G'Day All I hope some can give me some advice .My problem is that I have been asked to build a "Charity Rod" & I am unsure on which blank to choose (This is a first for me) as I don't know what type of fishing the buyer will use it for .My thoughts are to build something similar to one of my own which is a "Pacific Composites PPG spin/estuary "Any help would be appreciated as the person who asked is myb sons mother in law & if its not right the DRAGON morphs into SATAN & I don't need that . If anyone outside the land of OZ please chime in Thanks in advance .

Regards Baz

Bundeena
NSW Australia

Build a rod that fits the most popular type of fishing in your area, cant do any better than that providing the info you have.

Hi Barry,
Tough one, I've got a similar one with the rod that I'm building for the young girl that is a cancer survivor. At least I got to meet her and find out what she likes but she wanted something that will work here in Lake Illawarra, inshore saltwater and in the NT for Barra where she spends a lot of time. I went with a seven foot High modulus MHX, HM-MB-843-MHX, that I will build with a lot of pink because she loves the colour. The one that I built for myself came out really well and could be used for an all purpose rod. It can be used from the shore, beach or estuary, as well as in the boat for bait or plastics.
You could also use one of the DBlue blanks as I have extra seven footers coming and they should be here before the end of the month.
I've also got some Gator seven foot blanks, FT586 6-12lb and FT700 10-17lb which are tough blanks similar to Ugly Stiks which you can have for what I paid for them. I'm also up to help you out with grips made from either floor tiles or carbon fibre if you want to go that way.
A seven foot spin stick will cover a lot of teritory and would be the way I would guy for a charity rod, but it's your choice.
The rods you build are fairly unique and I'm sure your son's MIL will be impressed with whatever you build.
How did Glenn get out of building it!!

ESFNEM Col
Port Kembla, NSW
Australia

HI Barry,

I had a Charity deal come up last year, well I could not come with the right rod to build, this rod was to be sold @#$%&,. Well not knowing who would buy, and I wanted the buyer to get a rod that would be made specially to fit his or her wants .

SO I went to a print shop friend I fish with, told him what I wanted to do. He made me a 5 x 7 card with my logo ,name ,phone,and address on it also in large print CERTIFICATE good for $200 on a custom made rod made by me.

Well I gave it to charity,told them I would be at the @#$%& . the winner paid$300 for it .

I made him the rod, we picked all the parts out from a Mud Hole Tackle catalog , I made him the rod he could not find at any tackle shop.

In April of this year he had me to make his wife a pink rod she calls " Miss Pinkie" .

I love it when I see the joy they get when they talk to others about the rods I made for them
Hope this is of some help. Good luck with you'r build.

Richard Curry Maysville GA.

What is life without fishing ?

Thanks Curtis that is my feeling also .I just looking for feedback from others who had done this .

Col the difference is that this is for a charity @#$%& put on by a large multi national company so getting it right is paramount & cost is not a large issue .One of my rods is built on a Excel ( Pacific ) Composites & every one that uses it remarks on what a great rod it is to use so if I don't find anything that takes my fancy I guess that will be the one .So basically I'm looking for other options .Glenns not getting out of it altogether he's going to be doing all the donkey work I was just roped in to help .I'll let you know what we decide & thanks very much for the offers

Regards Baz

Bundeena
NSW Australia

Hey baz the voucher is a good idea but being an @#$%& prob make more money seeing your handy work. I am building a st croix for my self for soft plastics a sc111 3s69mlxf. Bloody nice blank

G'Day Richard the gift certificate would work if this was a small affair .Its a black tie affair & who knows what part of the country the buyer comes from .If I ever agree to another one it will be a local function & the grip certificate would be perfect for that .Thanks very much for the idea

Chris Your right i think having the rod will hopefully help with the price .Catch up with you in August

Regards Baz

Bundeena
NSW Australia

Mate if cost isn't the issue just go all out and build the best rod you can using the best quality components you can get. Settle on a style of fishing first up. Then look at the blanks designed for that purpose and choose the one you want to build on. The Excels are good but you could also look at a St Croix like Chris suggested or a United Composites or CTS. The choices are all out there. With the function being a black tie affair I'd be looking to build something with some real WOW factor - including matagi "bling", nice grips and some really fancy thread work to top it off.

