We’re leaving at O’Dark Thirty tomorrow morning to set up our display at the Expo. Come see that 15 footer trolling rod, it’ll be the one with the frog being chased by the bass! Oh ya …. booth #33…. LakeLady Custom Rods.
We’ll be happy to visit and great all of you river fisherman/women!
Kris Kristufek
LakeLady Custom Rods
Kris,
Wow… what a rod! I was impressed that it was made so well and had a great balance (how did you do that?). It would be great for trolling cranks right next to the shoreline and let you stay “out” at a distance and depth that would not spook the fish… and help save your prop from the shallows & rocks. What is the deal with the guides wrapping round the rod and how did that come about? I was listening but missed the part you mentioned about a rod’s spline and having the guides in the right spot.
Your custom rods look just great…what an artist you are. The Loomis I held gave me the “shivers” & “goosebumps”… wow, what a jig stick. I liked the rod being run thru the handle and having the inside turned/drilled to fit the blank exactly…. I have seen other makers just wrap masking tape on the rod… till it fits the hole in the handle seat 
! Your way would give much more contact… and promote the “feel” to your fingers…. good idea!
Suppose you could show & teach some of this craft to kid-o’s on BB/BS – ARM outings? I would love to see you there. Hey, with that “long rod” at Everts we could fish the river and sit in the cabin at the same time 
!
Hoggie
Dave Hoggard
Hoggie, thanks for the very nice comments. We had a blast at the Walleye/Bass Expo last weekend. Wore me out showing off that monster 15 footer all weekend. Had a great show and lots of very positive comments about not only the 15 foot river trolling rod, but all the rods we build.
There is nothing really exceptional or new about the way the guides are wraped in a spiral around this rod. This is the way we do it on all of our casting rods. The Roberts Wrap or Spiral Wrap as some call it, was developed by a rod builder in Kansas about 50 years ago. Wish I had done it though! What it does is stabilize the rod so it “locks” in place and will not torque or twist when fighting a fish. One can litterally balance this huge long rod with one finger and fight a fish! Yes…. I’ve done it, seen it done and a 28 pounder in the boat too! Think you were holding on with one finger too …right?
Rod manufacturuers simply cannot afford the time to put a rod like this together. Only custom builders can take the time necessary to get it set up correctly on the spine of each section (this is a 4 piece rod) and then be certain that the entire rod is spined correctly. We also add likely more guides to our rods than others for a very certain reason….. increased sensitivity. We put 19 guides plus a tip top on this tool. There is a lot of physicis that go into rod building other than just twisting some thread around the blank, stringing up some line and going fishing. We build fish fighting tools, individually, one-at-a-time , for a specific purpose.
My son is going to post some pictures of this rod and a great fisherman holding it at the Expo. Hopefully he’ll get it up this evening or certainly tommorrow for sure.
For those of you that did not have the opportunity to come to Canterbury last weekend, come see us and our work. We’d be honored!
Kris Kristufek
LakeLady Custom Rods
Attached are a couple of shots of the 15′ trolling rod. This is a serious tool for Pool 4 Eyes. Dave and Richard, the invitation still stands to give this baby a try the spring when the water is high and the walleyes are tight in the stumps and rip-rap. We definitely will put a bend in her this year on pool 4.
Here’s another shot. This one shows the spiral wrap.
2 cool… You mean I can try it out! For sure, I will… gladly.
Yep, I was holding it to my waist (what waist right?) with one finger on the trigger…for quite some time…. a great rod!
Can not wait!
Hoggie
Dave Hoggard
What a beautiful looking rod! How many times (spirals) do the eyes make in the 15 foot length? Just once? Are you guys going to be at any more shows in the near future around Minneapolis or surrounding area? Wish I had gotten to this show..
We will be at this weekends St. Cloud Sportsman’s Show at the Civic Center. Of course the 15 foot monster River Trollling Rod will be in our booth to touch and feel. Look for the big bass chasing the frog way up in the air!
We’re also going to be in Sioux Falls at the Sioux Empire Sportsmans show March 6-9.
Kris Kristufek
LakeLady Custom Rods
Somebody help me please on where the Civic Center is in St Cloud? I will be coming NW on I94 from Mpls.
The St. Cloud Civic Center is downtown St. Cloud, next to the River…. what a concidence!
Take the Hwy 15 exit off I-94 to St. Germain St. turn right to downtown. Can’t miss it.
Looking forward to seeing you!
Kris Kristufek
LakeLady Rods
Kris,
Have you heard about the Walleye Searchers Seminar?
http://www.walleyesearchers.com/seminarflyer2003.html
Last year we had about 300 people attend, I know this would be a long way for you to go but if you are interested you would be more than welcome to set up a booth to display your rods.
What hours is the show?
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