So skip about 30 years and I had done a few guide repairs for friends and myself on our bigger saltwater rods. It never looked all that good really, but the guides were in line with the others and they stayed there. Whatta ya want for nothing a rubber biscuit?
So I figured maybe I'll try a few of my own rods for freshwater fishing. I built 2, one a really nice G Loomis blank I use for finesse fishing, and a little more all around slightly heavier rod with a blank from American Tackle. It is their "Matrix" rod and is green. I used yellow and white thread for that "Oakland A's" look.
The second looks better than the first, now this is my just finished 3 rod.
It is built on a blank from Batson and is their Rainshadow ISB722.
Specs: 6' foot 1 piece 8-14 line 1/4-5/8 lure weight Fast action Med power and costs about 40 dollars. Batson are known for their good value on rod blanks and people that build custom rods really like them as a finished and fished rod. Here's my new "Brown Eyes Blue" spinning rod. I built it for my wife to use for finesse bass fishing on Clear Lake CA. She is pretty good and has a good touch for dropshot, shaky head, flick shake, and all that lighter style of fishing.
My wife picked the colors for the thread, chestnut and light blue. They look great together, and the chestnut has a real wood look to it.
It took me about a month of working in little bits to finish it. If I just tried to work on it in my free time, it would take about 10 days. Total cost ran about 100 dollars for all the parts.
It ended up using the Fuji New Concept Guide System. I don't know about all their claims for it (check the link) and I've never fished with this layout so I'll see what's up. To do that Fuji system really right you have to match the guides to the rod and the reel seat and reel. After I got the split grip handle built and the reel seat on I put on the Shimano Stradic 3000R reel and went to the Rod Rack in Hayward to get the guides I needed and get some help on where they should be placed. They are a big help and answered lots of questions.
The biggest difference with this guide system is that it gets the line funneled down quick on the rod then out the tip. It is not the gradual one guide smaller than the rest I'm used to. So it looks a little funny with all these small guides in line on the end.
So why do it?
Do you get a better rod than you can buy?
No not with a 40 dollar blank compared to a 300 dollar rod. But you do get a really good rod.
Do you save money?
Not at the extreme. You can get a pretty good 50 dollar fishing rod these days if you are looking at a price point. Hey I fish with Cabelas house rods all the time, they are pretty good. BPS too.
So?
Well you get the fun of doing it. You pick your own parts to mix and match. If you like a sports team or like a set of colors you get to have just that. You will always have a better rod at a price point. Your 100 dollar rod will be better than a stores 100 dollar rod if you pick a good blank and build it right. You can build it as high end as you want and will have as good a rod as any store sells, or go cheaper and buy a 20 dollar blank, cheap guides, and have a cheapie custom rod. The fish won't know and I won't tell.
Is it hard to do? Nope. Glue on seats and cork. Place and align the guides and wrap them with thread. Add finish, go fish. You can name your rod if you want.
Is it hard to make beautiful custom rods? Uhhh yea. I ain't there yet! Those guys are true artists.
It's not quite done yet. Gotta catch a fish. That's the fun part.
more/bigger photos
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