# Some rod pictures



## bowhunter29

I'm not sure why it never occured to me to post some pictures of rods that I've built, this is a 'tackle making' thread. Here's some pictures of a couple. More to come later.

This is a St. Croix blank that I cut down to 5'10". It is medium power and xtra-fast action used for skipping worms under docks. I did some flame marbling in the split grip and in front of the foregrip. I like to use Fuji size 4 single foot fly guides on most of my builds. They weigh next to nothing and they hold up well to abuse.



























This next one is a Pittsburg Steelers themed rod I did for a buddy. It's an IS701L from Mudhole. A very nice blank for the money. I did several decal inlays and some marbling in the split grips and on the guide wraps.


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## bowhunter29

This rod started life as a 2S70MHF. I extended it a foot which turned it into more of an xtra-fast action. I used cobra snake skin inlays between the split grips and in front of the foregrip. I used Fuji micro guides for runners- like most of my rods. I used this one to toss spinnerbaits and buzzbaits.

The grips









Snake skin inlay









Guide wrap









This one is my main muskie rod. It's a Lamiglass LGM102XH. I turned custom grips for it from variegated EVA and I put a tiger wrap between the split grips. This rod has Fuji SIC guides on it because it is used to throw big lures on heavy braid. I did a simple spiral wrap on it and used size 6 single foot fly guides for the runners.

The grips









Guide wrap









Simple spiral


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## vc1111

Those are amazing. Very impressive work!


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## timmyv

Bowhunter, Can you talk about the process of building your own customer rod? Like how you get those designs on the rod itself? What about cost and such? Thanks in advance!


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## DonDon1

Nice work on those rods


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## PartyCove

Bowhunter29,

Those are some nice looking fishing sticks. On the ones with the decals, are there only certain types of decals you can epoxy over or can you make your own? Thanks.


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## bowhunter29

timmyv said:


> Bowhunter, Can you talk about the process of building your own customer rod? Like how you get those designs on the rod itself? What about cost and such? Thanks in advance!


TimmyV,

The process of building a rod is basically finding out what a customer wants, ordering the appropriate components, and putting the rod together. I start at the rod butt and put on the grips and I work my way towards the tip wrapping the guides. 

The marbling that you see on a couple of the rods is easy to do. I mix up my rod wrap epoxy and pour it out into two pools on aluminum foil. On the rod with flames, I mixed black Testors pigment into one pool of epoxy and then applied it to the rod. I then custom mixed an orange and mixed it in with the second pool of epoxy. I then applied it over the black using a toothpick. I allow the marbling to dry for about 10 hours and then I put another clear coat over it. It's very easy to do!

The snake skin inlays are a bit more involved. You need to find skin that will work for doing inlays. Cut it to length and apply color preserver to it and the rod blank. Wrap it on the rod and coat it with several coats of color preserver to prevent the epoxy from contaminating it. Then apply 2 or 3 coats of epoxy over it and you're done. I skipped a few steps but you get the general idea.

The cost of a rod is determined by the components that it's built from. When you add up the cost of the blank along with the other components along with shipping, taxes and labor, a less-expensive custom rod will go for around $175 or so. 

A properly built 'lower-end' custom rod will blow the socks off of a high-end factory rod like a Loomis or St. Croix. The factories don't take the time to produce the quality or performance that is available from a custom rod. Now if you take a high-end blank and have a custom rod built on it, you have a little slice of heaven! 

I built myself a St. Croix 3C68MXF as a spinning rod and I used split grips and Fuji titanium SIC's and micro guides as runners. The rod is insanely light! I can feel a bluegill pecking at an unweighted senko with slack in the line while using 15lb Spiderwire. That's sensitivity!!! You're not going to get that from a factory rod- at least none that I've seen. 


PartyCove,

It really depends on the decal. The stickers on the Steelers rod and a PSE themed rod worked very well. I've tried other stickers that didn't do so hot. Alot of it depends on the adhesive that is used on the stickers. Some just don't want to stick to the blank because of the curvature. 

