Build Your Own Fishing Rod

If your an avid angler, have you ever considered making your own fishing rod, tying your own flies, or making your own lures?  There is nothing more rewarding for me to hook and land fish using flies I've tied and with a fly rod I've built for myself.  If you're serious about your fishing, building your own rod should be a major consideration.

Building your own rod does not have to be difficult and is fairly easy to learn how to do. One of the great things about building your own rod is that you can customize everything from the shape and length of the handle grip, choose your own blank to build your rod on, and select higher quality guides (sometimes referred to as "eyes," that the line runs through) than what you might find in a rod off the rack.  Although there are many manufacturers that make some very good fishing rods, you have to remember that they are made for the "average" angler, whatever that is. When you build one for yourself, you can turn a fishing rod into a real fishing tool that can outperform most anything you'll buy at the local hardware store.

Building a rod is not that difficult, either. You don't need any fancy tools although some of the specialty rod building equipment can be helpful if you decide to build more than a few rods. When I built my first rod about 30 years ago, the only tool I used was a round file that I needed in order to make the hole in the cork grip larger to slide down the rod blank and glue into place. Everything else I used were things found in any kitchen and livingroom: Medium size books for thread tension (nylon thread is used to hold the guides in place on the rod) and a mug to hold the thread.

One good reason to build your own rod is that you have a lot of choice as to the components that build it with! Maybe you've found the perfect rod that has the action that is just right for you but you don't like the shape or length of the handle. Perhaps the guides are poor quality or you would like a heavier duty reel seat. When you build  your own rod, you can consider these things right from the start and get exactly what you want in a fishing rod.

Will a custom fishing rod you've built help you catch more fish? I'd suggest that yes, it can. If you have confidence in the tools you are using, that confidence will spill over into how you fish, for one thing. Further, when a rod is built correctly, it will outperform and outcast other similar rods off the rack, which means your lure or fly can be in the water, where the fish are, longer. As well, once you have hooked a fish, a properly built custom rod can give you an edge in fighting that fish and bringing it to hand or the net.

Today, there are a number of retailers that specialize in providing custom fishing rod components and who will be happy to help you select the right components for your own custom built fishing rod. You might even end up saving a bit of money too, by building one yourself!

Be sure to check out these custom rod building resources I've provided for you while you consider the idea of building your own rod.