Took out my 5' 6" UL rod for it's first test. Although the big fish were landed on other setups, I did manage a few 1 lbs trout on it. The feel of the Matrix blank was quite nice and the rod performed nicely.

Although it wasn't the most beautiful thing I've ever seen, my first rod build performed nicely.

Quite a feeling wasn't it!! There is nothing like that first fish caught on the first rod that you built!!!!!

Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!

I suspect most feel the same way I did when I caught the first fish on the first rod I had built - you get a feeling of relief and perhaps even a bit of surprise when you realize that what you've made will actually get the job done. After that, subsequent rods you build are done with a bit more confidence. Eventually, you even begin to feel that what you're building is superior to what the commercial makers are building.

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

Way to go Anson!

Ditto Mike & Tom!!
I'll never forget the first fish and better yet the first BIG fish where the rod was really
put to the test and passed beyond expectation. That feeling will stay with me for
the rest of my days. I hope your does too!

Raymond Adams
Eventually, all things merge, and a river runs through it..

I sure feel the same way as Mike and Tom. The first fish I got on my first rod was a 30" Muskie! A buddy and myself was up in northern Wisconsin fishing for Smallmouth and Walleye. Talk about a confidence builder!

It is indeed a good feeling to catch fish on a rod you made. I remember the first one I caught. I was looking closer at the way the rod was performing under load than I was the fish. I guess I was sort of surprised it worked!
Now, I still use a few store bought rods when I am fishing, but really want to catch them on my rods. Caught a nice spotted bass last week on a BPS rod, and my son was laughing because I was complaining that I didn't catch it on one of my rods.
Sooner or later, time and money permitting, all I will use is my own rods.
Steve Broadwell

Nice job Anson. That is a feeling that will stay with you always. The pride and joy of cathing fish on the rod YOU built, be it your first, next, or all in the future, all feel great.

Mark Syck

SYCKO Custom Rods
There Are No Limits To The Imagination

great job, your hooked, no more store bought for you.

All my rods I have on my boat are built by me. My rods get used by a different bunch of clients each trip. They have held up great even after going through the wear and tear of being used and jerked and dropped and everything else that happens to them being in different hands each trip. It does make you feel proud that something you built will hold up to extreme use. They are a little scratched from clients who do not know how to use a fishing rod, set the hook properly, hook everything in the boat on their cast, etc. But other than that a well built rod will stand up to all the elements.

Capt. Marvin Engel
Big M's Fishing Charters LLC

My first rod built from scratch 8' Spin rod third cast caught a 60# Black drum from the Beach here in Cape May county NJ