Hi David, rod building can be a very enjoyable thing to do if you enjoy fly fishing and enjoy doing things yourself like it sounds you probably do.

Since you mentioned you don't have a rod/reel I guess I'll ask this first...are you just getting into fly fishing or have you been doing it and just currently don't have the rod&reel at the moment?

Reason I ask that is because if your just about to get into fly fishing then I wouldn't tell you "not" to get into building your own rod, but I would say to just wait a little bit until you've tried out fly fishing and see if you even like it and want to pursue it or not.

If you have been fly fishing for awhile and just don't have a rod&reel at the moment then just ignore what I said above

If your already a fly angler than I say go for it and start your first rod. If you want to make sure you are going to like rod building then you can find an old broken piece of a rod, or even an aluminum arrow shaft and try wrapping a section of it with thread and see if it seems like something your going to enjoy doing.

If you try doing that and like it, or just decide "yeah I'm gonna go for it" then let us know and I'm sure we'll all be more than happy to point you in the right direction for what you will need to get started, rod parts you will need and all that good stuff.

Steve