Thank you for the add. I'm a bass fisherman looking to build my own rods. Would you recommend the turnkey kits on mudhole.com or something else? Also looking for high sensitivity blanks at a lower price until i get rod building down. Any recommendations? Thanks in advanced

Norman - welcome to your new addiction. I just started building 2 months ago and am my 6th build. I've just done fly rods but am looking to build a bass rod so I'm interested in the comments you get.

Absolutely ive already a couple of rod guides and tips and im very interested in the process of building. I was looking into the turnkey kits because they come with all the equipment. As of right now I have none looking for the best options before pulling the trigger

Norman

Rod kits are an excellent way to get started. That's how I got up and running about 15 years ago and I'm up to about 47 or 48 rods now. The kits I started with were Cabelas kits but they got out of the rodbuilding part of the business a good while ago. Start out with a moderately priced kit for a rod or two. Mudhole MHX kits offer good bang for the buck, and their CRB kits are just fine for a few less bucks. I'm sure any of the sponsors to the left would be helpful with putting a kit type package together for you too. After a kit or two you should be getting a good feel for designing a rod with more specialized selection of blanks and components. I'm a hobby builder and build for myself, family, and friends. I build mostly medium light to medium power spinning rods for smallmouth fishing in PA.

Rog

The turnkey kits are a good way to start and understand what parts and equipment you'll need and to practice techniques without going in too deep. You won't have to worry about compatibility of parts, sizes, etc. and you'll come out with a very fine fishing rod. I built a couple of the mudhole kits and still enjoy and use those rods...BUT, to me the real fun in custom rod building is getting to a level where you understand what you are trying to do with a particular rod and then putting together the components that would maximize enjoyment with that technique. There are many fine folks on this board as a great resource to provide advice around specific blanks, guide layouts, etc.

Norman

P S

I have purchased blanks and components from a number of the forum sponsors and not have had a problem with any of them. They all seem to offer pretty good service. I also use a homemade lathe (I like it !), so i can't vouch for any of the commercially made models in the larger all inclusive kits.

Rog

Thank you all for your timely responses and knowledge. I think I'm going to start with this kit. [www.mudhole.com] . Has anyone used this blank before? Also does anyone know how it would compare to the berkley lightning shock rod in terms of sensitivity?

Norman

That blank will blow your Berkeley out of the water. I have an MHX MB843 in silver metallic and it is a great rod. They aren’t the most sensitive blanks available but for the weights of lures you typically use these rods with, they are more than sensitive enough. They are a solid middle of the road blank. You’ll find this to be a nice single hook lure rod blank for use with jigs, T-rigs, spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, and the like.

Another thing that was a huge help for me starting out was Tom Kirkman’s book Rod Building Guide. You can read it in a couple sittings and it will teach you the fundamentals to start thinking like a rod builder. Couple it with some reading up on modern guide train sizing and layout and you will build a fantastic rod.

Joe

That is what I wanted to hear awesome thank you for that!! And I will definitely have to check that book out is it on amazon? I'm asking now because I can already tell im gonna go down the rabbit hole with making rods. What is a really sensitive rod blank and how much do the guides matter in terms of performance? Any recommendations? Only asking now so I don't have to ask again later and can come back to this.

My first build 2 months ago was with a Mudhole turn-key kit. Got me going and wanting to continue.

I did a little searching and it seems the book may be out of print now, and may be fairly tough to come by at a fair price these days.

As far as more sensitive blanks, they tend to come with a steeper price tags. Mud Hole offers a couple lines of MHX that would be a step up, you could look at a Rainshadow Immortal blank, and a number of others for something higher end.

The guides do matter in performance. If you use oversized guides, they are going to reduce the reaction and recovery of the blank making it feel spongy and less crisp. I generally build my bass casting rods with a single double foot 6mm guide at the butt and then single foot 4mm guides to the tip. If you prefer something a little more traditional, a double foot 8mm guide and single foot 5mm guides to the tip. I find that the 4mm size gives the benefits of micro guides without being too difficult to work with. The 5mm guides are large enough that people used to traditional configurations will find them looking pretty familiar, yet help keep the weight of the guide train under control. For spinning rods, the American Tackle Microwave system is a great place to start. You place the guides according to the recommendations and you are good to go. I'm also a big fan of the NGC 27x method.

The reason that guides are important to the performance deals with the rod's inertia. Inertia is a measure of an object's resistance to change, and depends on the mass of an object and how the mass is distributed. Inertia for a given mass goes up as a factor of the square of the distance between the mass and the pivot point in the system. For the way we handle bass rods, it's fairly safe to consider the pivot point near the center of the reel seat. As you place guides further from that point they will have a larger impact on the inertia of the rod. Additionally as you get closer to the tip the rod isn't capable of supporting a lot of weight which means the rod will need to load more to support additional mass. Based on my experience adding about 1/4 ounce to the total weight of the guide train has about the same effect on the feel of the rod as adding about an ounce of weight 9" behind the reel seat on a 6'6" rod.

As far as guides are concerned for a bass rod, you don't have to break the bank. The lower priced guides from the reputable manufacturers that you find here are more than enough. If I were chasing powerful fish that make long hard runs against a cranked down drag where heat build up in the line and guide train becomes important, then I would want to move up in the guide department for better heat dissipation and lower coefficients of friction. For a bass rod, a good aluminum oxide ring in a steel frame will serve you very well.

You'll find that I take a very utilitarian approach to rod building. It's influenced a good bit by Tom's approach that he teaches in that book. When building a rod, you have to ask yourself whether everything on the rod is needed and if everything needed on the rod is there. It doesn't mean that you shouldn't embellish your rods if you choose, but rather make sure that your rod is fundamentally sound and suited to the task at hand. From there you can consider adding embellishments and consider how they will impact the finished rod.

Welcome to the forum and to the addiction! My first build was on a mudhole kit,and I still fish with and love that rod. I now do rod repair for friends and acquaintances and have built a number of rods. I get so much satisfaction out of it. My advice to you is to read throufgh these archives here and get an idea of some of the most common topics,like guide selection,rod layout,blanks etc. Any of the sponsors on the left can answer questions for you as well. Good luck!

Joe, you make many good points..also, Tom has a newer edition of his Rod Building Guide coming out soon..

Thank you Joe for we explaining that to me. You made everything make alot more sense now. I will definitely do some searching in the archives. Also i found 1 copy of the book on amazon and it was $115 lol ill definitely read the archives and learn from there for now atleast. Thank you all for the responses. Look forward to learning from you all

I find rod sensitivity to be critical when I'm fishing with J hooks and bait, especially worms or leaches. But I do just about all my bait fishing now with circle hooks where rod sensitivity is of little or no importance. When casting or trolling lures, spinners, or spoons rod sensitivity doesn't make much difference either.

I more so want the sensitivity for lets say dragging the jig. But also you do want sensitivity with spinner baits as well. If you can feel the blades move while reeling and the suddenly stop there is a chance that you have a fish on and its swimming towards you. This is especially the case with bigger fish. Atleast from my experience.