Hope this helps a little
Mark

Barry,

Being a black tie event they will most likely either raffle the rod or they will @#$%& it off. so you could make a general purpose light stick for the likes of bream, trout, flattie, school jew, light snapper and cod or being black tie they more game or outside fishing. either way you go there will be people there that will use it and other that won't but with it being a black tie charity event it won't really matter what type of rod it is people are there to spend money and will buy a ticket or bid even if they won't use it and if this person wins it they will most likely re-gift of re @#$%&. But I would also have to agree with mark, whatever you build needs a wow factor it may contain any of the following but it has to stand out:

Bling in the way of reel seats, winding checks, guides grips
Weaves or wraps e.g. 3D tigers, box chevrons, etc.
Inlay (feather, snakeskin or abalone)


I have been lucky I’m currently building one for a charity event in the snowies but at least I know most of those that are attending are fly fishers hence I doing an 6 weight fly rod with the footy club colours combined with the charity colour and I have to say at least the colours go together.

Dave O'Brien
Port Macquarie
Australia

G'day Barry

I dont reckon you could go to wrong with building a light estuary rod as it is a pretty popular style of fishing.You would just hope the winning
bidder is a keen fisho as the amount of work you will be putting in would be appreciated a whole lot more.I would be thinking a St Croix in the
4 to 10 lb range would be nice.Not to light and still able to handle a decent fish pretty easily.But i am pretty biased towards the St Croix blanks.

Go the bling factor as most people always seem to look for the shiny stuff first.I know you dont need any advice with colours and patterns as
you will have that covered.But if you are going to go with cork for your grips let me know and i will be only to happy to help you out .I have enough
cork and some burl to knock up a pair of grips.Its the least i could do for you after all the help you have given me.I can glue up the rings and then
clean them up so there round then you can finish them off to the size you want.

cheers

Ray Balmforth
Figtree
NSW
Australia

I'm currently building up a Phenix UMBX-S700MH (7ft, approx. 4-7kg) and this is an amazing blank. I have pacific composite blanks lying around that have comparable specs to this one and they just don't compare. The blank weight is under 50 grams and I should be able to keep the total build weight to under 100 grams. Perfect estuary to light saltwater rod that not many commercial rods could match.

And in my opinion, putting bling on a rod is important for making a rod unique and showing off craftsmanship. But you can easily over do the bling factor, especially when you feel obliged to 'show off' with a charity rod. But you also run the risk of making the rod look like a christmas decoration, rather than the sleek weapon. It can be a tough balance to make.

Cheers,
Dane
Melbourne
VIC
Australia

Thanks everyone you have given me plenty to think about Mark I think along the same lines as you at the moment I am leaning towards the StCroix blanks & Alps components with some fancy hypalon grips.Dave thanks for the feedback & adding to Marks comments Ray thanks for the offers but I think I'll go with the style of grip that I normally do catch up with you in August Dane thanks for your comments they are much appreciated At the moment I am leaning to using a black & gold theme I think it looks very classy .If I remember I'll post some photos when we get started

Regards Baz

Bundeena
NSW Australia

Hi Richard,

I did one for heroes on the water put thier logo and matagi seat etc. Build an estuary rod as every fish i have ever met has one so its safe. Honestly I wouldnt go all out on the blank just use a nice bushido or mhx in polished carbon and bling it up. Unpainted graphite always looks expensive the money you save on the blank gives you extra for bling.

Adding the charity logo goes a long way aswell and its easy to do.

Cheers

Mark Newcombe
Old Bar NSW
Australia
markscustomfishing.com
American Tackle Pro-Staff