Build a fishing rod to your specifications! A fishing rod building class will be held on February 8, 15, and 22 from 6:30-9:30 p.m. at Wickiup Hill Outdoor Learning Center near Toddville, IA – just outside the Northwest corner of Cedar Rapids. Custom rod builder Greg Buckendahl, from Bend River Fishing Tackle, will lead participants through the process of building a G. Loomis or St. Croix spinning rod.
When finished with this series of classes, you will have the knowledge to move on to other rod-building projects. You also get to keep the rod you build. Additional experienced rodbuilders will also help with hands-on portions of the class. For additional information or to register, please call Chuck Ungs at Wickiup at (319) 892-6485. Participants must pre-register by January 26. Class size is limited. Class cost varies greatly and depends on the model of fishing rod blank chosen and options selected.
Bottom line is that we take the msrp of the blanks and add $55 to cover us having the lights on in the Nature Center, to help pay for my hours invested in arranging and teaching as a Conservation Department naturalist and to cover the main instructors components for each rod… if we have anyone building baitcasters they are an additional $10. Many folks in the class find the fees between $100 and $200 or so for a St. Croix or Loomis rod. The cost is comparable to what one would expect to pay for a no frills custom rod but you get the experience of building them. We think it is a win-win – as do the 15 or so students we have had each year out of the past 7 classes or so. Chuckles