Baker's Dozen

[Andrew_P]

I took up rod building during 2020 to replace drinking. It is easily as addictive and even more expensive. I've built around a dozen rods for friends, family and myself. I had a bit of help with the basics from brother in law and spent a couple of hours with Peter Flor from Florless Rods who showed me how to epoxy - after his help the improvement was instant.

Got lots of info from searching this forum so i thought i'd give back. Here's 13 pics of builds/rebuilds.


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Cheers

Andrew

[Andrew_P]

lucky last! Attachment 123474

[stevej]

looking good

did you come up with your own designs ?
all my mates who use to make rods for me have given it away and i never had the attention to detail to achieve what you have

[Andrew_P]

Do you mean thread designs or guide size and placement/handle length etc? There’s some great info out there provided by some of the companies for guide placement etc. which are really helpful when you are starting out. The suppliers also help choose components - Ross from Rodworks is a legend.

Thread designs are decided when I sit down at the lathe, depending on what colours the person I’m building for has suggested. The patterns are heavily influenced by wraps I have seen online and on rod building forums like BDO and this one.

I’ve started dabbling with marbling. Unique patterns and lots of fun

[stevej]

yeah sorry meant the rod recipe itself
i have a notebook here somewhere with past rods i built or had built but the guides have changed alot since back then, i can remember paying $8-900 for a composite developments lbg rod with full set of zirconia guides in early 90s
now there are much better guides and so much lighter

[Andrew_P]

Bit of both - Batson/Rainshadow do recipes for almost all their blanks and ive built a couple of these. They produce Alps components too so recommend reel seats, guide types and sizes etc. I still static test the placement of guides even when given the measurements, and change the reel seat/handles depending on who the rod is for. Most of my builds have been on the old Kilwell FG and Live Fibre blanks so i've had to work out where to put things. Testing them under load helps a whole lot!

Blanks, guides and other components have come a long way. They are reasonably priced and available. I can build a custom rod for similar $ as something like a Gary Howard off the shelf.

The tech in some of the blanks is incredible. Still, there's nothing quite like the cushioned bend of a Snyder fibreglass blank

[catshark]

very nice , takes me back to tech school , was lucky enough to have a rod building class , made a few trout rods and lasted for decades , some nice base patterns there , looks like heaps better materials and guides , the old diamond pattern cross was the go , saw the teacher do a base pattern with line of fish in the base , just remarkable

[Lucky_Phill]

For people that buy " off the shelf " rods, they have no idea what time and effort goes into making a good rod.

I haven't made a rod for years now, seems I made enough good ones, I don't need anymore.

I remember doing a fish wrap on a 5kg stick... 22hours............. just for that wrap. But it is unique and very satisfying to use your hand made rod.

I'll second the use of Alps gear

cheers Lp

[stevej]

to be fair off the shelf rods these days have come a long way
courier just dropped off a venom swimbait rod and its nicely made

[Lucky_Phill]

to be fair off the shelf rods these days have come a long way
courier just dropped off a venom swimbait rod and its nicely made

Mostly agree. I have seen the price of some " brand name " rods and my credit card starts to shake.

I have also seen mid to low priced items just disintegrate with the slightest bump or moderate high sticking.

Apart from making my own from American blanks of unquestionable quality, I have a liking for Shakespeare Ugly Sticks.

I also feel people get a bit too " fussy " with their rods. After all, it is the fisho that catches the fish. I remember fishing with 4ft fibreglass rods ( cork grips and ceramic guides ) and a wooden Alvey offshore and these days now using custom made 6' 6" rods and Quality spin reels... still catching the same fish, same amount of fish and to be honest, the fish don't the changes I have made.

I suppose it comes down to economics and passion. Unless you've built a great rod, you'll never understand the feeling you get, landing your first fish on it.

LP

[Dirtyfuzz]

Peter Flor is making me a deep drop rod at the moment and hopefully the price is long forgotten after a few good catches, the workmanship looks amazing and should last a lifetime for the minimal deep dropping I will most likely do

[Dignity]

Apart from making my own from American blanks of unquestionable quality, I have a liking for Shakespeare Ugly Sticks.

LP

I probably have a few Ugly Sticks that I am going to get rid of shortly. I'm in the process of down sizing the number of rods I have down to hopefully 20 or less. A lot of lighter gear will probably go to some charity that teaches kids to fish. I've lost touch with a couple of organisations, I guess I'll have to look them up.

[NAGG]

First up - Well done Andrew your rods look really good ....... There is something very satisfying about catching a fish on a rod that you build yourself .... Great stuff .

I built a couple of dozen rods during the 80s & I have to take my hat off to those with the patience to keep going ....... I was pretty lucky to know a talented rod builder who gave me the guidance that I needed ( & recipes) - back in those days you didn't have a lot of options & the off the rack stuff was pretty ordinary .... hence why I built what I needed .

today we a myriad of choices - if you spend a few hundred ..... awesome kit .

I'll come right out & say .... I hate ugly sticks or the likes of a shimano terez ...... these are the proverbial broomsticks - those that like them ....knock yourselves out try something decent & compare the pair.

I still find nothing better than picking up a ultra well made rod that weighs next to nothing & knocking over a substantial fish on it ........ ditto with a quality filleting knife

I'll pay the bucks to get a rod that feels great to use rather than plough away with a broomstick .......... that's just me - its nothing to do with fishing snobbery but more to do with performance & functionality .

Interestingly - when it comes to custom rods .... these days those long & intricate weaves & wraps are gone ....... it just adds weight & reduces sensitivity / performance

Chris

[stevej]

I’ve built rods and wasn’t very good at it they were usable but that’s about it
I’ve had custom miller’s from the late 90s and other builders round Sydney and they were nice rods
wire all of them out but still have some surf rock overhead spinsticks on the wall in the shed

Having custom colours and weaves doesn’t matter to me anymore, just want a light responsive rod

I have ugly sticks for the non fishers I take out to go bait fishing as I know they won’t destroy them by dropping banging them
on gunnels etc


building rods can be very therapeutic for those with the patience

[NAGG]

The old mates rod ..... yeh fair call on the ugly sticks there.

I have a pflueger supreme 6-8kgs & a Strudwick sic stick 4-8kg for that ...... both are actually reasonably nice rods & in fact the Strudrick which I broke the tip off many years ago - I rebound & turned it into a pretty reasonable reef rod ( I reckon a 8-10kg now) .

I've got to say - I really hate watching someone else grab one of my outfits & then see them proceed to high stick it on a fish ....... or how they try to get it off a snag

Chris