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Blu_Cs Offline OP
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Well, the wife and I both got COVID and survived, thank God.

Went stir-crazy during the quarantine period which ended last week and while stuck at home decided to catch up on my rod building.

Wound up with 9 rods built during the 10 day quarantine period, including two rebuilds (strip and rewrap with fresh guides):

1) 9' "float" rod for salmon
2) 9' "bead" rod for NW salmon
3) 9 1/2' surf rod for plastics in the East Coast surf (Blues and Spanish)
4) 10' conventional mooching type rod
5) 6' pogie rod for kingfish slow trolling (East Coast)
6) 6' light spinner for right here in GA - Chattahoochee river stuff,
7) 7' 2pc spinner 4-10lb line all purpose (but New England smallmouth in my mind, specifically Connecticut river basin)
8) 6 1/2' ultra light spinner, actually a smidge up from ultralight, 4-6 lb range. Smallmouth again. Think Cardinal 3/Penn 430ss.
9) 9' 5 pc for 8wt (think Pink Salmon and silvers)

Quarantine is over but momentum is till there for a few more, as I usually do my rod building during the winter anyway:

1) Heaver type 12' conventional rod ( 8-10 and bait).
2) 12' surf spinner on a seeker blank. Prefer conventional over spinners (way better casting) so this one may wind up as conventional.
3) 6 1/2' light wreck rod for snappers
4) 8' light spinner for Florida pier (croakers, mojarra, etc.)
5) 6 1/2 beach shark rod ("Land Based") this for a 12/0 or 14/0 Penn and 100-130 lb mono,
6) 9' 4 pc 5 weight, with grayling and trout in mind.
7) 5 1/2' Diawa boat rod rebuild (brutish fights with bridge goliath Grouper are the target)
8) 5' Panga rod for 60-80 lb class. Could double as Alaska Halibut rod with 80-130 lb braid. Fenwick eGlass blank never wrapped from the 70's and stainless guides/carbide tip. Might go all retro on that one and use a Varmac Reel Seat.
9) 10 1/2' surf spinner for tarpon. Might try the K concept on these. Sorta modern, although I'm not sold yet. This too may wind up conventional.
10) 10 for 4 wt. Stealth Lake brookies in Northern New England

Lots of Pacific NW and FL stuff, but if you cant be there in the moment you can live your dreams by getting ready, right? smile









Carry what you’re willing to fight with - Mackay Sagebrush

Perfect is the enemy of good enough
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sweet. what blanks and components did you use for builds?

You need to come to the pnw for salmon and steelhead

how about some pics?


Originally Posted by Blu_Cs
Well, the wife and I both got COVID and survived, thank God.

Went stir-crazy during the quarantine period wich ended last week and while stuck at home decided to catch up on my rod building.

Wound up with 9 rods built during the 10 day quarantine period, including two rebuilds (remove and rewrap with fresh guides). Some notables:

1) 9' "float" rod for salmon
2) 9' "bead" rod for NW salmon
3) 9 1/2' surf rod for plastics in the East Coast surf (Blues and Spanish)
4) 10' conventional mooching type rod
5) 6' pogie rod for kingfish slow trolling (East Coast)
6) 6' light spinner for right here in GA - Chattahoochee river stuff,
7) 7' 2pc spinner 4-10lb line all purpose (but New England smallmouth in my mind, specifically Connecticut river basin)
8) 6 1/2' ultra light spinner, actually a smidge up from ultralight, 4-6 lb range. Smallmouth again. Think Cardinal 3/Penn 430ss.