Hope I answered your questions, sorry for writing a book! 

jeremy


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## bowhunter29

Here's the PSE themed rod I built for a buddy with an archery shop. (even though I shoot a Hoyt)




























Excuse the dust in this picture!


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## Pikopath

I think I bruised my jaw, from it slamming into the table. Can I sue you for that? 1 rod in compensation is fine  

Michael


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## muskyslayer96

Bowhunter,

AMAZING!!!!

I would love to know more about the process, looks almost as addicting as bait building. A rod building post would be great, I'm sure there would be a lot of interest. keep the pics coming!

Nice work,

MS


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## PartyCove

Definitely jealous. I was looking on Mudhole's website and they do offer classes around the country. I ordered a free catalog and put a note with the request hoping for some classes in the OH/PA area. Maybe if enough of us request this they will offer one....on second thought forget it lets have Bowhunter29 teach it...


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## bowhunter29

Pikopath, you had me laughing pretty hard when I read your response!

Muskyslayer, rodbuilding is very addicting and I found it much easier to learn than building lures. There aren't as many variables. If you can build one kind of rod, then you can build almost any kind. 

PartyCove, I really wish Mudhole was closer. They do some great stuff in their classes. I'm trying to get a rodbuilding club together at the local high school so I can teach some kids but the school staff doesn't seem too interested right now. I live in an area where EVERYONE hunts and fishes so I know I'd have a bunch of kids get involved.

jeremy


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## Pikopath

hehe.
Rodbuilding is one other thing Id like to give a try, but shipping 8-9 foot rodblanks from the states costs alot. Im considering to rebuild a cheap berkley bassrod from baitcasting to spinning rod this winter. Rings and such isnt that exspensive to get over the pond.
May I ask; is it hard/possible to remove old decals on a rod? I want my own Pikopath BitchStik 

Michael


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## bowhunter29

Pikopath said:


> May I ask; is it hard/possible to remove old decals on a rod? I want my own Pikopath BitchStik
> 
> Michael


You may be able to remove the decal, it depends on the rod. If you can't remove it, you should at least be able to paint over it and then put your own decal on and then finish over it with epoxy. 

Unfortunately, alot of rod building suppliers are here in the US but there are several good ones scattered around the globe. It takes some searching to find them.

jeremy


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## st.slippy

I would be proud to fish with any of those, and although I could giveor take the steelers, I am really digging that rod. Nice !!


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## Pikopath

bowhunter29 said:


> You may be able to remove the decal, it depends on the rod. If you can't remove it, you should at least be able to paint over it and then put your own decal on and then finish over it with epoxy.
> 
> Unfortunately, alot of rod building suppliers are here in the US but there are several good ones scattered around the globe. It takes some searching to find them.
> 
> jeremy


Since I mainly fish for pike, with musky gear, I guess I have to get my blanks from over the pond. Flyfishing supplies are plentyfull here, and both G-Loomis and St Croix have distributors here, maybe they can have some blanks shipped...
Unfortunatley the old St Croix supplier, who happened to be one of the best rod builders in Europe and extremely friendly/helpful, went out of business a few years back.
I know St Croix have blanks, but are there other brands that you can get of the shelf?

Michael


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## bowhunter29

Pikopath,
You may be able to get the St. Croix dealers to have some muskie blanks shipped to you. Loomis no longer makes blanks for custom rod builders. There are still leftovers from 2009 floating around so you may be able to find a couple. 

There are several other companies that manufacture rod blanks for muskies. Two that come to find are Lamiglas and Batson Enterprises. Have you tried doing an online search for 'muskie blanks'? I'm sure you get tons of stuff to look through. Hopefully you can find something useful to you. 

