Rod building is hobby for all seasons

From April through November, Maine outdoorsmen have a vast array of recreational opportunities. Anglers and hunters actually have to juggle outings to take advantage of concurrent seasons. Most sports try to spend as much time as possible afloat and afield during this eight months of prime time.

Then comes winter. After eight month of go-go-go, it’s four months of snow-snow-snow. Daylight dwindles, evenings drag, and severe snowstorms followed by days of sub- zero temperatures leave sportsmen somewhat housebound. Watching outdoor channels, screening cast-and- blast videos, and reading outdoor books and magazines only goes so far toward staving off cabin fever. The trick to beating the winter blahs lies in developing a pastime that keeps you connected to a favorite warm weather recreation.

Many fly fishermen tie flies, a few create custom wooden landing nets, and a lot of hunters and shooters fill their extra hours by reloading shells. Some archers make their own bows and construct arrows, and a handful of avid river runners spend the winter building a canoe or custom crafting paddles. One of my favorite winter hobbies is rod building. This is a craft that will help you endure the cold-weather months and reward you with a fine fishing rod that will assure you enjoy the warm-weather months for many seasons to come.

Why and who

Along with helping snowbound sportsmen fill any idle hours, constructing your own rod will save you considerable money compared to buying a similar product. Even after selecting top-of-the-line components, a home-built rod will cost you about half the price of an equivalent factory-built rod. Along with the monetary savings, the personal satisfaction of casting and catching fish on a rod you created is very gratifying. The feeling is right up there with creating a trout or salmon fly with your own hands that takes fish when old standby patterns will not.

For many, the enticement of rod building lies in the ability to construct a fishing stick that meets certain personal needs or desires. Perhaps you want a certain weight and length, a specific action, or a particular shaped cork grip for casting comfort. You may want more guides or fewer, larger guides for distance casting, or perhaps guides of a particular material or brand name. Possibly you desire a reel seat with a detachable fighting butt or maybe you just want a specific color or fancy pattern for the winding thread. What no factory can offer, you can custom build at home, in your own time frame and to satisfy any and every personal requirement.

If you’re old enough to require a fishing license, you’re not too young to build your own rod, and even if you’ve reached the senior age when licenses are now free from the state, you’re not too old to learn to build rods. A goodly number of women enjoy the art of rod building, and some have become quite accomplished. Smaller hands, nimble fingers, and an eye for color and design are definite advantages for lady rod builders.

In truth almost anyone can construct a functional rod. I still have the first rod I ever made, and although that 30-year-old endeavor isn’t as pretty or as fancy as my current projects, it’s caught an awful lot of fish and has years of life left. Over the last three decades I’ve put together fly rods in various weights from 3 to 12, and I’ve built spinning rods, trolling rods, bait casting rods, and even deep-sea fishing rods in a multitude of lengths and styles. It’s been a relaxing, money-saving pastime offering me great satisfaction and some top-rate fishing equipment, and it can do the same for you.

Getting started

While attending pharmacy school in Massachusetts, the chance to troll the Merrimack River for stripers and bluefish arose, but I owned no suitable rod. A visit to a couple of sporting goods stores proved precision, factory-made, stiff-trolling sticks that were far beyond my college budget. During a visit to a specialty rod and fly shop, the owner took pity on me after hearing my sad tale. He allowed me to spend all afternoon watching he and his partner build rods. They answered all my questions, showed me several little tricks of the trade and sent me on my way with a top-rate, one-piece rod blank and all the necessary components for less than $20.

Such rod-building shops and patient mentors are scarce nowadays, so I suggest first- time rod builders start with a kit. These packaged outfits assure that the reel seat, cork grip, and guides all match the rod blank selected and are present in the correct size and numbers. Anyone old enough to have bought and built kits for plastic model cars, ships, or planes will appreciate this concept. After doing a couple of kit projects, then you can move on to high-end rods and select appropriate components piecemeal to fit specific needs or personal taste.

Check out local fly shops and sporting goods stores first to see if they carry rod-building kits or can special order them for you. If this option fails, turn to mail order catalogs such as “Cabela’s Tackle Craft” or “Jann’s Netcraft.” These and other outlets can be found on line.

There are numerous books and videos on rod building techniques, ranging from basic instructions to intricate custom work. Several books penned by Dale Clemens have been my tutorials, and Art Scheck offers a great beginner’s guide. The Internet offers a wide variety of articles on rod building for craftsmen of every level, and many even have video clips. If a professional rod builder works in your neighborhood and will allow observers, knowledge gained will surpass books and pictures.

Rod builders don’t need an extensive or complicated set of tools, therefore urban apartment dwellers can as easily enjoy this hobby as rural sportsmen with large workshops. Each project requires an 8- to 10-inch round and flat file, tape measure, single-edge razor blade, white wax marking pencil, 1-inch masking tape, several pieces of various grit sandpaper, contact cement, and a small paintbrush. A pair of simple rod holders and a thread holder can be bought or easily built. For my first rods I sat the thread spool on a table and ran the thread between the pages of a book to provide constant tension. I hand-held the rod for each winding series.

Work in progress

In-depth step-by-step instructions would take too much space, but let me give you an overview and a few hints. First and foremost, read the instructions with the kit or peruse a book several times until everything makes sense and each step in order is understood. Put the pieces together and check the rod blank carefully for unusual curls, twists, or corkscrew bends. Sight down the rod length in good light and then slowly roll it on a flat surface to uncover these rare but occasional faults. Return any questionable blanks and ask for a replacement.

Due to the manufacturing process, all rods have one section of the blank wall which is a bit thicker than the rest. This thicker and therefore stiffer area is called the spine, and runs the length of the rod. It is imperative the guides be aligned with the spine or the finished rod won’t cast properly. All kit instructions and every book explain how to properly locate and mark the spine of a rod blank.

A variety of prefab cork grips are available, easy to install, and meet most needs, especially for novice builders. Building your own handle from top-grade cork rings and forming it to precisely fit your own hand is a lot of work. It is also the key to all-day casting comfort.

Another key to rod longevity and wrapping ease lies in treating the feet. The portion of each guide which sits on and attaches to the rod is a single or double foot. Any rough edges or burrs on the bottom of the foot must be filed smooth, lest they cut into the rod surface causing a weak spot and leading to breakage under tension. The top of the foot which will be overwrapped with thread needs to be smooth to eliminate spaces or rough spots as the winding transitions from the rod up onto the foot. Use a file, then sandpaper, to form a thin, smooth edge and tip to each guide foot.

Once wound, all thread wrappings need to be coated to preserve color and protect the surface. Use a two-part epoxy, such a Flex Coat, work in 70-degree or higher temperature and mix exact proportions for the best results. Failure to blend the resin and hardener thoroughly and precisely will lead to major problems. Once smoothly and evenly brushed on, the coating will sag and lump if the rod isn’t rotated by hand every 30 seconds until the epoxy starts to set. Pros use a low rpm motor and rod jig to keep a rod turning like a rotisserie until almost dry.

Once a rod is finished, the difficult part is resisting the temptation to grab it and whip it around. Let the rod cure for three days before giving in to the pent-up anticipation. Many, many years ago an aged Atlantic salmon fisherman gave me some advice to live by as I watched him unpack seven rod cases from his car trunk. “If a man knows exactly how many fishing rods he owns, Sonny, then he don’t have enough of them.” Now you know another reason I build rods, how about you?

Outdoor feature writer Bill Graves can be reached via e-mail at bgravesoutdoors@ainop.com