custom fitting your rods?

[Hillbilly910]

read an article i believe in field&stream on how to customize your bass rod. Got me to thinking, so i took the principal to some extra crappie rods i had.
Worked out way way better than i would have thought, fits my hand much better now. Im currently working on another one, removing the reel seat, and attaching the reel directly to the rod blank.
Is this something thats been around? Its a heck of an idea, im sure some rod makers have done this sorta thing, but anybody with just about any rod can make some of these changes and really change the feel of the rod, and also fit it to your hand.

HB

[AtticaFish]

I don't get Field & Stream.... what kind of customizations are you talking about??? Some details please.

[Hillbilly910]

it was based for a bait casting bass rod. It showed how to stager the eyelets so the line feeds to the bottom of the rod at the tip(eyelets spiral around the rod). But it also mentioned removing the middle section of the cork handle, from behind the reel, you'll notice some of the higher priced bass rods have the blank exposed behind the reel. Not sure exactly what the point is in this on a bass rod, or sure if it does anything for a spinning rod, but it does look cool.:D
Anyway, i removed the front cork section from the rod(in front of your reel), and about 4-5 inches from the butt section of the rod, leaving about that much to protect the very end of the butt of the rod. I then wrapped the reel seat with a grip tape used for baseball bats. It alows me to keep at least one finger, if not 2 or 3 on the rod blank while swimming jigs. I have always held a rod meant for casting jigs with my index finger extend down the rod, now i dont have to "reach" to do so, its a much more natural grip.
The one im working on now will have the same modifactions, but i have removed the plastic reel seat that holds your reel, and will attach the reel directly to the rod. This was listed as the final step in customising your bass rod for the maximum amount of feel and sensitivity.
Even if its pointless, gives me something to do while i aint fishin.

HB

[sothunfried]

if ya could post some pics i'd like to see how ya done it and what it looks like.
it's sounds interesting.

[Wannabe...]

Been done for a long time with custom bass rods by builders. The point is 3 fold. Saves cork rings ($$$), Saves weight (any savings is a good thing) and adds sensitivity. Some are building skeletanized rods now with no foregrip, no rear grip and only a "bumper at the end of the rod. Looks very cool and in all but very cold weather, it's the bomb as the graphite will draw the heat out of your hands. Removing the reel seat all together is called a Tennessee handle and it's been around for eons. Only trouble is it's hard to get the reel to be solid and non movable with minimal tape to keep the weight down. I've seen some bass rod builders epoxy the reel directly to the rod.

Amazing what a custom builder can do. I've built a few, but realized I don't have the tallent to do it so it looks good. Looks aside, their very functional. Looked into building a feather weight 12' jigging rod, but couldn't find blanks for a reasonable price. 10' rods can be had though.

Wannabe...

[The Lip RIPPERS]

Here's some new split seats that just came out.

There's several ways to trim weight off and run these skinny handles, one thing I can add to this from experience you may well need a weight balance kit in back, as balance is critical to fish comfortable all day. My personal preference is the Tennesee handles. But the customwoods are really sensitive and great looking!:D

[Hillbilly910]

my last rod turned out great, havent got to fish it yet, but can already tell its an improvement. I expoyed the reel to the rod, then wrapped it in grip tape(2 layers) and its still well more than twice as small as with the cork handle and reel seat.
I figured by removing a middle section of cork from the butt of the rod might help the sensitivity, but wasnt sure. One way or another, it looks cool!

havent built up the never to tinker with my 12' jiggin rods, but its been a definate plus for shorter jig casting rods.
I dont have the gear or the know-how to post pictures, but like i said, remove the foregrip, an about half the cork on the butt of the rod, leaving 4-6" of cork on the end of the rod, thats the picture.

HB

[skeetbum]

I've built a few rods, but like wannabe I can't do the quality I want so I just do repairs that are obviously amateur. The best addition to the rod design market that I've seen lately is the notch in front of the reel down to the blank, allowing an index finger to comfortably rest there. My thoughts on the epoxy direct to the blank is that it will pop loose when the blank flexes and the reel doesn't. The custom rod supply place here in Shelbyville,TN showed me a composite insert that goes between the blank and reel seat, that once installed with epoxy, will give a hundred percent contact between the blank and the seat. Best improvement I've seen in years. As far as customizing to your personal taste or comfort, its a great idea. You never know what future trend you might come up with. God knows you could teach a thing or two to some of the big mfg's. The cork covered cone that is used on some Berkley rods is junk, though comfy til it breaks. You know, the cone screws down over the seat serving as the forend also. Haven't had one yet that allows enough room for the blank to flex without cracking the cork. Junk on a $40+ rod- go figure. Just my two cents, Have fun windin.

[The Lip RIPPERS]

Those are graphite reel seat arbors, some rod companies are installing them in the middle of the butt grips on cork handles. But if it's mounted like you described with a skeleton seat, lighter and a better feel for sure. Custom Tackle Supply in Shelbyville got bought out by Mudhole, I dont know when it all wraps up. Those handles you refferred to with the cone foregrip are a modular handle system, the big boys like them because their easy and fast to mount......but Fuji makes one that really works good if thats a preference and it holds up. Thanks for posting guy's very informative I'm always playing around with rod handles.:D