For many years, I have bought fishing rods off tackle store racks. The problem is that I would handle many of these rods and seemingly always fell in love with them. The truth of this practice is that many times when using my new found “love”, is that it failed to produce the performance that I was expecting to see. I’m sure plenty of you out there have had this same thing happen to you. At last count I own 75+ fishing rods of which take up space in closets, garage and my custom rod racks and probably will never be used again. In retrospect, I had wasted so much money but then I decided, it would be better to design a fishing rod to do EXACTLY what I wanted it to do. Catch Fish Better!
I fish both salt and freshwater for many different targeted species of fish. Having fishing rods that handle in a certain way, is the key to my success rate of catching fish. This became very apparent when I was fishing for tuna. Most of the rods I currently own must have been designed for the average male height which don’t always work for me since, for better words, I’m vertically challenged. Having the proper fulcrum of pull can either make fishing pleasurable or agony to a fisherman especially if you intend to be pulling on a big tuna for a long time.
So after listening to many fishing experts on this subject I was going to have several custom tuna sticks made that would keep me in the game and not asking for a time out. I went to my favorite local tackle store and asked about custom rods to order. I knew this store had a good rod builder and asked if I could speak to him. After some discussion he explained to me why I needed a custom rod built and then we looked at rod blanks. We discussed many subjects such as the length of the fishing rod, actions and line class that all were important to consider. Other items like reel seats, guides and grips all have a set purpose as well. So I had several rods made to order and went fishing. After a few tuna trips I found my money well spent and my backaches a thing of the past not to mention a lot more fun fishing.
Over the last few years I have added to my custom made rod collection with freshwater rods geared for trout, bass and catfishing. These rods see a great deal more fishing time and not sitting in my rod racks gathering dust.
My friend has been building fishing rods for 25+ years. I asked him how many rods he has built in that period of time and was told approximately 3000 + fishing rods. I think after building that many rods he knows something about fishing rod designs and performance.
I decided to speak to him since he knows more about what anglers want these days and see if he could add to the list of reasons why anglers have custom sticks made for them and some good advice for those interested in having a rod built.
My rod wrapping friend gave me several good reasons why some fishing rods sold at many retailers had specific problems. These are some of the more common issues that he found after purchasing fishing rods. Neither he or I are saying these problems are found on all off the shelve rods. There are some very good ones right off the rack.
1. Some off the shelf fishing rods may not be splined correctly
2. Guide spacing may not be in the optimum placement
3. Handles are not correctly spaced for reel seats
4. Guides may not be correct for the action of the rod
5. Wrong type of guides used and poorly wrapped
So my next question was why would someone want a custom rod built?
Some of his answers to this question I didn’t expect to hear but even with 10 of my own custom rods built, I found some “educational” other reasons. Many of his customers (they come from all over the country) had very specific species of fish that were being targeted and may require certain types of lures and actions to be used. He designs rods for very specific lures. For example, some bass fisherman may use swim baits 6 to 12 inches long. Or may be using a rod designed to throw only crankbaits. Then there were things like people wanting rods made up in their favorite football team colors. One customer had every guide wrapped in a different color and it was a triple wrapped rod! Some of his customers used only certain brands of reels and not all reel seats fit all reels correctly. I personally spent $200.00 for a “high end brand name” rod (off the rack) only to find it was splined very poorly and near useless after my 1st trip using the rod. To salvage my investment the rod was taken down to the blank level and was shortened 3” at the tip, then splined correctly and wrapped with titanium guides that fit the rod better than the previously installed guides from the rod manufacturer. The finished results after reconfiguring the rod was absolutely amazing for restoring the performance I expected from the rod.
When talking about saltwater rods and party boats or multiday fishing trips some anglers wanted color schemes like all reels matched their fishing rod colors so they could easily identify their fishing rods from everyone else’s. Can you say my fishing rod is HOT CARNATION PINK? Now for me the answer is a definite “NO” but I have a lady fishing friend who can make a statement when she comes on board the boat because if I see that fishing rod in the rack I know Shari is on my boat. And she is darn proud of that fishing rod! I think the list of reasons for having a custom made rod is a long one and I probably should mention what you might pay for having individuality. Costs for custom rods can vary greatly. When I asked my friend how much was the most expensive rod he ever built, his reply was over $800.00
Custom rods do vary in pricing and for most custom builds you might expect to pay a more reasonable price between 200.00 to 500.00 dollars. The cool thing about owning a custom built rod is that your signature is written all over it because you get to choose the blank manufacturer, action wanted, number of guides, reel seat type, handle type, color wraps, color of handles, color of seats, length of rod, number of color wraps used on the guides, guide spacing, veneers, holograms, rod color, guide types and seat material.
For some of you, I am sure there are off the rack fishing rods that meet your expectations but I’ll be thinking about my new canary yellow rod with the neon red colored wraps with titanium guides. Just kidding or am I……..? So if you see it on board the boat you’ll know who it belongs to. Tight lines to you all and next time you go to your favorite tackle store consider being an individual and ask them if they have a custom rod builder.
