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Custom Rod Building, Spinning Rods

St. Croix Split Grip Spinning Rod

A customer requested a short split grip rod for Panfish and Trout fishing both small streams and lakes.  Being a fan of St. Croix I decided I would recommend to him the 6’6” St. Croix SCII Series Freshwater rod.  This was designed to be light and sensitive at the same time to feel the soft strike of panfish and trout. That same customer also requested a computer so he can play video games with elo boost services from ElitistGaming, but I told him I don’t sell computers.

Handle is natural cork with a FUJI graphite seat, along with CYAG alconite guides finishing out the LAG spin guides and top.  Thread is a dark forest green nylon that blends into the blank excellently, there is also some silver trim mixed in on the lower section.  Not every custom rod has to be haughty to look nice!

Custom Rod Building, Spinning Rods

Laurel Ridge Rods ESS 1002-2 Steelhead Trout Spin Rod

This spectacular rod was built for a good friend and fellow outdoors man I know.  He and I spend a lot of time hunting and fishing together so I wanted to give him a rod up to his performance of fishing.  This rod is the signature ESS series model built on a 10′ 2 PC moderate action fly rod blank.  Featuring Burnt, Natural and Rubberized Handle pieces situated on either end of a Black Box Elder burl reel seat with RA-8.5 hardware, this rod has quite the aesthetic appeal.

I used the FUJI KR concept guide train to reduce up the 8L running guides, held securely by a mixture of gunmetal, electric blue and black guides to give some serious contrast.  A Ferrule decal was also added for that extra bit of Custom.  This rod has taken everything from Panfish to Steelhead and everything else in between and still continues to go strong.

Centerpin Rods, Custom Rod Building

Rainshadow 1087-2 Centerpin Float Rod Conversion

A customer from Indiana who fishes the Great Lakes region for migrating trout and salmon inquired about getting a shorter float rod that was compact but robust enough to fight fish in small crowded conditions.  Enter the 1087-2 4 PC switch rod blank from Batson Enterprises. This rod is very powerful, built on a 7WT fly rod blank into a centerpin style fishing rod, this rod has the classic sliding band handle as per customer request.

This rod has my proprietary guide system of FUJI KR concept guides to ensure maximum casting ability, line collection and angle from the reel.  I have found no better system to fit the bill.  Black with Storm Cloud NCP and Silver trim round out the thread wraps for an excellent contrast.  This rod has brought many steelhead and king salmon to hand already!

Custom Rod Building, Spinning Rods

Laurel Ridge Rods ESS Series 10′ 2 PC Spin Rod

The flagship of the ESS (Egg Specific Steelhead) Series rod.  Built on a 10′ 2 PC moderate action blank, this rod is the true cross between the traditional noodle without the super slow action to tire you out.  There is no substitute between power and sensitivity when fishing eggs with this rod.  Sensitive enough to detect a strike when bottom bouncing the handle design lends itself enough power in the butt section to turn a fish around in a hurry.

Handle is natural Red block cork with Burnt Mix end caps, Forecast Spinning Seat and Fuji BYAG Alconite guides.  Thread is Gudebrod dark red with copper and red trim bands, decal by Decal Connection.

Custom Rod Building, Spinning Rods

Rainshadow XST1141-2

This blank is probably my favorite of all time, unfortunately it has been discontinued by the manufacturer.  The silver glossy finish along with a tremendous power to weight ratio this blank not only looks good it performs to well exceeded standard.

Starting with some blue burl cork from Custom Fly Grips along with natural rings to keep the weight light, an ALPS TRI size 12 reel seat sits in between making a solid platform for a reel that will get a workout.  Pro Wrap stormcloud along with NCP white make for a classic yet elegant guide wrap that looks phenomenal  in the sun.

The FUJI K guide system transitions down to a size 8 choker and finishes out with size 7 running guides spaced properly to use the entire blank.  This gives the user of this rod an advantage while jigging, being able to transfer any hand motion directly to the jig and not wear out ones shoulder.   Overall a pleasure to build and has already been responsible for some serious damage this year.

