feather” online for awhile now but have always been a little intimidated to go into a custom rod shop. I took a jump from the “sale of the week” rod to some fenwicks last year and was amazed by how much more you can feel.
I think when the weather turns I will have to stop by and check them out. Anyone have one of these from DH?

Ben Brettingen wrote:

Why buy a Ranger 620 when you could catch just as many fish out of an Alumacraft 205? Different strokes for different folks.

Couldn’t agree more with this. I’m not one to go for bells and whistles. I’ve been using the low-end flasher models for decades now, while laughing at friends for upgrading to $1,000 units. (I will be upgrading to a Helix, though, due to the transfer into the boat, autochart, gps, and relative affordability of those options – $150 bucks more, roughly, than a VX-1 or FL-8).

I get the allure and benefits of high-end equipment. But, I think people have gotten to point (as a result of marketing, etc) where they actually believe that spending more money means catching more fish. When, really, it’s just turned into some kind of adult show-and-tell with shiny new toys.

Give the best fisherman on earth a lead pipe and dental floss, while giving an average fisherman thousands of dollars of flashers, sonar, cameras, insulated houses, custom rods, high-end reels spoiled with fluorocarbon and braid…I can tell you who will win 98% of the time. A lot of times, it takes fishing and hunting with bare bones equipment to gain those skills. For example, starting a kid out slug-hunting with a single shot .410 will teach him more valuable lessons than a scoped semi-auto Benelli SBE II.

I have to give some props to DH. Not many would take responsibility, explain himself, and attempt to make it right.

Seems to be the culture today to deny, deny, deny until you’re absolutely nailed to wall, then issue some garbage apology written by somebody else.

I read the OP and a few comments, and decided I would never us DH if going custom. After his response, they’d be on the top of my list.

Another note: Why install a hook-keeper on the noodles if you’re not supposed to use it?

How does a 3 year old post keep getting bumped back up? This has been done and over with long ago. Can mods delete this? Seems unfair that some new potential customers might only read the first couple posts, make up their mind, and not read the entire thread.

Just to be clear. I have no skin in the game here. I own rods from all the big 3 MN “custom” rod makers. Love em all.