Hello Guys:

I am the owner of a fly shop. We have now decided to carry rod building tools, parts and supplies. We wish to also, start building our own line of fly rods to sell at our shop and on our web site. We would like to start on a small scale but would like to expand our rod making operation soon. Our aspirations are certainly not to become a large fly rod manufacturer. But we would like to explore the possibilities of making rods using custom rod building tools and techniques selling them either as retail only or a combination of retail and wholesale.

So, I’m asking experienced folks for some advice.

1. Is it practical to consider hand building rods to resale (retail) on a medium scale?
2. Is it practical to eventually expand this into a small wholesale rod company?
3. What equipment (wrapper, lathe, dryer, etc) would you recommend?

Thanks,
Steve

Maybe. First off, if you want to compete with the commercially made rods, you have to be aware of what you're going up against. They've already got you beat on advertising and promotion, you won't make as much money on the rods you build (you have to factor in your time - you only have to buy and resell the commercially made rods) and you can't offer the same kind of warranty as the major fly rod companies do.

On the other hand, if you want to offer something unique, something that customers can't get from the commercial fly rod companies, and feel you have the clientele to charge and get a premium for you work, then you might find it a worthwhile sideline business for your shop.

I would hate to have to wholesale rods - as a fly shop owner you know that most fly rod prices are keystoned. You'd be working your butt off for what amounts to very little money so quantity would be the only way to go there. Most custom rod makers can only come out by selling directly to the end user and getting the full mark-up.

.................

Steve,
If you would like to talk to me about some of your idea's and I also have some idea's for you to make money at your shop on Rod Building feel free to call me at 480-945-6122

Good Fishing,
Neal Cissel
Neal's Fishing Products

If there's a niche market your fly shop operates in where you can sell rods specific to the fishing task at hand, it seems like you could be on to something. For example, if your shop is on the banks of a river that has a lot of steelhead in it, and the best possible presentation for these fish is made with a 11' to 13' spey rod for a #6 or #7 line... or if you are on a lake where the technique requires you to cast 100' of hi-density sinking line (so a longer, heavier, faster action rod than most people would bring to fish for trout...)...

To go up against the $500+ rod companies across the board would be very, very difficult to do. Not only do they have the advertising and brand recognition that Tom mentioned, but they also have the economic advantage of being able to buy components, blanks, etc. by the hundreds or thousands. Actually, at that price level, most if not all companies do their blanks in-house, which is another cost savings, but a capital cost that most all fly shops couldn't afford ($100K+ for equipment alone).

Additionally, while you may know rodbuilding well yourself, consider how long it took you to become competent. Now take that time and multiply it by whatever you'll need to pay your employees to learn the same skills. Of course, there will be errors and blemishes along the way too. And consider every time you hire a new employee, he/she will have to go through the same training. While it only takes me about two hours to do a rod from start to finished now, it took dozens of hours per rod when I was learning, and the product wasn't nearly as good.

Unless you already have an idea of a purchaser and/or commitment for your wholesale product, I'd say forget it. To make a rod that would compete with $500+ brands, you'd need to wholesale it at about half that. So $250 for blank, components, and labor, not to mention your time packing, shipping, etc; and this again is presuming no blemishes or mistakes in the production process. Not a lot of money to be made after all that...


Scott Kinney
The Longest Cast Fly Rods
[www.thelongestcast.com]

Steve,
one option that wasn't brought up here but is not uncommon is to develop the product you want then go to a rod company that does private label building. You will get the product you wish with the components you desire built by already trained employees. One advantage here is that you still get to develop your own product but also most companies will offer some sort of warranty at least on initial use failure or catastrophic failure.

Todd

Regards,
Todd Vivian
Mud Hole Custom Tackle

todd@mudhole.com

I think Scott just made a couple excellent points. If I did not build my own rods, I would strongly consider buying a rod built by a skilled builder who fishes the exact fishery I'm targeting. Just like I would happily pay more for a fly tied by someone who fishes that same water 200 days a year and knows intimately what works. Put it this way, if Bob Clouser built rods for smallmouth fishing on the Susquehanna, and he was a good builder, he could sell a bunch and for good money. He sells his flies instead but the reason he can do that is the same. He knows what works and his flies are perfect and last longer than most copies. There's no money in anything you could describe as generic. That market is dominated by cheap foreign labor.

Steve, I built my first rod in the back room of a fly fishing shop, in a class taught by an employee of the store. They held rod building classes and fly tying classes all winter. They sold Sage blanks, components, and thread and epoxies in the store.
There might be an opportunity for a new revenue stream by offering fisherman the opportunity to build their own fly rod.

Thanks guys....

This exchange of information has been very valuable. Each and every one of you have some excellent points. I think I now know what direction to take this thing. I'm sure you'll be hearing from me as time goes buy.

BTW... I ordered Tom's book today.

Thanks,
Steve

Fran just offered you what might be the very best means of increasing business at your shop. There are plenty of guys all wanting to learn how to build their own, but they lack an easy means of obtaining personal instruction. For many, books and videos still don't put them at ease, they want an instructor looking over their shoulder.

..............

I got into building just as Fran did. The shop stocked Forecast/Rainshadow stuff and allowed new builders to use their shop for a flat $25 per rod build fee, which included everything but components. The owner had built a number of rods and knew enough to be able to help out when a beginner got stuck.

The setup they had was flawed in a couple of ways-- first, the components were way too cheap-- around 30-40% off of retail. Second, I doubt $25 per rod was making them a lot of money in terms of the time spent with ignorant beginners like myself. Another thing was that the shop wasn't in a location conducive to selling a lot of custom rods or rodbuilding parts-- SE Minnesota isn't a real affluent area, and most folks probably couldn't tell the difference between a $20 Ugly Stick and a $400+ Rainshadow. Additionally, the shop ended up having to be open late a few evenings a week in order to accomodate builders who worked during the day.

One huge side benefit of the building setup was that rod building customers, myself included, invariably ended up buying all the other stuff they needed from the shop. I bought a couple of reels, lines, and a good bit of fly tying material that I otherwise wouldn't have bought there (there's a Cabela's just down the road with better prices and selection), as a function of both loyalty and convenience.



Scott Kinney
The Longest Cast Fly Rods
[www.thelongestcast.com]