FD.

I fished my first MHX blank for ten years before the rod locker ate it. And then I built an exact replica and am still fishing it. Watch the Mudhole tutorials over and over. Then ask as many questions as you want here. We started at the same place you are, and are more than willing to help. WARNING - rod building is more addictive than crack, just so you know. FD

Build on a white blank and and use either testors model paint or crb pigment to dye your epoxy and put a light coat as far up the blank as you want.

My personal finesse rod is built on the Rod Geeks C473MHXS. It's a medium heavy with plenty of power for turning big fish but has an extra soft fast tip which makes casting super light baits easy. I've built 4 duplicates for clients this year and they all love them.

Awesome Scott. Just freakin awesome...

Just join the Inside Track Club and you don't need paper coupons anymore...Besides the girls at checkout at my local HF know me by name. That may not be a good thing. Scott, where are you getting your eva blocks?

There are very few rods I build where I don't re-wrap at least one guide...

Nice work Gary. I have several feathers the Hawk that lives in my yard has donated. I have been looking at them for over a year trying to figure out how to get them on a blank. Thanks for adding something else to my list...

Two thoughts... I don't wrap over an epoxy ramp, I wrap on the blank and build the ramp over it. The refraction from the clear epoxy ramp gives the illusion that the thread is on a ramp. To build the ramp I just use timing of the epoxy as it starts to thicken. I build the epoxy to the height I want, then hit it with a shot of heat from my heat gun (with my free hand behind the blank in the stream of hot air so I know for sure how much heat I'm using) and it ramps perfectly every time now. It's taken a lot of practice to perfect this technique, but it produces amazing ramps.

I have built several rods now with the microwave set up. The spinning guides work absolutely as advertised. I will not build another spinning rod for myself without them. The casting not so much.

Ripa and Associates 2nd annual fishing tournament to raise money for the Make A Wish Foundation is next month. They have asked that I build the trophies again this year. And here they are. RodGeeks 2SW76MM Lt Green metalic blanks - It's a light saltwater spinning blank. Fuji comfort spinning seat Batson BVSL guides and BPLT tops Eva grips

Welcome to the world of fishing high pressured lakes. Fishing large lakes with lots of pressure is completely different than you're used to. I would fish the north end after lunch.

It does beat the NE weather but in Florida you need to watch the lows. Friday morning in the high 30's is going to drop the lake temps dramatically. Florida strain bass don't do dramatic. Shiners may give you a slightly better chance but they're expensive and no guarantees. Rig a hollow body frog and fish it slow, Texas rig a skinny dipper with at least 1/4 oz bullet and swim it just under the pads, and some creature bait for flipping. The pads will hold the heat better and they may bunch up so if you get any activity fish that area heavy. You will be looking for 65+ degree water but that will be hard to find. Have a nice breakfast and hit the water late. After 2 pm is going to give you the best shot. good luck and let us know how it goes. Also there is a deep (for florida) channel that runs just off the sea wall for Lakeshore Blvd. That area normally holds fish and will be protected from the NW wind.

I would go bowling. You have a bad moon and bad weather. If you are a glutton for punishment then I would not even start until 10 or so. There are not a lot of mats to punch right now so look for thick pads fields. I'm doing honeydos this weekend but if I had to fish then I would fish north of the Neptune Rd bridge or in the back of Goblits Cove.

It took me longer than that... Scott, you are doing some seriously sick work.

2 to 3 will be exposed depending on the reel that's mounted on it. I run the hood down and tape it in place when it's on the power wrapper or dryer. Thanks Mick. I prefer to build epoxy ramps most of the time. Occasionally I use the fuji rubber winding checks if I have a gap I'm trying to fill.

The Finesse plastics rod is done. It's sporting VT Hokies colors and headed to Virginia tomorrow.

I have not, but the seats are painted with the same baked automotive paint that they use on the blanks. The trigger seats are $28 painted.

Rod Geeks are now painting Fuji DPSM and ECSM reel seats in any of their custom colors.

I ordered 5 RodGeeks C2SW70MM blanks todays for light saltwater/freshwater builds. These are designed to be great popping blanks and the moderate action allows you to throw live bait also.

Pack your bags brother, 70 degrees and sunny today.

So with the new rod shop nearly complete and a small break with work I finally get to build a few. Here are the first 5 on the new bench. From top to bottom. Worm Rod - Rainshadow RX6 843 MH fast in Gloss Black with a forecast exposed trigger and cork split grips. Cranking Rod - RodGeeks C273 Medium Moderate in copper flake with a Fuji ACS exposed trigger and eva split grips. Finesse Plastics - RodGeeks C473 MH ES in maroon with a forecast exposed trigger and eva split grips. Frog Rod - RodGeeks C476 MHF in Gold metalic with a Fuji ACS exposed trigger and eva split grips. Frog Rod - RodGeeks C276 MHF in Gold/Black metalic with a Fuji ACS exposed trigger and eva split grips.

Super nice first rod. Much cleaner than my first for sure.

I used an oil based spray paint for this build. Since you are only painting the butt and there will be no flex you could probably use about anything. Enamel or even the small automotive paints available at your local auto parts store. What ever you use, prepping the blank and protecting the paint with a finish is the trick to making it last.

Yes I did. I looked at every available camo pattern and did not like what I found. Honestly, they looked boring and walmart-ish to me. I also looked at camo fabrics but did not like them either. I may not build a lot of rods but I pride myself on being one of a kind builder. I helped a buddy camo paint his duck boat a few years ago so I knew I could do it. The problem with camo on a blank is scale. On the boat we used palmetto frons and branches as paint blocks. Camo painting is about layers and not painting the previous layers with some screen. For this rod I wandered around the lake bank picking weeds with small leaf patterns to use as screens. I taped off the area to be painted, wiped it down with denatured alcohol and took it outside. I had some oil base camo spray paint I bought at HD a couple of years ago. All flat paint in black, brown, olive and yellow sand. I started with a mist of yelow and then began layering the other colors using my weed screens to leave unpainted shadows on the previous layers. 30 seconds of drying time then rotate and repeat and repeat and repeat. I lost count at 20 something can changes but it only took about 30 min of total painting time. An hour or so of drying in the sun then a base coat of high build finish to protect it. I put the labels on and then another coat of finish with a touch of gold, black and brown glitter mixed in. Two more coats of finish in the camo area to give it depth and done.

This was a super secret present so I did not show it during the build. So in mid October I get a FB message from Stephanie, a very stressed out Bride to be. Her Fiance had broken his favorite rod a few months ago and her surprise wedding gift was a custom to replace it. The "friend of a friend" builder that had agreed to build it is nowhere to be found and the wedding is six weeks away. I talk her down off the ledge, tell her to worry about more important things, and I will have her rod done in plenty of time to be the very cool wedding present it is going to be. Here is the build. MHX L 904 MM 7-6 light saltwater blank Microwave guides in black duralite AERO spinning seat in black EVA grips Custom camo paint