Hello Everyone,

In the last few months I've taken a interest in rod building and have spent countless hours watching how to videos, scanning forums, and looking at components and im about ready to pull the trigger on my first rod.
I plan to build a general crankbait casting rod for bass fishing. I'm not interested in fancy accent pieces, intricate wraps, etc. i plan to build no frills performance rods for myself to start and maybe a few friends down the road. I will focus on my rods being comfortable, sensitive, and lightweight.
So for my first rod im looking at these components and just wanted some opinions.

-The blank will be a Phenix X10 blank. I have read many reviews about these blanks and they seem to fit jut what im looking for. They can throw a wide range of weights rated 1/4-1oz but in tackle tours testing they even threw 1-1/4oz baits without problem which will be great until i build a deep diver rod. They also said it is pretty good with spinner baits. I know i could buy this rod form the factory for the same or probably less than what ill spend on building it but being able to customize grips, guides, and reel seat to fit me is why i choose to build rather than buy

-For grips im planning on using winn split grips. I love the feel of these grips and for a rod that will see a lot of casting i cant really see a better choice in terms of comfort. Plus i fish a lot from a kayak so my hands stay wet and the tackiness of the winn grips will provide a more secure feeling.

-For the reel seat im leaning toward the fuji sk2. I like the feel of the rods ive held in the stores that have this type seat (tho i've never held one with a reel on it). I also like the idea of having three fingers directly on the blank as it would seem that it would provide an increase in sensitivity may not be anything major but that is just what intuitive thinking would lead me to believe. Reel will be a fishing 13 concept KP.

- The guides are where ive really struggled making a decision. I know for certain i want micro guides and as far as sizing i am thinking of using a double foot size 6 as a stripper guide and running single foot size 4s the rest of the way. The two guides i'm looking at are the pearl black recoil and titanium tiblack minima. In terms of weight they seem to be pretty close and any difference between the two would probably be unnoticeable. As far as price the minima wins hands down but the big thing for me here is durability. I love the idea of the recoils and how they are virtually indestructible. I can be tough on rods sometimes as i transport them in the truck bed unsecured and several times while fishing from a kayak around heavy cover ive accidentally run a rod that i wasn't using up in to a tree, bush, and even a bridge piling (dont ask it was a bad day lol). Ive read people complain about grooving and getting damaged in cold weather tho. I live in southern ky and dont fish in temps much lower than 50 degrees so im not concerned with the issues had due to very cold temps but the grooving is a concern. I plan to use 10-15lb floro thinking mainly 12lb. so im thinking since its strictly a bass rod i might not have a problem there. Please comment on this tho. Like i said the minimas are priced great but im concerned about the durability of both ring and frame so if anyone can comment on this id really appreciate it. I will say i will be buying a rod sock for this rod and have found plans for a truck bed rod holder that will secure them for transport when im in my truck.

I will be using fuji nocp size a thread, u 40 rod bond, and u 40 dura gloss ls supreme. What would be a good number of coats for finishing?

Any information you guys can provide me with concerning these components will be much appreciated and if you have any general rod building tips please share those too! Looking forward to what you guys have to say.

this is your rod , build it , l fish it , an enjoy it you can't go wrong , what you looked at will work,
sounds good to me, but I am no expert by a long short

William Sidney
AK

Hello Jacob, as I understand it grooving doesn't seem to be much of a issue these days. I would suggest that you might want to put comfort ahead of sensitivity in a reel seat on a crankbait rod. Others may disagree! Good luck with your build. It won't be your last!

Lynn,
Thanks for the info! I know a lot of the forum post id read about it were older so i was wondering if it might have been resolved these days. I appreciated the comment about the reel seat as that was something on my mind just forgot to mention it. Sensitivity wasn't the selling point for this particular build more of an added bonus to the light weight and feel. I may have to see if i can get a store to let me try a reel on a rod with a split reel seat to see if i like the feel as much as i do when holding just the rod itself. May look in to an exposed blank seat such as the alps mvt. Dont care much for the fuji acs and i want a little more exposed blank than the fuji ecs provides. Again thanks for the comments!

Jacob

SIZE 6 MAY BE A LITTLE ON THE SMALL SIDE IMHO. I normally would start out wih a size 10 on a casting rod and larger on a spinning rod AND i GENERALLY TAPER DOWN AFTER THE STRIPPER TO 4'S or 6'Sb but that's just me and the way I was taught. Straight 6's after the stripper should work fine just not the way that I would start. If you're just starting out you might as well learn the right way. Good luck on your first of many builds.

