Rod Building Advice
 

I just received a magazine from Mud Hole. In the front of the Mag is a bunch of rod building kits. I am slightly intrigued and am wondering if this is something I might like doing. Pretty handy with my hands but, I have never built a rod before. Any advice appreciated!

We all know how ya feel. ;)

here's my .02,
Mudhole is not as I understand it, is not doing face to face rod building classes due to covid presently. but, check on their site to see... that's just my guess.
I know I like go'n to'm, to meet new folks and always learn new things/techniques Unfortunately the last two face to face classes I've enrolled in cancelled due to covid... one was in corpus, the other in Houston...

BUT,

They have a On line Training... Ive not heard a negative word about it. and, they send you LOTS of stuff in the kit they send, much more than you would get if you bought all the items. Its more stuff than they give ya in the face to face trainings.

Might be something for you to check into... Only cost a couple hundred dollars, you get to build a rod, and if you like it, you can go forward from there. if you don't like it, you get out cheap for only 200$, and get to keep a rod, and you can sell the stuff on a market place and get some of the money back.

Rod building is expensive. folks out there in customer land that know nothing about it, always think because its hand made, that the cost should be a lot less. not so by along ways in most cases. lol

Good luck to ya...

a word of advice==== Rod building is VERY addicting lol... (If your married... You'll need a stash of Cash or a good credit card REAL SOON!) :wink:

Id search on here and see if anyone has a hand wrapping set up they will sell you on the cheap before you invest in any of the kits they sell. I say go for it. It's fun and super addicting.

I started out because my kids were tearing up their tackle, tip/guide replacements, etc. I also like certain rods for certain purposes and store bought can't be really determined until you put a reel and lure on. found some custom rods I liked and started doing research on their componentry. from there I bought a rather cheap building tools from mud hole and watched a ton of videos because you'd be surprised at the dozens of variations for building/wrapping. since then I've built nearly a couple dozen rods. excluding rods materials I've not spent a fortune. what I did was ask some builders what blanks they like for different purposes and bought some blanks built them and fished them. after a few builds I noticed that I liked the rain shadow rx6 843's in 7' length - not very expensive at all - approx $40/blank and a very good blank (not about to pay over $100 for a blank). from there it was experiment time. took 3 inches off top and fished - good for bait and tops. then I took 3 inches off the bottom - good for tops and plastic. then I built one taking 2 inches off bottom and 2 inches off top - good but not exactly what I wanted. finally I built one the full 7' and its great for many uses. also built a 7' rx6 842 which I a bit hippy buy is great for tops in tight quarters and throwing smaller baits like LeLes - waiting to catch a 28" red on that bc it'd be an event. I stick to one type of guides - recoils - I don't get too fancy with my wraps; simple and clean.. and vary from Winn grips to split
/full cork handles. friends try out the different builds and then pick one buy the materials and off I go. all with a hand wrapper until I bought an Alps that I found used online. it works like a lathe for turning cork and drying. now I have some very cool very personalized rods at a reasonable cost and some very happy kids and friends. not going to make any money but that's not the point. I can send you some pics if you'd like but it takes patience and rebuild research but its very rewarding if you like that sort of thing. lots of forums and builders are very amenable to providing advice.

Mudhole is head and shoulders above all the rest of the component sites. I got started by buying one of their kits that had EVERYTHING including blank, handles, guides, for less than $200. It's a great way to get started. I've built around a dozen rods on the hand wrapper and little dryer. A few weeks ago I bought the Flex Coat 777....absolute Cadillac of wrappers/dryers. I now have 17 rods under my belt. Yes, it's addictive and expensive if you buy quality components. At this point all my blanks are either St Croix (or Rod Geeks) or Northfork Composites (Loomis). Additionally, I only use composite handles, fuji seats and fuji titanium guides. Finished rods are unbelievable.

I really enjoy the whole process, although wrapping is a PITA at first and is a bit tedious toward the tip, but with a bit a patience is doable.

Thanks to all! I ordered a med heavy 7 foot kit. Here we go.

Awesome. Good luck and I hope you enjoy it.

I just finished my first Mudhole kit. I did the P843 blank kit. As others have said, the thread wrapping gets tedious, but you will get better as you go. It will teach you great appreciation when you see the good rod builders thread designs and overall quality. I'm going to start on my 2nd one soon.