While commercially available fishing rods are usually very good in quality for the investment, it is possible to construct your own fishing rod from available rod components. Custom-made fishing rods are preferable if you're particular about rod construction, or if you want a distinctive look in terms of colors, accessories and style.
Rod Blanks
Fishing rods are made from "blanks," lengths of graphite or fiberglass. You can buy blanks in various thicknesses and lengths, depending on the type of rod you intend to build. Use shorter, thicker blanks for tougher, heavy-duty rods. Use longer, thinner rods to create lightweight gear. The fiberglass blanks often come in colors, while graphic blanks come in graphite black.
Wrapping Rods
Once you have a blank, you need to install the rod eyes on the rod. You can choose from many sizes or rod eyes, and among many designs in terms of the height of the eye and any linings of the eyes. Glue and then wrap the rod eye "handles" using woven cotton threads specially made for this purpose. Wrap the threads around the rod eye handles very tightly. Add decorative bands of wrapped color threads along the rod if you like. Seal the rod and the wrapped areas with heavy-duty lacquer.
Handles
You can buy various types of blank rod handles. Handles can be made of either solid plastic, "soft grip" foam or cork--choose the material of your choice. Imbed the end of the rod blank in the handle according to manufacturer directions. Many rods can be inserted in handles designed to release the rod by unscrewing a gasket, allowing you to remove the handle later.
Reel Mounts
If you are making a spincasting rod or a baitcasting rod, you'll need to position reel mounts on the upper side of the rod or handle. If you're making a spinning rod, position the reel mounts on the lower side of the rod or handle. You can wrap and lacquer reel mounts onto the rod or snap them into specially designed handles. You can clamp other reel mounts onto the rod.
Reels
Reels come in a wide variety of designs and features and budges. Simple spincasting reels can cost as little as $10, while high-tech bait casting reels are potentially more than $700, as of 2010. Choose the reel that matches your preferred function--baitcasting, spincasting or spinning--and your budget. Mount the reel on the reel holder or handle according to manufacturer directions.
Fishing Line
Assuming you have purchased an empty reel, you'll want to fill it with the best fishing line for your purposes and your budget, at least to start. You can always remove the line and replace it with heavier or lighter line later. Choose between braided lines or monofilament lines, and between cotton, nylon and other synthetic materials. Full-service tackle shops will often fill your reel for you using special equipment, which makes the job go faster and protects against on-reel snags. Many tackle shops provide this service free, but for the cost of the line.
References
- "The New Advanced Custom Rod Building"; Dale P Clemens; 2008
- "Rod Building Guide: Fly, Spinning, Casting, Trolling"; Tom Kirkman; 2001
- "Building Your Own Rod (Complete Guide to Fishing)"; Bo Wessman; 2003
- "Fly Rod Building Made Easy: A Complete Step-By-Step Guide to Making a High-Quality Fly Rod on a Budget"; Art Scheck; 2002
- "How to Build Custom-Made Handcrafted Fishing Rods"; John B. Emery; 1987
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