Robert,
Thanks for the advice! To be honest just got that idea from what I'd read on forums. Several guys mentioned doing the exact same or similar thing on forum post I'd seen ( might have misunderstood what they were saying) but it would make sense to step it down. Thanks for the tip!
Jacob

Jacob,
I do agree with Robert, I think a size 6 stripper is a bit small. I like a size 10 stripper followed by a size 6 with size 4 runners. This will give you the very light micro guide set up you want. I prefer the minima guides over the recoils, and the SK2 reel seat should work well. Another split seat option is the PacBay minima seat. The Winn grips have become very popular for good reason and I have used a lot of them over the past few years. With most freshwater rods a single coat of finish is usually sufficient, just do not put on to much. After it is dry check the finish, if you see poor coverage or flaws add another thin coat. For example, if you had a stray tread nub sticking up you can shave it down and add more finish.
Norm

All my bass rods are built with a size 6 stripper onto all single foot size 4 runners. Works fine and never had a problem. Also keeps the weight down. I don't fish leaders so no connection knots. I'd jump up to size 5 runners in that case. You could step up to a size 7 stripper, but imo a size 10 will look huge and clumsy in front of those running guides while serving no real purpose.

Jacob,
If you have doubts about the guide train, set your rod up with a size 10 stripper test cast it then use a size 6 stripper and test cast it, Go with the one you like the best. The only way to know which works best for you is to experiment. This is the best way to gain hands on experience. We are only offering our opinions, it is up to to determine what works for you.
Norm

I've read many suggestions of using a size 6 guide as a stripper guide on casting rods. And while I have no doubt they work, as evidenced by Mark's earlier post, I've done some experimenting, and I wasn't comfortable with using size 6 as a stripper, because of its height.

I found that having a size 6 at a 20 - 23" distance from the front of the reel made the angle of the line as it entered the guide, a bit too severe for my liking. And my test casting bore that out. I got better casting distance with an 8 than I did a 6. As far as an 8 or 10 goes .... I didn't really see any difference in casting distance. I could have pushed the distance of the 6 out further from the reel to help with the line angle issue, but I didn't want to go any further than 23" out.

I will say that the reel I was using was an older Shimano Castaic, which is and was the same frame as a Curado, and not quite as low profile as the newer Curados, or the reel that you mentioned. Also, the rod I was building and did the testing on was a medium heavy power, fast action flipping and pitching rod, and that I was doing the testing with 20# fluorocarbon line. A 6 may not have limited the casting distance with the newer lower profile reels, or were I using lighter line.

I've never used Minima guides, but from the looks of them, it doesn't appear that they have much of a ring, if any. That fact means a larger ID than a guide of the same size, that has a ceramic ring. That fact means the line will be a little higher, thereby lessening the angle of the line as it enters the guide. Basically like a ceramic ringed guide with a slightly taller frame.

With that said, it also means that the line will ride lower to the blank when the blank is under a load. As guides get smaller, their frames get smaller in height, both at the top and bottom of their frames. Using a guide with basically a non existent ring is going to allow the line to be even closer to the blank when under load, and on a blank like a crankbait blank, a number 6 could present a problem with the line touching the blank between the reel and the stripper guide.

Basically what I'm saying is .... don't marry yourself to a size 6 just because you've read of others doing it, or seen it on a factory rod. Do as others have suggested and try some different sizes. If you're interested in pure performance as you've said, then taking the extra time to mock up the rod in several configurations, including static placement of the guides, and then test casting, will be time well spent.

And like Norman said ..... you'll gain valuable hands on experience.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/24/2016 10:14AM by David Baylor.

Jacob, What part of southern Ky. do you live. I live in Franklin and I got a rod building mentor that lives in Auburn. We would be more than glad to help you get started. Also we are part of a Ky./Tenn. group of builders. There is load of knowledge there also. If we can help just give me an e-mail and I'll send you my phone number. Welcome to the rod building world.
201doc@bellsouth.net

Jacob, What part of southern Ky. do you live. I live in Franklin and I got a rod building mentor that lives in Auburn. We would be more than glad to help you get started. Also we are part of a Ky./Tenn. group of builders. There is load of knowledge there also. If we can help just give me an e-mail and I'll send you my phone number. Welcome to the rod building world.
201doc@bellsouth.net

Jacob, What part of southern Ky. do you live. I live in Franklin and I got a rod building mentor that lives in Auburn. We would be more than glad to help you get started. Also we are part of a Ky./Tenn. group of builders. There is load of knowledge there also. If we can help just give me an e-mail and I'll send you my phone number. Welcome to the rod building world.
201doc@bellsouth.net

Jacob, What part of southern Ky. do you live. I live in Franklin and I got a rod building mentor that lives in Auburn. We would be more than glad to help you get started. Also we are part of a Ky./Tenn. group of builders. There is load of knowledge there also. If we can help just give me an e-mail and I'll send you my phone number. Welcome to the rod building world.
201doc@bellsouth.net

Jacob, What part of southern Ky. do you live. I live in Franklin and I got a rod building mentor that lives in Auburn. We would be more than glad to help you get started. Also we are part of a Ky./Tenn. group of builders. There is load of knowledge there also. If we can help just give me an e-mail and I'll send you my phone number. Welcome to the rod building world.
201doc@bellsouth.net

Thanks for all the information guys! Its definitly been helpful!

David and Norm
your post were especially helpful. After some consideration i think i will try a 8-6-4s guide train to start out but i will definitely be performing static test for placement and will try a few configurations!

Howard,
I actually live in Lexington but i do the majority of my fishing on dale hollow lake as i grew up in burkesville. Thanks for the offer and i will definitely reach out if i need any help!