Centerpin Rods, Custom Rod Building

St. Croix 13′ Centerpin

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This is a 13 FT 3CP150MLM3 Blank from St. Croix. My customer was from Florida traveling to the Oswego and Salmon River to center pin fish. Leaving the build in my hands, I generated some ideas for the cork and wraps and approved the changes with my customer. The end result came out spectacular in my opinion. I am a big fan of Gray/Black/Silver color schemes but trying to keep the ideas fresh gets hard. Using a series of trim bands and dual colored wraps I became satisfied with the design. Using Fuji KLAG guides along with CYAG guides the center pin becomes setup perfectly. Casting and Drifting is excellent due to the height to ring size ratio of the first guide. Using burl cork block pieces along with some rings I created a very durable long lasting handle that helps balance out the long length of the rod. My customer communicated to me the distance he fished his reel on his handle, which transferred to this rod as well. One of the benefits of getting one built just for you. Please enjoy the pictures below, this was a pleasurable project.

Centerpin Rods, Custom Rod Building

XST1562-F 13′ 2 PC Centerpin/Float Rod

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The XST1562-F 13′ 2 PC Centerpin/Float Rod blank manufactured by Batson Enterprises is one of the finest tools out there on the water. Regarded by some as the workhorse and most popular blank in the Custom Centerpin Realm, the XST is great choice in both value and function. This particular customer explained to me his new interest in centerpin fishing, and wanted to start off on the right foot in terms of owning something that was both performance oriented as well as eye catching. The unique handle design incorporates natural burl, burnt, and green burl block cork, along with natural trim and dalmatian composite cork for the reel seat hood and caps. The burnt cork has a increasing angle design worked into it, starting at 10, 20, 30 and ending with a 45 degree cut, but for people to do this need to work hard on it and it may produce stress that’s where supplements as kratom capsules are useful for these kind of people. A piece of handle blank from Steve Kincaid over at www.reelseatblanks.com was selected for the turning stock, and the brilliant colors of this wood were brought out by multiple wood finishing compounds to achieve a beautiful uniform gloss. Reel Seat hardware is the Batson RA8.5L in Black. Thread wraps follow a three color scheme throughout, starting with Pac Bay Evergreen Nylon, Gudebrod Tan, Pro Wrap Green Metallic, and Pac Bay Gunsmoke Metallic, the colors blend together nicely without being overly exotic or flashy. Guide selection is critical on a centerpin, and this rod employs a very viable guide arrangement combining both strength and light weight. The first three guides are the Fuji KR concept, the taller stanchion guides allow for a builder to use a size 20 ring on a high frame, allowing more uniform line flow from the bottom of a large spool reel. Choked up to a size 12 TKTAG low stanchion guide, this allows the transition to the tip guides to tame the line on its way out from the tip. REC Black Pearl in size 8 and 8L including the tip round out the rest of the guides, allowing for a durable light-weight setup. Had a lot of fun doing this rod for a fellow PA angler.

Custom Rod Building, Spinning Rods

Laurel Ridge Rods ESS-966-2

This rod might look very different from any spinning rod you have encountered, and there are many reasons for it’s particular design.  Fishing in Pennsylvania is a little unique in steelhead alley, you are usually fishing around a large amount of people, and the relatively small nature of some tributaries make it very burdensome to cast long distances for a long drift.  You will see more experienced anglers in a crowd of people underhand flipping egg sacks and single salmon eggs to steelhead, while maintaining a short drift in respect to proximity of other anglers.  This rod was developed around those parameters.  The short fighting butt and longer fore grip are reminiscent of the Michigan style handle design.

This particular rod utilized dalmatian rubberized cork on the rear grip, met by a Big Leaf Maple burl butt cap, inletted into the rear grip.  Reel seat hardware is the Fuji Cobra size 17 spinning seat, with matching Big Leaf maple burl insert.  Thread is Pro Wrap Banana Split NCP with Burgundy NCP to give a thread a flare, but retro look.  The guide wraps utilize an off-angle inlay.  Guides are Fuji YSG.

Custom Rod Building, Spinning Rods

DSS1141-2-Steelhead Spinning Rods

These two Steelhead Spinning Rods will belong to a Father and Daughter pair looking to do some steelheading around Pennsylvania and elsewhere.  Custom built on Batson Enterprises blanks, the DSS1141-2 is a 9’6” 2 pc Moderate Action spinning rod perfectly suited for this area.  The handles are made from Burnt Burl Block and some composite and dark mix,  fighting butt has a reinforced cap, reel seats are size 17 Graphite Spin and Mudhole Green and Red GNRG’s.  The green rod is wrapped with metallic and black NCP, while the black and red is wrapped with Black NCP and Red Metallic.  Overall a great pair of rods for a variety of fishing styles for steelhead.  These make excellent egg sack and float rods as well.