01-06-2021, 02:43 AM
(This post was last modified: 01-06-2021, 02:49 AM by Downriggerer.)
(01-06-2021, 02:29 AM)ratnest Wrote: As a first time builder, would your recommendations be to buy a kit, or select parts individually, or does it not really mater?
That all depends on you and what you want to have at the end. The kits are usually pretty budget and the rod you end up with at the end is serviceable.
If you select the parts you want, the rod is exactly what you want and exactly the performance you are looking for.
If I was building a trout rod for throwing spinners, I'd build it differently from a rod I was going to use to chuck power bait. You don't get those options with kits.
I got in to rod building almost 15 years ago because I couldn't find a rod I liked for kokanee. No one made one that had the performance I was looking for, partly because most kokanee fisheries aren't like Flaming Gorge. A fly rod blank won't lift a 5 pounder at 80 feet. And a stiff/faster rod yanks the fish's jaw off. The Jared Johnson Lamiglas blank was close, but it wasn't built well for a production run.
I started from scratch and designed the kokanee rods I use today to both lift a 5 pounder from 8 feet but that also has the slow action I need to not rip lips. My catch rate increased drastically, became more fun, and each adventure was much more satisfying knowing that I had cracked the code on getting kokanee to the boat.
Sometimes you just have to build your own to get what you want. But, it's a lot harder to get right than working from a kit.
(01-06-2021, 02:33 AM)meancuznalfy Wrote: I've used the mudhole, like the MHX blanks, not too expensive. I did a ML 7' rod this summer, worked well, and the kit was only $70, pretty reasonable I think.
My only complaint with the MHX blanks are that Mudhole buys them for $1 in China and then sells them here for 50x that. Not that other companies don't do that too. But, buying an off the shelf blank from Alibaba and putting a trademark and some marketing on it doesn't make it better than any other Alibaba blank.
There is a difference in more expensive blanks. I built a custom Seeker halibut rod on a Hercules blank and a Loomis ultralight blank that are easily my favorite rods to fish. Every time I pick them up, they are light, sensitive, and custom. Every time I pick them up, the heavens open like when Arthur pulled the sword from the stone, angels sing, and fish everywhere curse.