During my spring break, I would like to dedicate an entire day to building a fly rod. I have absolutely no rod building experience, but I do have experience with crafts, gluing, etc from building model airplanes and rockets a LONG LONG time ago. I’m looking for a fly rod kit for a moderate-fast action 4 piece or more 8’6 or 9’ 6 wt fly rod to replace my beginner BPS White River Hobbs Creek rod which was probably a moderate-slow. Price is a major concern, I went on a spending spree these past several months buying probably way too much fishing gear than I need (most of my friends have never fished so I buy extra gear for them).
Honestly, I would like to buy the cheapest rod kit that STILL has a pretty decent blank that would equal or rival $150+ dollar rods. I hear good reviews on Baston RX6, how would this blank compare to blanks on factory $150 dollar rods? I do not mind buying everything separately if that means I get a really good quality blank. There are reel seats and cork handles that go for fairly cheap on ebay, and I don’t mind purchasing those. I read in a post online that most epoxy given in the beginner rod building kits are crap, so should I buy epoxy separately?
A list of good websites that are selling rod blanks and other stuff on closeout prices would be great. Would even purchasing a blank on Ebay be wise? I dont know which websites are very customer friendly and answer questions that I have involving building…
If building a rod is too difficult for a beginner who doesnt have any hands-on guidance from an experienced rod builder, please warn me. I don’t know how long it takes to build a rod, but I will be willing to dedicate a day or two to building a rod.
If all goes successfully, my next project would be to build a fast action, steelhead casting rod with a great quality blank.
Any DVD recommendations on rod building would be great as well too.
Good for you wanting to build a rod on your own. I’m building my second rod now, and it’s really pretty easy if you follow the directions and take your time.
Since money is a primary concern and you did not tell us what your budget actually was, here are a couple of choices from Hook & Hackle’s website. Keep in mind that to get the best price you must place the order using their online ordering. Get your books and DVD’s from the library to save money, and if you go here, http://www.flyanglersonline.com/begin/graphite/ , you can get free step-by-step instructions to build a graphite rod.
#2http://www.mailordercentral.com/hookhack/prodinfo.asp?number=BB9064A BB 906-4 blank Pacific Bay A5 chrome reel seat with rosewood insert, Reverse Half Wells inletted grip, hard chrome plated chrome guide set, hookkeeper and tip top, winding check. Flex coat high build finish, Flex Coat rod Epoxy, three brushes, tip top adhesive. Dark Blue Thread. $103.60 + shipping. This is a great blank that you will be happy with.
If you spend the time shopping every component, you can probably get away with less cost, but you might end up spending more in shipping costs. Here’s a good starting point to find a lot of online sources for blanks and components: http://www.rodbuildingforum.com/index.php?showtopic=6310
I’m hoping to spend under $80 bucks. I’m building a fly rod for 2 reasons.
want to build one
want to get a better bang for the buck rod. instead of paying someone to do labor costs, i’d rather save the extra money for more flies and gear.
oh yeah, this one has to be as cheap as possible because there may be a possibility I ruin the rod. If thats the case, I won’t be crying so much over a cheaper blank
If I spent over $100 bucks on a pretty good fly rod, I might as well just buy some fly rods off ebay.
if there is no $80 fly kit that can rival a $150-200 rod, please tell me so.
Again, I hear a lot of raves on the Batson RX6, but since they don’t make that fly rod, just the blank. To what kind of factory rod would that blank compare to?
Fishinstudyin;
I have a rod building DVD you can borrow. Just pm me your snail mail address.
P.S. Joe just used it to build his first rod and then sent it back to me.
if yer patient and work carefully it’s nearly impossible to destroy yer blank.
you may be able to build a st croix avid for your budget or just a little over and you’ll have a damn fine fly rod you built yourself for the rest of your life. I’d opt against buying a kit. all you’ll need is a nice reelseat (which you won’t get from a kit) a stripping guide, some snakes, some epoxy (rod bond’s great and nearly idiot proof, thread and a finish 9duragloss ls supreme is again almost idiot proof).
I can give you further details as far as guide size and spacing should you opt to go this route.
no one’s recommended hook and hackle? I know that many here have built their first rods from a hook and hackle kit and I’ve heard nothing but good things about them. were I in yer shoes I’d want the avid though.