Quarantine is over but momentum is till there for a few more, as I usually do my rod building during the winter anyway:

1) Heaver type 12' conventional rod ( 8-10 and bait).
2) 12' surf spinner on a seeker blank. Prefer conventional over spinners (way better casting) so this one may wind up as conventional.
3) 6 1/2' light wreck rod for snappers
4) 8' light spinner for Florida pier (croakers, mojarra, etc.)
5) 6 1/2 beach shark rod ("Land Based") Jewfish this for a 12/0 or 14/0 Penn and 100-130 lb mono,
6) 9' 4 pc 5 weight, with grayling and trout in mind.
7) 3 1/2' Diawa boat rod rebuild (brutish fights with bridge goliath Grouper are the target)
8) 5' Panga rod for 60-80 lb class. Could double as Alaska Halibut rod with 80-130 lb braid. Fenwick eGlass blank never wrapped from the 70's and stainless guides/carbide tip. Might go retro on that one and use a Varmac Reel Seat.
9) 10 1/2' surf spinner for tarpon. Might try the K concept on these. Sorta modern, although I'm not sold yet.

Lots of Pacific NW and FL stuff, but if you cant be there in the moment you can live your dreams by getting ready, right? smile








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Blanks are mostly Calstar, Seeker, Lamiglas, Rainshadow, Fenwick, Saber, Gator/Tiger (Howald glass process like used on UglySticks) Shikari and a number of bargain blanks of indeterminate parentage. Some of the blanks are 20 plus, even 30 plus years old, that I have collected over the years (been building rods for well over 50 years). Lately I've been circling back to fiberglass which is a lot more forgiving and easier on the back and shoulders than the stiffer of the graphites.

Components, I'm old school so lots of stainless on the heavier SW rods, halide/alconite on the fresh water and light/medium SW, and oversize chrome plated on surf and pier spinners (i.e. for Florida pier fishing). Fanciest ring guides are Fuji SIC's, and only a few rods wear those. Makers are Pac Bay, Fuji and other "offshore" as well as AFTCO on the rollers.

I consider myself a fisherman, and my rods are all purpose built and style wise, the older I get the less fancy my rods. Wraps are plain jane, sometimes with zero trim, or only with one or max two colors of trim. I even do some, like fly rods, with one color of nylon thread with no color preserver so the wraps blend right into the blank when the epoxy is applied. My last diamond wrap was over 30 years ago.... . So even if I could post pictures (never tried), they are sorta drab looking by comparison with most custom rods you see out there. My approach is all about function.

I dont make rods to sell, just use or give away, especially to kids or grandkids.

Honestly IMO the biggest ingredient in my rods is the mental part, the design and layout. Most folks wont give my rods a second look, but someone who really fishes will take notice and parhaps even start a conversation.


Carry what you’re willing to fight with - Mackay Sagebrush

Perfect is the enemy of good enough
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That’s cool. I had a good buddy who would strip and redo good but tired rods. I had him put a couple eyes on for me and fix a handle. He had some great salmon rods he’d built too. Sadly when he passed he had half of one of my good rods that needed guides and I never saw it again. I’d like to be able to build my own catfish rods as I have some ideas I like that aren’t available that I’ve found, but I don’t know where to start and don’t really want to jump in and get a bunch of money tied up in it.

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I've built all my own heavy surf rods,10' Harringtons and Jaw bone blanks, 552,553 and 555s, my boat rods are Calstar Grafighters.


God bless Texas-----------------------
Old 300
I will remain what i am until the day I die- A HUNTER......Sitting Bull
Its not how you pick the booger..
but where you put it !!
Roger V Hunter
IC B2

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Originally Posted by TheKid
That’s cool. I had a good buddy who would strip and redo good but tired rods. I had him put a couple eyes on for me and fix a handle. He had some great salmon rods he’d built too. Sadly when he passed he had half of one of my good rods that needed guides and I never saw it again. I’d like to be able to build my own catfish rods as I have some ideas I like that aren’t available that I’ve found, but I don’t know where to start and don’t really want to jump in and get a bunch of money tied up in it.

You should try doing your own, plenty of videos on youtube.


