THERE is no arguing that the number of anglers seeking and using fine quality gear is on the increase. While you still see people on the river bank with a hand line and a packet of worms, many are stalking the streams, dams and estuary flats with modern light weight spin or bait caster rods and some pretty classy reels to go with them.
It is good fun and tends to put a little more skill into the angler’s ability. The down side of it is that not everyone can afford all the “you beaut” gear. This is the very reason that many anglers decide to build their own fishing rods. Reducing the cost may allow you to put those saved dollars towards a better reel and of course there is the enjoyment from making your own rod.
The basics of rod building are not all that difficult and there are some excellent books about that show you all you need to know. Ian Miller’s “The Australian Rod Builder” is available at most newsagents and larger tackle shops and will only cost you around $5. The book is highly recommended, even if it is not the first rod that you have built.
The blank that we are going to have a look at for this exercise is a Samurai, brought into Australia by Jeff Frogley agencies. This range of blanks are built by Mitsubishi from high modulus premium carbon fibre.
At present there are ten models in the range from a short 4’8” 2-3 kg blank to a 7’ 4-6 kg blank. The other models fall between these lengths and line classes with a few two piece models as well.
Since their introduction I have built well over a hundred rods on the various blanks and every single customer has been delighted with the product. Some of these customers have included lure manufacturers who can be quite fussy when it comes down to what they expect from a rod.
The most popular rods that we have made have been built up from the Samurai 004. It is a six foot blank and classed as 2 - 4 kg. It makes a beaut flick stick or baitcaster, ideally suited to three or even two kilo line.
The spin rod is left at the standard six foot length while the baitcaster has been trimmed from the butt. You trim the blank to whatever length you want. Keep in mind that most baitcasters are easier to use when between 5’4” and 5’10”. Personal preference, style and where you fish will determine this for you.
The standard model that we build has had four inches cut from the butt, making it 5’8” overall.
The Samurai range of blanks have a nice slender profile and are very light being built from graphite. They also have enough guts to put hurt on a good fish.
One of the properties of the 004 is that it has a nice light tip action that enables small lures to be flicked out with ease. It can be hard to cast a tiny little Crawdad across the flats with a stiff rod and get any distance, but this is not the case with the 004.
On the other hand you can still troll diving lures around the dam, though the rod does make a better casting than trolling rod.
SPIN VERSION
For this the blank has been left uncut. To keep the cost down the butt grip has been built of Eva and measures 7”. Cork builds into a better overall product but does add considerably to the end cost.
If you are a bit of a handyman, turning the Eva down so it tapers nicely from a 19 mm butt cap to the reel seat looks good as well as feeling better in the hand. The same goes for shaping the foregrip.
For the reel seat slip on a FUJI DPSM 17 or if it is a very small reel and the feet of the reel will fit under the hoods, use a DPSM 16. Which ever reel seat, you will need to use a fair bit of packing, so be sure to use adequate glue under the reel seat to stop it twisting on the string or tape - whatever you use for packing.
To keep the action of the rod nice and crisp, opt for single foot guides all the way down, excluding the stripper though keeping this as a single foot is fine. FUJI BLVLG will do the trick for the guides and a BSVLG for the stripper.
BAITCASTER
Firstly cut four inches from the bottom of the blank. Like the spin rod we shape the butt grip into a nice contour from the 19 mm butt cap to the FUJI DTPSM 16 trigger reel seat. Five and a half inches seems to be a good length grip. Add the one inch from the butt cap and you end up with six and a half inches all up.
The foregrip is kept nice and small - three inches is ideal. Like the spin rod all guides (bar the stripper) are single foots.
The blank is a smooth grey colour which lends itself nicely to just about any colour. Black with gold metallic trims always looks good. Gunsmoke or charcoal is nice and can be highlighted with any one of a number of contrasting metallic trims
What ever colours you decide to use on the bindings, keep the length of them minimal as you want to keep the rod light and crisp.
SPEFICATIONS:
SPIN-BAIT-CASTER
BLANK: Samurai 6 004 Samurai 004 - 4 cut off butt
BUTT: 7” x 3/8” EVA or 5 1/2” x 3/8” EVA
WINCH: FUJI DPSM 17 - Thread down or FUJI TPSM 16
FOREGRIP: 4” x 1/4” EVA or 3” x 1/4” EVA
BUTT: FUJI BRC 19 mm for both.
TIP: FUJI BPLT 6/2.0mm for both.
GUIDES: (Spin) FUJI BLVLG
8 - 8.5mm
10 - 11.0mm
12 - 13.0mm
16 - 15.0mm
20 - 19.0mm
FUJI BSVLG 25 - 29.5mm
(Baitcast)
FUJI BLVLG 7 - 8.0mm
7 - 7.8mm
7 - 9.0mm
8 - 10.8mm
8 - 12.5mm
10 - 15.0mm
12 - 19.5mm
BSVLG 16 - 23.0mm
