Mike, When your glass is totally empty I will buy you another. See you in HP .

Freddwhy (Rapt-Ryte)

DEAL, Freddy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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!!

Mike,
It is not suprising that most folks know nothing about custom fishing rods.
After all - if you look at averages - the average fisherman probaly fishes 2-5 times a year.
For those folks a broom stick and cotton cord will likely catch as much fish for them as some of the best rods on the market. Simply put, they have neither the desire or appreciation of a custom rod.

Roger

Roger,
That' true but I'm referring to people in this area who are on the water a Lot One club that I belong to has around 400 members. Many fish various tournament circuits (walleye, bass, salmon, musky) and put in quite a bit of time on the water. The more exposure they get to custom building, the better it is for me!! Most equate custom with "to pretty to fish" by seeing catalogs and reading articles, they are being made aware of the performance advantages of custom. Very few will actually build (I'm happy to teach anyone that wants to learn) but many will no realize the value of a custom rod

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!!

Billy! You nailed it!!

Let me offer a little different perspective. I am a home builder, not commercial. It was Mudhole that first got me interested in building my own rod. I found tis site and learned enough to have the confidence to give it a shot. I quickly realized how involved it is to build a custom rod. I didn't give up and ended up with a great rod. Now I have built several and truly enjoy the experience and end result. I never thought of giving up on a build and bringing the componets to a builder or just buying end delivering. But if I had, I certainly would have expected to pay a lot for the labor, equal to what it would have cost had I just placed on order. Some of the rods I have built cost me more than the off the shelf version and others have been less expensive. For me it is the experience and satisfaction of using something I built and is custom to my intended use. For someone who orders a custom rod I am sure it is the knowledge of using a custom made for their application rod and not a cost saving maneuver. If someone wants to try to save some bucks getting their own parts I think they are being delusional. The others who attempt to build, but cannot complete I see as a legitimate reason to hand it off to a pro.