Ronnie,

Rod building does eat some time, but there is nothing like catching a nice fish on a rod you crafted yourself. I have a lathe but have not yet tried a wood handle. I can't wait to fish with this setup. I just signed up for a tournament in 3 weeks and I plan to win it with this rig.   I can send you my stuff but you also get the bills. :'( Post some pics of some of your work.

Ronnie

i dont know witch is worth more the rod or the reel

Actually the rod is worth more (the most important piece of the system).

The rod cast the lure not the reel, the rod feels the bite not the reel, the rod sets the hook not the reel.

The reels only duty is to hold and payout the line and haul the fish in......

Tight Wraps Builders!!!!  

reelmech is right (big surprise )

in the last year, i've bought a few THOUSANDS of dollars worth of reels.  they work, look & feel, Great, but, their duty is to reel in the fish.  the rods duty is to feel that subtle "tic" & enable you to distinguish it from a myriad of other sensations that have been transmitted to your hand/brain.

that's one of the reasons custom rods are worth the time & effort they take.

no, off the shelf, rod, can match the person, the reel, the type of fishing, etc., like a custom rod.

i may never become a rod builder, but, the time i've already put into it, has shown me how important a rod really is.

Triton Mike, I know Kistler and Gblanks offer something similar. That design is my fave as well. Split rear grip, no foregrip and very little behind the reel seat too. The less clunky the design, the more polished everything feels. I admire the work on the rod with the hypolon split design but to me it looks like the butt is very big and the extra foam in front of the reel seat wouldn't be something I'd utilize. I like the foam on the reel seat. I normally use skeletal seats but the option of a little more comfort is appealing.

Thanks Earthworm for the compliments.  I can't say I came up with that design on my own but several custom builders I have seen have variations of this one but I am one of the first (that I have seen) to use a button on either end of the reel seat.  My good buddy George Roth had one with a button up front but a longer grip on the back of the seat along with the split grip.  He's the one that put that bug in my head for the 2 buttons.  But I love the design.  Rumor has it a new rod company is going to come out with a spinning rod design just like the one you see in the pic .  I'll know something after Icast

I agree the butt end on the hypalon is HUGE!!  I'd personally trim it down some.

T Mike

You guys are right!  ;D That foam butt is "BUTT UGLY". It's hard to see from my avatar, that I have rhuematoid arthritis (more than 20 years now) . If you look at my earlier posts on this thread, you will see that I had this same blank & reel seat  fitted with a tiny butt and small button corks on both sides (not yet sanded) just to satisfy my curioisity. My poor old hands just couldn't make this awesome 'stella' reel work with this set up. I opted for the eva foam and the finished rod you see in the pics, mostly because my deformed fingers can handle it (larger diameter of handle & butt)  better. I am not complaining, I am very blessed that I can still fish, let alone half way wrap a rod. I am impressed with Triton_Mike's rod, and that is what I was trying to emulate when I realized it has to be handicapped accessible.

I love this forum and am greatfull for what I learn here. There's still nothing like fishing!

Ronnie

Alpster,

I think you did a great job on that rod...That's the sweet thing about custom rods. It was produced for you, and your way of fishing, no matter whether you have a slight handicap or not. As long as the rod feels good to you and produces the result you were after, that's all that counts..

Enjoy the rod....

Tight Lines!!!