What Your Custom Rod is Made Of
When you order a rod from a custom rod builder, you can choose the type of material it’s constructed from, and you can dictate the construction details. Deciding what your rod is made from can be the most significant advantage of choosing a custom-built rod over a manufactured rod or store-bought rod.
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From a material standpoint, most rods are built from fiberglass, graphite or carbon fiber. There are builders who specialize in more natural materials like bamboo, which is most applicable to fly rods. Each one of these types of materials have properties that make them suited for certain types of fishing.
When you’re looking at the construction of the rod, we’re talking about how the components of the rod come together; length, action, power, guide wraps, winding checks, grips, reel seat, and butt cap. All these items work together to tune your rod, to make it best suited for a specific angling presentation, target species, or a particular on-the-water angling situation.
While mass-produced fishing rods have multiple variants of a single design, their ability to tune the rod and its components is limited to what appeals to the most common fishing situations.
When you choose to have a custom fishing rod built, you work with a builder who can help you combine the materials and components, into an overall design that fits you and the waters you fish. Here are a few options you can choose from during the design process of your unique custom rod.
When choosing grips and handles, you can choose between materials such as cork, EVA foam, or carbon fiber. You can also choose between having a split grip design or a traditional full-grip design. Cork has a great natural feel and does have some maintenance requirements while EVA foam is comfortable and light but hard to keep clean. Split grips are great for reducing weight and allow the rod to slide on your hip when setting the hook, however, be careful it does not slide into your ribs. That’s when you will want to consider a full-grip design : )
In some cases, your builder might even be able to include grip solutions like Winn grips, which are similar to material found on tennis racket handles: soft and somewhat tacky to the touch.
This contact point with you and the rod is important. When talking about the design with your rod builder, talk about the type of fishing you like to do, whether it be heavily dependent on detecting subtle vibrations or throwing heavy tackle. These types of details will help you get to the right grip for you.
Most rods are made from fiberglass, graphite, or carbon fiber and some rods are a combination of these materials.
These rod blank materials all have advantages and disadvantages, and the type of fishing you plan on doing with your rod will determine what rod blank material you should use.
If you are unsure of what material best suits the fishing application you plan to use with your custom rod, the builder of the rod can surely point you in the right direction.
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Reel seats are another essential decision to make when ordering a custom-built rod. Modern materials have given rod builders quite a few options for reel seats, and you can choose reel seats made from materials like carbon fiber, aluminum, and graphite.
There are various profiles for reel seats, including minimalist designs that are very lightweight and various trigger grip options for baitcasters.
The reel seat and the grips are your connection point to that perfect cast and the fish you catch. These areas factor in the balance and the weight of your rod. Choose a grip that connects well with your reel seat and chose a reel seat that anchors your reel and allows you the sensitivity that rod was built to provide.
Like with other rod components, line guides come in various shapes, sizes, and materials. Line guides can be constructed from stainless steel, titanium, chrome-plated steel, and aluminum.
The rings inside the guides where the line is in constant contact are also made from several different materials such as titanium oxide, zirconia, Duralite, aluminum oxide, and many other materials.
Different materials have different advantages in preventing line wear and delivering smooth line retrieval and casting distance.
The number of line guides put onto the rod blank also affects performance, and if you are unsure of the number of guides you want to be built into the rod blank, your custom rod builder will point you in the right direction. Your builder will be versed in where to put these guides on the rod based on the type of reel you will most commonly use and the type of fish you like to pursue. A Rod Seek rod builder will be able to offer you options in guide types but they will also be able to get the size and spacing that is right for you.
Custom rods are awesome, and they allow us to get the most out of our fishing rods in ways that mass-manufactured rods can fall short. Combine the customization for performance with adding a unique wrap or thread and you have something that really gives you confidence in what you are doing out there.
Inform the custom rod builder of the species and presentations you want to use your rod for, and they will build you the best rod for the task.