St. Slippy,
I'm not a Steelers fan either...somehow I became a Packers fan. I live in south-cenral PA so I'm not sure how that happened. Thanks for the compliments on the rods.

jeremy


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## bowhunter29

These are some examples of tiger wraps that I've done. It's easy to do and adds a very cool accent to the rod. The layers of thread combined with the layers of epoxy make a color shifting pattern. The cool part is if you hold the rod about 10" from your face and slowly turn it, it makes you go crosseyed! Kinda like those pictures that you have to go crosseyed to see.










The rod on the left has the tiger wrap. The rod on the right is marbled.


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## muskyslayer96

Bowhunter,

Love the rods, really, really cool!!  keep the pics and posts coming. A tutorial would be super cool! And really happy to hear about your choice in football GO PACK!

MS


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## bowhunter29

Here's some pictures of a rod I just finished up. I had some pretty harsh light this morning so the pictures aren't the best. I'm working on making a white box!

This is a 3S76MLXF that I cut down to 7'3". It has variegated EVA grips, marbling with Bullard International pigments, and Fuji Alconite guides with Stainless frames.


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## bowhunter29

This is a 4S68MXF PSU themed rod. Sorry OSU fans!!! It has a blue and white tiger wrap in the split grip, custom cork, and Fuji Alconite Stainless guides. I use micros on most builds. These are size 4- little buggers!


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## Pikopath

Wow, just wow... Next time Im going over the pond, I will threaten you in some way to make me a custom rod...

Michael


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## vc1111

Those are great. Looks like a lot of fun. How long does it take to complete one rod?


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## bowhunter29

Pikopath, let me know when you come over again. Maybe we can work something out.

Vince, it depends on the rod. If it's a plane rod just built for performance, I can build it in about 2 hours. If it requires tiger wraps and such, it can take as much as 5-7 hours. That time is usually spread out over a couple of days to allow time for the epoxy to dry.

jeremy


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## gunnr

Awesome rods, Jeremy! By the way, I got some of the diamond II to try out. Just tried it on a "mistake" so far but I think it may be my new topcoat. Thanks for the tip.


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## bowhunter29

gunnr said:


> Awesome rods, Jeremy! By the way, I got some of the diamond II to try out. Just tried it on a "mistake" so far but I think it may be my new topcoat. Thanks for the tip.


Glad you like the D2, I use it on my rods and lures.

jeremy


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## gamedogs

very sharp.


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## LilSiman/Medina

Those are some sweet rods! Do you sell custom rods to people?


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## CoolWater

That flame marbling looks AWESOME, great looking rods!


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## CoolWater

Oh yea, no reason to apologize for the PSU themed rod. Any team we beat requires no apology. 

Now if it would have been a Wisconsin themed rod... well you know...


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## bowhunter29

LilSiman, I build rods for anyone.

CoolWater, LOL you're a funny guy! Even though I bleed blue and white, I love to watch OSU play when they aren't playing PSU. Great program you guys have out there.

jeremy


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## Pikopath

Soo..you turned a lamiglas into a Diamondback rod? Why didnt you just buy a DB?? 

Amazing as usual.

Michael


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## YR bender

Yes, I agree. Those rods are very nice. Please send me a PM. I have some questions for you.


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## timmyv

Bowhunter, I never did thank you for going over the process of building a custom so Thank You! They are so sharp! Love the snake rap! Would love a custom rod someday!


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## bowhunter29

timmy, no problem, glad to help.

YR, thanks for the compliments. I'll be in touch.

Pikopath, you crack me up! I'd love to fish with you sometime if you make over the pond again.

jeremy


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## "Big" mark the shark

Holly flying pigs batman thats some work of art you got.


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## jeffjenkins1

Nice work!

Jeff


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## bowhunter29

Thanks for the compliments guys.

This is a pair of pack rods that I built for Larry Wise, a former high school math teacher who happens to know a thing or two about archery as well ! These rods are for his son and son-in-law. The boys like to do some fishing when they backpack.

