I am interested in making my own rods. I have heard that it is quite a bit cheaper and the rods are just as good as the ones you can buy in the stores. I want to make some jigging and spinning rods. Does anyone have any good advice on where I can get started on making my own rods?
Building your own rods are fun. Depening on what rods you choose does make a huge differnts. I have been building rods for a little over a year and have great succes with what I have created. The first step would be to head to Hooked On Fishing and talk Mike Fischer.He has great experiences and can get into the right rods and the right advise. The best part is catching that first fish with what you have made. Good luck
If you have not built a rod before, the absolute easiest way I can think of is for you to contact Mel Dickie in Rochester, at Wild Goose Sports. Mel and the local college worked a deal some years ago and they taped Mel doing a class where he goes through step by step from parts to finished rod. He has that video for sale, plus if you talked with him about the kind of rod you wanted, he could put together a parts kit of blank, handle, guides and glues for far less than Cabelas or the big shops. PM me if you are interested in this avenue, I’ll give you more details.
I’ve made only a few rods in the coarse of the last year and by no means are an expert. It is not a whole lot cheaper than buying a rod off the shelf but you can custimize the rod to your liking. I see your from the northern suburbs, Thorne Bros./ Fly angler have all the components to get you started. And they offer instruction and you can build your rod there if you buy your stuff from them. A couple of guys in there are helpful, a couple not so much. Don’t be afraid to ask questions.
Cabelas also sells complete kits online all you have to is assemble. Good luck, Jason
A good place (mail order) for rod building as well as very good instructions (both in the catalog and on-line) is http://www.mudhole.com
I’d still start with Mel Dickie for my first rod .
I ordered the blanks from http://www.mudhole.com and the guides, handles, etc from http://www.jannsnetcraft.com.
bigfife: start small, make some icefishing rods first. get some flyrod tips and handles and guides and start wrapping up some rods. buy your handles, you can buy the cork rings and glue them all together but that takes to much time and it is very messy. it should cost you around $150 for a set of rod wrap stands, a thraed holder and a drying motor. there are some good books out there that will give you all the info that you will need to know. try advanced rod building by dale p. clemens. the hardest part is learning how to start the wrap, after that it’s just practice, practice, practice. PM me and i can give you some more info. like i said, start small and move up from there.
Rod building can be a lot of fun and a rewarding hobby as well. There are a host of sources of information on the web to check out too.
Another suggesstion is to take a rod building class from an experienced certified instructor. There will be such a class at Sportsman’s Warehouse in St. Cloud, MN the weekend of June 20, 2003. Space will be limited. Call Jeremy the fishing department manager at 320-656-0600 to get on the list, or you can private email me at [email protected] for more info.
Kris Kristufek
LakeLady Custom Rods
Hey, Bigfire
Cabela’s Tackle Craft catalog is a nice start. Jann’s Netcraft and Mudhole.com are excellent resources as well. Make sure to get the MudHole catalog, they have significantly more items in their catalog than on their website, and advice/instructions also.
My most valuable resource when getting started was a book by C. Boyd Pfeiffer called Modern Tackle Craft. I picked it up and Mager and Quinn’s bookstore in Mpls for about $10. If you can find that book, I highly reccomend it, it has instructions for rod building and just about everything else you can think of for building freshwater fishing tackle.
Also, hit the forum on http://www.rodbuilding.org, there are more experienced, patient rod builders there than anywhere else on the net.
Here’s 2 links that you also might find somewhat useful:
http://www.kensfishingrods.com/workshop/primer_intros/primer.htm
http://www.bassfishingnetwork.com/articles/rod_building.html
Read any book by Dale Clemens, the father of rod making. I have his first three books, and his are the best I have ever read. I have made my own rods for 20 years, as well as for other people, and what ever you want to know about rod building is in those books. As far as saving a lot of money making your own rods, I think that is an untruth. I can go to Kmart, WalMart, Gander Mtn., or any place else and buy rods cheaper, good rods. The only advantage of making your own rods, is that you get exactly what you want, and the satifaction of knowing that you built it. Example: build a St. Croix rod with the SCIII blank…..blank $70., handle kit $30., guide set $15., all the extra; thread, glue, flex-coat, tools, and most of all “time”. You can buy the Avid, the same blank, handle, and guides for $150., really not much savings. You have to enjoy making them, and get a satifaction from doing it, then it is worth it.
There is a marked difference between an “off the rack” rod and a rod built specifically for your needs, size , style, etc. A simple thing like where on the blank the spine is and how the guides are setup in relation to the spine can only be accomplished by either doing it for your self or having it done for you. Factories building rods in mass can’t be that detailed. The balance of the rod based on the reel your going to use, etc….
When I made my post I had not thought about it much, but MONGO, jogged my memory about Thorne Bros, plus I didn’t see where you were from. When I used to live on the north side of the metro, I used to go to Thorne Bros often for different things and there was always a rod building class going on. Give them a call, from what I remember, you buy the parts there, then I think there is a small charge for their incidental supplies, and they help you put together your rod. once you have the hang of it. you can use their shop again with the nominal fee for other rods. give them a call and see if they still have that going. Jack.
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