Technique specific rods will not improve your fishing success ......... this coming from a fly fisherman LOL Talk about clueless

No they won't, but they will aid many fishermen in buying a rod that will do what they intend to do without having to do a lot of research or worry. That is the point and it sells a ton of rods.

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I guess an inexperienced fisherman could benefit from a species specific label. Pretty sure that most of the guys on this board can pick up a rod off of the rack and determine what species it would be best for.

So my fish hooked to fish landed ratio didn't go up because I started fishing a drop shot on a rod I built on a blank that was specifically designed for the drop shot technique?

I wish I would have known it wasn't going to make a difference before I built the two drop shot rods I built ... I could have saved a lot of money

Most fishermen aren't rod builders nor experts. Just weekend guys and the task and/or species specific rod marketing has been widely appreciated by them.

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I think species specific rods aren’t a bad idea. Especially for walleye fisherman. There are certain things bass fisherman look for that walleye done and vice versa.

For example- a bass rod that can do 1/2 and even 5/8 but is a medium light. I don’t see many of those. But walleye rods I do.
(I think it’s the 8500 glx walleye). So when a manufacturer says “hey I made a walleye rod” it’s gonna be different than the traditional bass rods.

Musky rods are totally different from sturgeon rods. While I can and do use a “bass” rod for walleye I think the species specific rods are more for the non bass fisherman.

Now that you are into building rather than buying factory rods you will understand that while the "species specific" may make some sense, any blank can be made into either a spin or baitcasting rod. The selection should be made, in my opinion, based mostly on the recommended lure weights one plans to most often cast. (This assumes one doesn't know the CCS numbers).

I still think the knowledgeable fisherman doesn't need or want "species specific" labels. For example , the rod you plan for jigging walleyes will not work well for bottom bouncing walleyes on the Detroit or St. Clair Rivers. But both are "walleye" techniques.

Michael Danek Wrote:
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> Now that you are into building rather than buying
> factory rods you will understand that while the
> "species specific" may make some sense, any blank
> can be made into either a spin or baitcasting rod.
> The selection should be made, in my opinion,
> based mostly on the recommended lure weights one
> plans to most often cast. (This assumes one
> doesn't know the CCS numbers).
>
> I still think the knowledgeable fisherman doesn't
> need or want "species specific" labels. For
> example , the rod you plan for jigging walleyes
> will not work well for bottom bouncing walleyes
> on the Detroit or St. Clair Rivers. But both are
> "walleye" techniques.


Species specific rods have gone way beyond that! You can find "Walleye Jigging Rod" and "Walleye Lindy Rig Rod" and a host of others. It's not just species but technique. Why sell a guy one rod for one species if you can sell him three or four for the same species but three different techniques.

For my walleye fishing I need 1) drop shot, 2) live bait jigging, also serves for small swimbaits, 3) flat line trolling baitcaster, 4) bottom bouncer baitcaster (can be used for flat line trolling, too, but obviously not at the same time) . If I think the walleye might be taking hard jerks, I'll have another baitcaster for that.

I clearly see the need for at least 3 different "walleye" rods. And with the way I like to fish, not having to re-rig when changing lures types, I will have at least 6 different rods in my walleye boat. Same for bass. I never have fewer than 10 rods on board, more if I'm providing rods for others as well as myself.

People can whine about marketers (seems like I've heard a little of that here recently), but we don't have to buy.

All of us on this site, need to keep in mind, that we are not the market for our rods, our customers are! Many if not most could care less about rod nomenclature. If a species specific blank fits the bill for them, so be it!

Phil Erickson Wrote:
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> All of us on this site, need to keep in mind, that
> we are not the market for our rods, our customers
> are! Many if not most could care less about rod
> nomenclature. If a species specific blank fits the
> bill for them, so be it!

Exactly. Any time you're in a business position and you primarily consider your preferences rather than those of your intended market, you are going to fail.

...........

When a guy wants you to build a rod, would you prefer him to be species specific, or just say "well, I want it to be good for everything"?

Its all a matter of common sense combined with experience how one zeros in on a fishing rod.

If one wants to play the word game, yes, rods are species specific, because I would never use a deep sea rod for pan fish and would never use an ultra light for marlin.

Yea, yea, there is a guy having lunch with a yeti in the Himalayas that caught a 500lb pound marlin on a 5 1/2 ft ultra light rod but he don't count.

I have built many rods for folks and I never had a person say "this is my first time fishing and I want a rod that catches everything". All the folks I have dealt with do fish and share a wide range of experience from the casual to the fanatic.

The customer for whatever reason unable to do them self, turn to a custom builder because they know what they want and rely on the builders’ skills and expertise to provide it.


Have fun