God bless Texas-----------------------
Old 300
I will remain what i am until the day I die- A HUNTER......Sitting Bull
Its not how you pick the booger..
but where you put it !!
Roger V Hunter
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God bless Texas-----------------------
Old 300
I will remain what i am until the day I die- A HUNTER......Sitting Bull
Its not how you pick the booger..
but where you put it !!
Roger V Hunter
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A great wintertime hobby. I built several rods over the years but most recently I built a couple of Lamiglass 1 piece 9’ downrigger rods for my son and daughter. The blanks were 30+ years old and were old stock in the basement of a friends popular tackle shop. The same shop that when I was 11 or 12 I’d ride my bike to and buy a box of 20ga shells after school. They don’t sell ammo anymore but they’re still going strong with tackle.

Keep up the good work. 👍


�Politicians are the lowest form of life on earth. Liberal Democrats are the lowest form of politician.� �General George S. Patton, Jr.

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God bless Texas-----------------------
Old 300
I will remain what i am until the day I die- A HUNTER......Sitting Bull
Its not how you pick the booger..
but where you put it !!
Roger V Hunter
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Blu_Cs Offline OP
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Originally Posted by stxhunter
[Linked Image from i.postimg.cc]


There's some nice rods Roger! And

I'm big on the land based shark fishing too, but don't feel limited. Just as happy catching a minnow so long as its big enough to toss on the barbie!

Look forward to the day I can pop over for your annual beach fishoff on PINS, and bring some of my gear along to give it a Texas workout. Only problem there is my van is a 2WD and I worry (just a little) about getting bogged down. In Florida I dont worry so much as I just park off A1A and walk over a few yards to the beach.

Meanwhile I have decided on the 12' seeker blank to go full conventional, having today viewed a number of Larry Finch (based in JAX) videos. His style re pompanos and whiting is right in line with mine even if he is based a couple hundred miles north of where I fish which is around Sebastian inlet in Brevard County. (Where we lived before I moved up to ATL, but where we still frequent). That one will be rigged with a 7000 narrow or a Penn 525Mag (with the mags pretty much disabled, i.e. "commando")


Carry what you’re willing to fight with - Mackay Sagebrush

Perfect is the enemy of good enough
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Originally Posted by AcesNeights
A great wintertime hobby. I built several rods over the years but most recently I built a couple of Lamiglass 1 piece 9’ downrigger rods for my son and daughter. The blanks were 30+ years old and were old stock in the basement of a friends popular tackle shop. The same shop that when I was 11 or 12 I’d ride my bike to and buy a box of 20ga shells after school. They don’t sell ammo anymore but they’re still going strong with tackle.

Keep up the good work. 👍


Speaking of which I have another legacy blank, a 10 1/2 footer graphite, possibly a Rainshadow - not sure, which is a moocher/downrigger blank. About as noodly as a 10 1/2 MH graphite blank can be. Inspired by your post might just roll than one up!

Do you do anything centerpin? Or is that limited to the crazy Canucks? I have a couple old Alvey reels somewhere......


Carry what you’re willing to fight with - Mackay Sagebrush

Perfect is the enemy of good enough
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Done lots of fly rods, and find it a relaxing endeavor. Last few have been 15 ft two handers.


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Originally Posted by 1minute
Done lots of fly rods, and find it a relaxing endeavor. Last few have been 15 ft two handers.


I hear ya! I have a couple 2 hander blanks, with handles attached, that are calling out to me to roll!


Carry what you’re willing to fight with - Mackay Sagebrush

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I've been building rods since 1975 still have a few from back then. My favorite ones are the fly rod blanks made into spinning rods. I've caught some large hard fighting fish on some lightweight line with them rods.

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That tip section is always a bear on the two handers with like 9 guides to lash on.


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better plcs

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God bless Texas-----------------------
Old 300
I will remain what i am until the day I die- A HUNTER......Sitting Bull
Its not how you pick the booger..
but where you put it !!
Roger V Hunter

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