They're built on 6', 4-piece blanks in a fast action and light power. They are pretty nice...makes me wish I had one! I used a black/metallic silver twist thread for the guide wraps, it came out pretty nice. I used size 20 Fuji reels seats on these with some custom foregrips, man are they comfy to hold! I've started using large reel seats on all of my builds because they just fit your hand better- less fatigue. If you've ever fished all day with a rod that has a grip that's too small for your hand you end up with a sore hand. 




























I put alignment marks on each section to help in lining them up when the rod is put together. It's such a pain trying to keep all of the sections aligned correctly and this should help quite a bit. Sorry for the dust in the picture


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## Pikopath

Nice rods blahblahblah, you know that, but Id like to give you thumbs up for a nice webpage. I havent seen it before, very very nice!
Ye, I will come over the pond again, but Im not sure whether it will be PA tho.

Michael


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## grub_man

That is a dynamite little blank! I love mine. It has a 20mm seat as well, the next best thing to a Tennessee handle.


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## Babs67

muskyslayer96 said:


> Bowhunter,
> 
> AMAZING!!!!
> 
> I would love to know more about the process, looks almost as addicting as bait building. A rod building post would be great, I'm sure there would be a lot of interest. keep the pics coming!
> 
> Nice work,
> 
> MS


I too, am very interested in the process! Bowhunter, I will be sending a PM. Great rods! hint hint: I am partial to hot pink or purple please...


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## markfish

View image in gallery​


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## bowhunter29

I built a pink one last year at this time for my daughter. She's 4 and she loves catching bluegills. I put some heart stickers and glitter on it. Perfect.

jeremy


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## rjbass

You've got it goin on Jeremy, awesome stuff!

Rod


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## markfish

well with all the lades getting inti the sport i build 8 and this is the last one they sold fast,


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## bowhunter29

markfish said:


> well with all the lades getting inti the sport i build 8 and this is the last one they sold fast,


Is that one of the Mudhole Custom Builder blanks?

jeremy


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## billk

I love that marbling technique! A lot easier than the chevrons that I always used on saltwater sticks.

Thanks for sharing. Here's one of mine that I really like:


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## markfish

no i get most of my blanks from rain shadow,the flip rod and spinning are comepared to the same as g,looms at less then half the price


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## bowhunter29

Very nice wrap Bill!

Here's one I just finished a couple of weeks ago. I'm breaking it in this afternoon! St. Croix doesn't make Avid Musky rods anymore so I found a blank in their Avid Inshore lineup that's perfect for throwing bucktails and smaller crankbaits. It's the 3SW80HF and it's rated to 3oz lures (which it handles with ease) and 40lb line. It equates to the 8' MH rods in the St. Croix's musky lines. The blank is a beautiful dark copper pearl and I did a nice split grip with a power hump handle, aluminum trim rings, chrome Fuji CMNAG's and CLAG's, and I wrapped it in bright orange thread. I did not use CP on the thread which allowed the blank color to bleed through resulting in sweet rust colored wraps. I just bought a Shimano 300DSV to go on it...should be a sweet combo. Unfortunately I'm going to have a 5600 C3 on it this afternoon. I'm not complaining, at least I'll be fishing!


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## bowhunter29

I haven't posted any rod pictures in awhile so I figured it's about time. I just finished these two up last week. The first was built on a Mudhole MHX blank, these are quickly becoming my favorite bass blanks to build on. They are super high quality and they come at a great price. The guy wanted this one built to match the old red Daiwa Fuego reels. I turned the fighting butt out of variegated EVA and I used the aluminum winding checks to match the Pac Bay Minima guides. 














































This one was built for the son of a friend. It's a St. Croix Premier blank, a 6'6", ML power, Fast action. I went with a small guide system on this one (BYAG 20, 12, BLAG 6, 4's to tip) because it will be used with a 1000 size reel and 4 or 6lb mono. 














































thanks for looking,
jeremy


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## bowhunter29

Here is the second of three 2S66MLF's that I'm building. This one happens to be a three-piece pack rod. I stuck with black and white on this rod because it matches the variegated EVA fighting butt that I made and I think black and white looks classy. This rod will probably see a little bit of action for SM locally but I made it for my next trip to Northwest MT to chase the big trout in the South Fork of the Flathead River. The last trip I made there I had a cheap pack rod that cost me several large fish...I will have my revenge. 

