Rod Building

Have done a lot of research lately and have decided that I would like to start building my own ice rods. I would like to start with rods I can use for Greenbacks up at Lake Winnipeg, so heavier and longer ice rods. Should I instead start out by building a panfish rod? Also, it would be awesome to see your guy’s “workstation” or set up you have for building rods. I see they have stands and everything on Mudhole but was thinking I could just build mine.

If you have never built a fishing rod before, I would suggest taking a class first. Ice rods are more difficult to make due to their thin diameter and light actions. If you are going to go for it at least start with a cheap blank for your first. I could only find one bad picture of an ice rod I made. The others are summer rods. It is a fun hobby

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I’d start by building the size and action of rod you want,,,,,,,,,,,, EXCEPT,,,,,, I’d use a cheap blank and cheap components. After all this is going to be a “find all my mistakes rod”.

For your second rod, upgrade the blank, the components, and build a rod you will enjoy for years. I think an ice fishing rod is a perfect choice to start from.

busse3775 where are you located ?

trumar wrote:

busse3775 where are you located ?

Fargo, ND

busse3775 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>trumar wrote:</div>
busse3775 where are you located ?

Fargo, ND

Counts me out from helping

A few basic pics. Once your past the mental block of it being difficult, or complicated, it just gets easier from there.

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few more

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Thanks for the advice fellas. What type of equipment do you guys see as being essential. I seen they have starter kits on Mudhole, is it worth getting one of those or buying the stuff separate from different stores.

I have recently started to build my own rods about a year ago. It is fun and addicting once you get the hang of it. I bought a starter kit from Mud Hole. I started with a few cheep blanks to practice on. The do have some decent rod kits available. I did a few 6 foot rods before I attempted and ice rod. Ice rods have a lot of flex in them. I tried to work on an ice rod tonight and had to stop due to frustration. You could check out rodbuilding.org they have a lot of information in their forums. Also Mud Hole is having a two day class in Minneapolis, MN 3/4/2017 Sat. 9am-7pm
Sun. 9am-12pm  $149 Good luck and have fun with it

busse3775 wrote:

Have done a lot of research lately and have decided that I would like to start building my own ice rods. I would like to start with rods I can use for Greenbacks up at Lake Winnipeg, so heavier and longer ice rods. Should I instead start out by building a panfish rod? Also, it would be awesome to see your guy’s “workstation” or set up you have for building rods. I see they have stands and everything on Mudhole but was thinking I could just build mine.

How long do you have in mind for your Greenback rods? Sportsmens Direct has a lot of great blanks to choose from. http://sportsmensdirect.com/shop/Ice%20Rod%20Blanks/

Probably better to do some more research and order what you want for supplies and equipment rather than buy a “starter kit” that likely has things you may not need.

Below is a photo of my ice rod tip wrapping attachment. It stabilizes the blank and works well for wrapping fly guides on for tips and also the other guides on springy blanks.

Dan that is a great idea for those springy blanks. Thanks for sharing.

muskie-tim wrote:

Dan that is a great idea for those springy blanks. Thanks for sharing.

It’s not a thing of beauty – just a prototype to see if it worked, and it worked out good. A bit more detail is that it’s a spacer block that’s the height of the V in the hand wrapper and is screwed to the thread carriage. It has a removable “bridge” piece screwed on top of that and about a 3/32″ hole drilled through where the two pieces meet. To wrap the middle guides where the blank is larger than 3/32 just loosen the screws a bit to make the gap large enough.

That’s an awesome idea Bassn Dan. I would like to do 36″+ rods. I am trying to figure out how to build my set up for making rods before I buy to many supplies. As a preliminary plan, I want to purchase the hand wrapper from Mudhole then just build my rod supports. If I want to do more ice fishing rods I am thinking this idea of strapping the rods in place will come in handy.

There is a guy on Ebay that makes a dryer that also comes with the stands. This will work for holding the rod blank for wrapping and also applying epoxy for drying.

busse3775 wrote:

I would like to do 36″+ rods. I am trying to figure out how to build my set up for making rods before I buy to many supplies. As a preliminary plan, I want to purchase the hand wrapper from Mudhole then just build my rod supports. If I want to do more <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>ice fishing rods I am thinking this idea of strapping the rods in place will come in handy.

Are you looking at graphite or glass blanks, and for what techniques? I haven’t built the MHX “Walleye” blanks, but they spec out close to their panfish blanks and would likely not be as stout as you would want for greenbacks. For longer blanks, the MHX “professional” blank looks much heavier and could be a good choice (though it might be more of a laker blank?) and the DGB blanks are tubular and wouldn’t be as durable for ice use. Other than maybe the “professional” I’d probably look other places for greenback blanks.

Bassn Dan wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>busse3775 wrote:</div>

Are you looking at graphite or glass blanks, and for what techniques? I haven’t built the MHX “Walleye” blanks, but they spec out close to their <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>panfish blanks and would likely not be as stout as you would want for greenbacks. For longer blanks, the MHX “professional” blank looks much heavier and could be a good choice (though it might be more of a laker blank?) and the DGB blanks are tubular and wouldn’t be as durable for ice use. Other than maybe the “professional” I’d probably look other places for greenback blanks.

I would like to start out by just buying a cheaper blank to get the process down then plan on moving my way up. I looked at the MHX professional blank and that is what I had in mind for a greenback rod. I am going to do more looking around to find a couple more options.

There is a TON of information and video’s on youtube. Nice thing about them is you can always go back and re-watch some stuff ya might not understand. Its a very fun and addicting hobby!

A powerful “ice” blank that is inexpensive is the .385X.105X72 Batson solid glass blank. They’re 6 feet long, but guys cut them to the length they want and sand them to get their desired action. Available at Utmost http://utmostenterprises.com/SOLIDGLASSBLANKS.htm Utmost displays MSRP on their site, but discounts those prices and they only charge ACTUAL shipping costs. People use these for lakers, so they should work well for greenbacks.