Rod builder in brisbane

[-Shay-]

Hi guys

Mate and I are looking at getting two heavy overheads for surf fishing. Looking at something capable of 20+kg, casting 150-180g. Length somewhere near 14ft.

Does anyone know any/have recommendations for rod builders in brisbane that might be able to help us out?

[rayken1938]

Contact Lance ( aussie123) at http://www.reeltackle.com.au/ He has a rod builder who does fantastic work using st croix blanks.
He will be able to help you out.
Cheers
Ray

[-Shay-]

Awesome. Thanks mate. Pretty sure lance is good mates with my brother in law haha. Didn't even think of him!
Thanks for the tip though!

[grave41]

Shay I build custom surf rods. The trouble is a quality heavy surf blank can cost up to $800 for the blank alone eg Century, Zziplex . A. Reasonable blank around $280 us eg lamiglas, st croix, tommy farmer. I build a lot of custom lite surf spin, overhead around 12ft-13ft 2&3piece .example 12ft 2 piece real 3m nano blank cast weight 7-50grams but actually casts 3gram slugs using 15lb braid and17lb leader 70m no worries. Blank cost $320 but out fishes every other rod I have including daiwa morethan ags surf rods. Just a little heads up for you. I also have acces to pimped up akios reels
Cheers Graham

[-Shay-]

Thanks for that info Graham, Ill keep it in mind and discuss it with my fishing buddy

[Stuart]

"The trouble is a quality heavy surf blank can cost up to $800 for the blank alone"

Graham, I dont find any trouble in sourcing quality blanks for well under $800. In fact my own custom surf blanks which I dont sell anymore cost less than $200. Those blanks can dead lift 20kg and cast an un weighted pilly a country mile. If what price you stated is correct, then the company is smoking themselves mate, because there is no way known a blank is worth that much even if it builds itself and casts for you. I have seen wholesale prices for bait casters where the asking price was $600 per blank, I laughed that hard the salesman walked away in a huff. In reality, a surf blank has a material cost around $25, off course no labour or anything else on that, thats just the cloth. Just because a blank has a ridiculous asking price doesn't make it top quality, it just means there is a sucker who got scammed.

Stu

[grave41]

Its true there are cheaper blanks out there and they can carry a heavy payload ,maybe even cast butt they weight a ton and fish like a bag of spuds.Most of the blanks i use i test first normally at Fraser Island for 10 days at a time.If i cant catch fish with them or they cast poorly i wont build anymore with them.
I always try to source cheaper blanks that do the job so a custom rod can be made at a reasonable price.Example i sell a light surf 12ft 2 piece 10-20lb with fuji titanium silicons custom reel seat and grips $280 ,only trouble is i cant get these blanks anymore at the price i want no matter how many i buy.I only have 2 left bugger.
Im hunting an Italion blank that casts 200m off the ground like a normal cast.still in the chat process if it comes off they are awesome especially for the money.
Most aussies have never felt a quality surf rod they are so used to there snyderglass and other lumps of rods.It seems the only place to go is china to get them made to bring the cost down.
I was just letting Shay know what he could be up for.
Graham

[Stuart]

Im not sure why cheaper is the only way. China is not the answer to all problems. If your only targeting a certain price bracket/market, then your creating a situation where thats the only customer your ever going to attract. Why aim low when its just as easy to aim high? I got out of doing cheap rods 18 years ago, did my head in, worried like hell how Im ever going to compete with Chinese imports and the large emerging tackle chain stores. Light bulb moment. If I cant compete on price like the all where and still do, I have to do an arse about and compete on quality. I do still hear many say rod building is dead, you cant make a living from it, well I have for over 20 years. And as you know, I had my own largish factory for 8 years on custom rods only, so yes, there is money to be made but you have to find or make your own niche. Once you have then you can charge what you like. Why you chose to make bugger all money from a rod is beyond me mate, Im not being a smart arse here, but if you keep charging what you do then your never going to make the leap into the game full time. Why spend 80% of your time making 20% of your income? When I was making surf rods, I would charge from $400 through to $550 built on my own blanks. I also built one surf rod that topped out at just over $600. If you continue to base your prices around what tackle shops charge, then you may as well stop building rods. The other consequence of cheap custom rods, is it puts downward pressure on the rest of the custom market for those that make a full time living from it. For example, I make slightly more than what I was 15 years ago on most rods in Australia. Why? simple really, pressure from imports, pressure from the internet as more and more people learn how to build rods and begin charging low prices to try and get a foot in. Off course many more factors than that but you see where Im going.

[grave41]

Stuart i agree with what your saying but you have to get a foot in first, as my niche is surf and all sorts of spin its not easy but its happening.I like baitcasters especially spiral bound but the market isnt there.
Graham

[Stuart]

Take this bit of advice for what what its worth to you. Its much harder to increase the price than it is to set a price from the beginning. Educating your clientele base to the virtues of quality is the cheapest, yet best invetment you will ever make. if you take as much time explaining why you choose to use x y z as well as the quality of those those parts, then the sale is normally in the bag.