thanks for looking,
jeremy


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## bowhunter29

I haven't posted anything in awhile so I thought I show some pictures of my latest build. I just finished up this 66M saltwater rod for a program that provides rods to US soldiers. I went with the good old black and silver theme because I think it looks pretty classy. I used the x-flock grips, aluminum fighting butt and reel seat, Am Tack Virtus Lt guildes, and a I did a metallic silver/black snake skin inlay. The snake skin is obviously a print, but it is done on real snake skin. I'm proud to be able to donate a rod to someone who has sacrificed so much for their country.

jeremy


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## HappySnag

bowhunter29 
you build nice rods.
that is nice of you donating rod for US military.

snag


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## "Big" mark the shark

Will I know what I am asking the wife for christmas next year.


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## All Eyes

Great thread here. Other than the Steelers one these rods look amazing. 
Thought I'd share a pic of a cool custom rod I found on E-Bay.


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## rutcutter

bowhunter29 said:


> This rod started life as a 2S70MHF. I extended it a foot which turned it into more of an xtra-fast action. I used cobra snake skin inlays between the split grips and in front of the foregrip. I used Fuji micro guides for runners- like most of my rods. I used this one to toss spinnerbaits and buzzbaits.
> 
> 
> 
> If you don't mind me asking how did you go about extending that rod a foot? I have a blank I would like to do that too.
> 
> 
> thanks chris


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## bowhunter29

rutcutter said:


> If you don't mind me asking how did you go about extending that rod a foot? I have a blank I would like to do that too.
> 
> thanks chris


Chris,

It's pretty easily actually. Here's a step by step process of how I do it.

1. Measure the diameter of the blank butt. 

2. Find an appropriate extension piece from another blank, rod, or golf club 
handle. Cut the extension piece so that it gets tight when you slide it 
over top of the blank. It should fit snugly into place over the butt while 
overlapping 3-4".

3. You need to make sure to cut the blank and extension piece so that you 
get the length you want while making sure that your reel seal will sit 
overtop of the overlap of the two pieces. This will make sure the joint 
won't split out.

4. Scuff both pieces where they will join. Mix up some Devcon 2 Ton epoxy 
and put it on both pieces where they will fit together. Put epoxy on the 
blank starting at the butt and go up for a distance of about 12". This will 
make sure that you have plenty of epoxy in the joint. After you get the 
extension piece slid down into place, use a paper towel soaked in 
Denature Alcohol to clean the excess epoxy off of the blank.

Let me know if I did't explain anything clearly enough.

jeremy


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## rutcutter

Thanks for the in depth explanation can't wait to try it. 


Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine


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## zbass

Is making your own rod hard I have been looking in to building one


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## bowhunter29

zbass said:


> Is making your own rod hard I have been looking in to building one


Like anything else, there is a learning curve. In general, rod building is not difficult.

jeremy


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## zbass

So start simple and work up from there I've been looking at one of the crb kits from mud hole would that be a good start


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## bowhunter29

The kits from Mudhole are decent, but they don't give you the right parts to build a killer rod (from a performance perspective). Here's what I'd recommend:

1. Pick the MHX blank of your choice.

2. Get these handle parts:
Grips- F-1.0-250 REVERSE TAPER FOREGRIP
R-1.25-375 FRONT SPLIT GRIP

RSG-23 REAR FIGHTING BUTT FOR SPLIT-GRIPS
RVB-1 butt cap

Reel Seat- Fuji DPSD size 18
size 18 graphite arbor

RUBBER/VINYL WINDING CHECKS- three of appropriate size

3. As far as guides here's what I'd recommend for spinning rods with as 2500 size reel: 
BYOG 25, 16, 8
BMKOG 4.5's to the tip
BMCOT tip top in the tube size that fits the blank you've chosen
**your total $ of guides should be blank length in feet +1 (7 foot rods use 8 guides plus your tip top)



For casting rods, something like this will work: 
1. Pick the MHX blank of your choice.

