I had a booth at a local bass club's flea market in MD and I was happy to see that Citrus Sticks had a booth there. After all of the joking that went on a couple of weeks ago at their expense, I was anxious to get one in my hands to see for myself what they were like. I must say that I was pleasantly surprised. They used BYAG's and BLAG's along with Minima seats and the workmanship appears to be very good. Yes, they did have a big, bold display and it worked well for them. They had several models on hand and a bunch of happy customers went home with bright green rods. I was able to spend quite a bit of time talking with the Citrus Stick guys and I learned that they are some great guys. I was even able to talk one of them into casting a rod of mine to see how it compared to theirs. (i think I sold him on "micros")

The guys who came by my booth were not the same guys that went by the Citrus Sticks booth (I was watching!). From what I could see, we were targeting two different groups of people. We were both able to sell some rods and we had a great time talking. The Citrus guys are hard working guys who love to fish and they are doing their best to provide high end production rods at an affordable price. Whether you like their rods or not, you have to agree that they've found a niche in the market. I can only hope that as a custom rod builder, I'm able to do as good of a job at finding my niche. I wish them the best.

jeremy

Very well said.

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I feel that anything commercial rod companies do to break the mold of what a fishin' rod is "supposed" to look like is good for custom builders.

Tom White
Rod & Reel Restoration

I'm a little confused... Other than being lime green - what are they doing different to "break the mold"?

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Your right that many builders, both custom and factory are getting enlightened to the less is more philosophy, but how many of your boaters still end up having a deck covered in rods with a full cork grip and foregrip? They aren’t the first to do it but they are helping to keep things moving forward.

I understand the Carrot sticks are painted blanks, are these also ?
Thanks

Bill - willierods.com

Mike,

You are exactly right. I had two guys bring me a few rods each for repairs and all of them have full cork grips. Two of the rods need grips replaced and when I asked them if they wanted a "no foregrip style" grip, they looked at me like "why would I want that?" Perfect education opportunity! I asked one of them to show me how he holds his rod (i already knew because his forgrip was clean). I then asked him if he ever touched his forgrip.....long pause......"I guess not" he said. I was able to explain to them the importance of weight reduction as it relates to split grips and not using a foregrip.

Not all fisherman are ready to buy into the "less is more" philosophy in rods. Although, I've found that if I take the time to explain the reasons behind why I build the way I build, most fishermen are willing to try new things. I've found it's important to allow guys at shows to handle my rods. They don't just want to look, they want to feel the difference and I'll even allow them to take my rods out and cast them to show them the difference. It's about educating them one at a time.

jeremy

Bill,

Yes, they are painted blanks. I saw that they had several different colors of rods on their display rack, not just lime green.

jeremy

Split grips are nice but they also lighten the butt section of a rod. When into longer rods making them with a shorter fore section right after the seat and longer butt section and with a heaver material instead of plain cork or eva I feel helps in comfort while casting all day.

Bill - willierods.com

Good report Jeremy.

Kyle Robinson