Fishing Victoria Forum

During the last sale in CA, I found a nice fast taper blank that was on sale for $50 which was heavily discounted from it's original price. I've been thinking of making my own rod but my concern was the drying process as the epoxy will drip. The CA guy asked me "do you own a BBQ grill with rotisserie? I went home with the blank. :rofl:

Now the hard part - finding the materials that I need for the looks I wanted. I searched for the items in Australia but cant find any. :down: Off to mud hole I went. After sending a few messages to the very patient people of M'hole I ended up educated but embarrassed with my own ignorance when it comes to rod building. After a few mouse clicks, I had 11 items on my shopping cart and USD82 poorer.

The setup:

> split butt
> VSSD #16 Fuji reel seat
> 2 tone cork grips
> Metallic Silver winding checks and trims
> Rod wrap on the first 6 inches from fore grip
> Low rider guides
> hook holder

All up, I will be about $200 poorer. I know I can buy a nice rod with that and save my self the troubles but hey, I will be a proud owner of my very own custom built rod with handles on the thin end of the rod. :rofl:

Cant wait for the parts to arrive. This will be interesting. To get things started, I have marked the spine of the blank. :banana: Wish me luck.

PS, I asked a rod builder in Melbourne but the cost was insane. To make my blank look like a fishing rod, it will cost me $150 plus materials for a very simple set up.

Good luck FC, something I have wanted to try for a while but haven't had the time or money.

Best piece of advise I can give you is to practice on an old/broken rod first so that you're comfortable with your set up. Things like being able to apply an even coat of rod varnish can make your rod look first class. Once you sort out the problems you need to watch out for, then you'll feel more confident building your first rod and you'll get more satisfaction out of the finish product. Good luck.

Thanks for the advice but that will take the fun out of the equation.

Fish-cador wrote:Thanks for the advice but that will take the fun out of the equation.

the equation being how to turn $200 into a sticky mess, good luck with the build. :thumbsup: cheers davo

good stuff - looking forward to seeing the result

Good luck! Thats something I have always wanted to do, but probably never actually will. Im looking forward to seeing the result!

Parts are expected in 2 weeks. I will post photos of the project step by step. I am sure it will be a good experience.

Good Luck.
I have also wanted to try this, however after attempting to repair a few broken guides I now realise why hand built rods are so expensive.

Look forward to hearing how you go.

If mudhole ever do the st Croix blanks for 50% off again I'll be buying half a dozen and teaching myself how to build rods. It's something I've always wanted to do.

Make sure you post up the pics of the build.

What blank is the rod getting built on?