2. FSG-387 rear grip 

RSG-23 REAR FIGHTING BUTT FOR SPLIT-GRIPS
RVB-1 butt cap

Reel seat: Fuji TCSD 16
size 16 graphite arbor

Cap the front of the reel seat with a BP-16 plug with a hole drilled in it so it fits over the blank. This will take the place of a foregrip...when's the last time you used a foregrip on a bass rod?!?

3. For guides, here's what I'd recommend:
BNOG-8
BOG- 6
BMKOG- 4.5's to the tip
BMCOT- to fit the blank you choose

Throw a hook keeper on and you've got a killer rod. If you build with these components instead of a kit, you'll end up with a rod that performs much better.

jeremy


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## adam_smith_nap

Hey i am interested in rod building, i was wondering is it cheaper to make your own rod? If you were to spend 150 dollars on a rod at bass pro could you make a rod way better for 150 dollars? Thanks For the help


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## bowhunter29

adam_smith_nap said:


> Hey i am interested in rod building, i was wondering is it cheaper to make your own rod? If you were to spend 150 dollars on a rod at bass pro could you make a rod way better for 150 dollars? Thanks For the help


If you already have the tools and equipment, it would be cheaper to build your own. I can build a heck of a rod for $150 in materials. The problem is that you need 2 kinds of epoxies, color preserver, a thread pick, a burnishing tool, razor blades, a wrapper (home made or otherwise), etc. If you were to build a bunch of rods, then your equipment/material costs would be spread making it more worth your while. If you're only looking at building a few rods, you probably won't save much if anything. But, on the other hand, you'll have the satisfaction of catching fish on a rod that you've built. 

jeremy


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## bowhunter29

I just finished up this 2S66MLF-3 and built it to match the Shimano Stradic CI4. I use some cobra skin in the split grip area and wrapped the rod with a metallic red to match the CI4 and trimmed it in silver. 

jeremy


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## rutcutter

Nice! Looks light. 


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## "Big" mark the shark

Still again awesome looking.


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## sonar

Real handy lookin, Bowhunter!! that's some real cool craft'in ! I like it! ----->>>>>sonar<<<<<-----


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## All Eyes

These are some great looking builds here. Keep the pics coming.


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## bowhunter29

I just built this rod for a fellow musky fisherman from NY. The blank is an XH Predator with a metallic silver pearl paint. They are made for Thorne Brothers by St. Croix. I extended this rod to 9'3", it came as an 8'10" model. The grips are EVA foam with black x-flock over top. The guides are American Tackle Virtus Lite Ringlocks wrapped in metallic lime green with silver trim. I like the Am Tack guides because they are much beefier and have ring lock technology. So many musky guys are hard on their gear and these guides should hold up much better to hard use. 



Thanks for looking,
jeremy


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## grizzly adams12

Looks great, nice build!


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## JSykes3

I'm drooling over that last one.


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## bowhunter29

Here's a pair of musky rod's I finished up last week. The first is the Lamiglas 102XH with a cranberry metallic finish. I used a little Bullard classic silver mineral over the black wraps. Guides are Virtus Lites. This rod is going to the Linesville Hatchery Baitfish Fund auction to raise money to feed the musky fingerlings more baitfish so they are larger when they get stocked. Bigger fingerlings means less mortality.





































The second rod is the St. Croix Big Nasty ('9 heavy for the non-musky people). I decided to go with the usual cork on this one with a python skin inlay between the split grips. I also used Virtus Lites on this rod. Gudebrod thread on this one! My last spool!





































Thanks for looking,
jeremy


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