I built a couple Fly Rods with my father…..50 or so years ago…. So, when I had a few rods built for me the last 5 years, they were not exactly what I wanted. In no way is this a knock on professional rod builders, they surely know a lot more about rod building than me. Also, I have seen the same blanks built by two of the highest regarded rod builders that have completely different actions/feels. So, I have decided to build my own rods since I know what I want, what I am looking for in a rod. I like a light, sensitive rod. I’m older now, had rotator cuff surgery (all good now), I fish 6-10 hours each trip and make a lot of casts. Each trip covers night and some light in the AM, and I throw a wide variety of wood, plastic, rubber and metal (almost every trip. Experimenting, fishing all different artificials is fun for me. So an “all around” rod is optimal. But big surf conditions verse an outing throwing smaller plugs call for a more specific, very different rod.
- Guides, seems that there can’t be enough of them on a rod nowadays. The New Concept System, etc. lots of guides to get a perfect even dispense of power through the arc of a bending rod. Great. Not for me. Even with the new lighter guides each epoxied guide adds weight and stiffens the rod. I prefer to take advantage of these new lighter guides and look to put the minimal amount of guides on the rod while still getting good line throughput on the rod.
- Keep away from excessive thread and epoxy on the guides and also a minimal amount on the ferrule.
- Put the reel where I like it (21 inches from the butt to stem for me).
- Thin rod grips, 2:1 shrink ratio Shrink Grip Material from Mud Hole
- Fuji KG Arowana Spin/Cast Tip Top, Torzite Ring. They are very expensive. But the strongest and smoothest material out there. Braid friction through the tip top is the #1 part of the rod that will reduce the braid strength (wear on braid, fraying). So for me the Torzite Tip Top is a solid upgrade and is what I use when possible.
- Reel Seats – Fuji DPSM
- Butt Caps – CRB Door Knob Style Butt Caps
- Thread – ProWrap ColorFast Rod Winding Thread Size D,464 Purple
- Tip Top – Attach with CRB Advance Polymer Tip & Ferrule Cement, then small amount of epoxy on the outside of the Tip Top and the rod (no thread)
- Epoxy – ProKöte High-Build Rod Building Thread Finish
Tip Top Part Number Description
XXXX – Z – Y
XXXX = TipTopModel
Z = Outer diameter of ring in mm,
Y = Rod diameter in 64ths of an inch
This Chart is for Y