Both kits I suggested came from Hook & Hackle. I built the 6’6" 2wt Forecast, and have three more kits from them right now to build. Excellent customer service, not to mention a fine rod for the money. I just put a 3wt line on the 2 wt, and am getting over 55’ with a pice of yarn on the tippet. Got my first trout on it last weekend, and I could feel every tick the fly made in the water. I have a H&H Forecast 8’ 4wt on the jig right now. Total cost $48 + shipping with the Super Bowl Special they had running. The DVD from Jack was super to work from.
A coupld of recommendations from a novice builder - I have built 6 rods now, and still get a little confused when buying separate components, so by all means buy a kit from Hook and Hackle. The other thing is please don’t think you can do this in a day or two - even if you were experienced you would have to have a day or two in between steps to let things dry and I would think you would have to muddle around a little on your first rod.
my first rod was a cabelas stowaway kit - No problems with the epoxy or thread covering in it.
Its really gonna be tough to really screw it up - just make sure things fit and are the way you want them before you epoxy or put finish on them.
with a kit and everything you need in front of you - I think you could get your rod done in 3 days. And still be able to do other stuff during those days.
I’d be more than happy to help however I can.
yes your $80 kits will compare to a $150 fly rod the forcast is a ok rod But I like the Pac Bay rods better, also stcroix makes some sweet rods(avid).
Anyway dont worry about messing up your first rod Its possible but If you take your time It will turn out alright, A perfect flyrod No but alright yes.
fishinnstudyin;
PaGuy sort of nailed it. My first rod was not pretty but fishes very well. That’s when I broke down and got the DVD to help me with my building.
Ok, I just received my e-mail SPECIALS for the week from Hook & Hackle. The weekly specials can be found at http://www.hookhack.com/specialoffers.html . Here’s the kit you are looking for:
H&H Rainshadow (Manufactured by Batson) Matte Charcoal (or Glossy Green) IM6 without case. $83.62 + shipping.
Includes 2 pc blank, with H&H reverse half wells cork grip, Pacific Bay U3 black reel seat and walnut insert, black guides, tip top, hookkeeper, winding check, flex coat, rod builder’s epoxy, brushes, Black thread and tip top cement. Everything needed to build this rod.
man, i just missed the auction of a lifetime on ebay… there was a like new St Croix Avid that sold for $42 on ebay around midnight Friday… soo cheap. this is a sign telling me I need to build a rod. I really like the price for the Rainshadow kit, but I really wish it were a 4 piece… im still debating if i should buy it
fishnnstudyin;
I would suggest a 4 pc for your first build. My first one was a 2 pc 9’ 3 wt and I quickly learned that my work area was too small to swing 4 1/2’ blanks!!
You also need a well lit clean area to build in. Before building my second rod I installed a 4’ florscent shop light over the bench. I also found some filters that go in the forced air heat outlets so I double filter the air.
Some thing you can do while waiting for the kit to arrrive. Pick up some Solo P200 2 oz. cups for mixing the epoxies (you can find them in fast food joints by the condiments). Pick up some small metal kniting needles for stiring (do not use wood!) In the rod building archives you will find directions on building a thread tensioner out of a mouse trap.
The DVD will go today (I’m finaly dug out) but read Al Campbells rod building instructions too.
is making a rod unsafe to do in the living room while watching TV? as far as those solo cups for mixing, I think i got a bunch of large plastic shotglass plastic cups i could use and some old metal chopsticks for stirring…
fishinnstudyin;
Doing the wraps can be done in the living room. Put the spool of thread in a tea cup and run the the thread through a book to set the tension. “Thread Tension”! This should be set so you can still move the guide if it gets out of alignment when wrapping. Just add books to get the right tension and wrap away.
Gluing should be done in a quiet place. The handle and reel seat fitting can be messy when reaming the cork grip.
After gluing the seat and grip to the butt section stand the assembly up (butt down). I do this by closing it gently in a dresser drawer for at least 8 hours.
Somewhere in the Rod Building Forum I have instructions on building a simple but effective cork reamer. I’ll bump it back to the top.
Vinagar will clean up exopy (before it sets).
Always mix more epoxy than you think you’ll need and don’t throw it out when done as it will tell you how your glue job is setting up.
If you go with the manual turning when coating the wraps use an egg time to let you know when to rotate it (180 degrees every 20 minutes or so for 2 - 3 hours).
The last thing I do is epoxy on the butt cap. 9’ rods can be top heavy so when I have one completed I’ll string it up with as much line out as I can get and check the balance. I’ll add #9 lead shot to the butt before adding the cap.