Roll your own rod ?

[owlcreekok]

I am a big time do it myselfer. I couldn't have nice guns, nice cabinets, blah blah blah, if I were not blessed with a little dexterity and a lot of "too dumb to know better than to try THAT".

I am trying to get a feel for how many folks would try making their own BTB rod. I learned from the seminar TJ gave that these things break a lot. Well, I break one all along doing a pendulum cast from the hill. When I went to better rods, this almost stopped.

Can we build one ourselves ?

I think I can, and intend to try.

(Just like I intend to try BTB fishing (see the part about "too dumb" above,,,Lol)

[bigfost]

I've built many rods over the years, but it's gotten to the point that it's cheaper to buy a good one than build one, and that's usually without counting your time.

So, I guess my answer will be no.

[Jolly Roger]

My answer is No to building a BTB rod. The reason is if I spend the time to build a rod I am going all out on it. A rod used for BTB usually gets banged up fast, just the nature of the type of fishing we do. So I would not want to put the effort into a rod that I know I will be very rough on.

Now a custom surf or shark rod are different. They can be used for a long time.

[Barnacle Bill]

I'd love to build my own fishing rods but I don't do very well learning from books so I'd have to have a class on it in person.

[mrkm1010]

I've built some rods ,my popping rod on a fenwick blank is over 30 years old, not real pretty anymore, but it is still my favorite trout rod. If your in to functionality and and not beauty, they are not that hard to wrap, but the parts cost as much to build one as to buy one. I had to make a few before they started looking decent.The main difference is the pride you take in catching fish on a rod you built yourself. I'mgetting kind of old and lazy, and it's just so easy to buy a tigerstik.

[Randy]

I envy those that can do it, and some seem to nice to even use,,,, I wish I could but I cant even set the clock on the VCR... 12:00 blink 12:00

[Davy Jones]

I might consider it if I went through a lot of rods, but I have so many other things I do, I don't need all the materials to store while waiting to need another rod. There is nothing wrong with building your own, I think its great if you are able and like to do it, but I prefer to buy mine.

[FishingSETX]

Id love to get into building rods, but the cost keeps me from it. I can buy a rod of the same quality for alot less $$ not including time involved. Plus, Im HARD on gear so I could never use it once I built it!

[Carver]

I built a few rods as a kid and actually still have a couple around. I might build another rod or two in the next few years purely for entertainment purposes.

That being said, (IMO) if a retail rod doesn't meet your exact needs and/or budget, then contact one of the several gifted custom rod builders that support/lurk in this site. They still love what they do and it shows in their pride of craftsmanship, they sincerely care about your specific needs, and you will still not spend more than (usually less than) a high-end retail rod. These guys are a real bargain and you end up with heirloom quality that it would take you MANY rods to achieve if doing it yourself.

Just another reason involvement in TKF has immeasurable benefits.