So now that I have decided on what kind of rod to build, where do I get the components? There are plenty of web sites available with rod building supplies, and Cabela’s carries them in the catalog and also right in the store. But how to know what to buy and where to buy it? In the true spirit of fly fishing, I relied on recommendations from someone who really knows how to fish and knows how to build really nice rods. He recommended The Hook & Hackle Company (www.hookhack.com/)for good quality, reasonably priced components.
Hook and Hackle has blanks, guides, grips, reel seats, plus everything else you need. On a true custom rod you can select exactly what you want and match them to exactly fit your needs. But that can be a little complicated since the tip top must fit the rod tip, the reel seat must match the grip, the winding check must fit the blank and the grip, ect. I didn’t want to go through that exercise, so I ordered a rod building kit. This is another compromise in that it is not quite a “custom” rod, but I know that I will get everything I need and I know it will fit together. If I want to I can always substitute a component. Plus on the practical side, I can save a few bucks buying everything together.
But of course they offer a lot of rod kits. And since the blank is the most important thing, I first have to decide on the blank. Of course they have beaucoup choices.
The first thing I look at is the modulus. This is short for “Young’s modulus” or “modulus of elasticity”. It is the ratio of stress to strain. Or force applied to amount of resulting deformation. (This is a good review of basic mechanical engineering principles.) But the only thing you really need to know is that a higher number is better. The higher the number, the lighter the blank can be while retaining the same strength. So as the number goes higher you can get a rod that works better in the power vs feel tradeoff. I think currently you can get a rod with 57,000,000 modulus. Manufacturers are trying to improve that all the time, and they charge a pretty nice premium for the highest modulus. There is a school of thought that you should always get the highest modulus that you can afford, since if you are going to use the rod for a lifetime it will pay off. (“Buy something good and you pay for it once, buy something cheap and you pay for it every time you use it.”)
So what did I choose? I went with the Hook & Hackle IM6, which has 43,000,000 modulus. And why did I get this low end modulus? (Not on the bottom, since I think now about the minimum you get is 33,000,000, not counting the Kmart rods.) I went for the cheapest kit available. My reason for this goes back to the purpose of the rod. I figure to do minimal casting to catch fish in the 6 to 10 inch range (actually kind of optimistic on the 10 inch). So this type graphite should do just fine. And it actually wasn’t too many years ago that this was considered the top of the line graphite, so I won’t really be using junk, just not the latest hi tech.
I chose the 6’6” two weight, supposedly with a medium fast action. (I will be able to use a nice reel that I have already strung with 3 weight line, the mismatch should be minor considering the minimal casting requirements.) Ideally you should test cast a blank before you buy one, but I find that very impractical. I think they sell finished rods along with similar blanks at Cabella’s so you might be able to do it there, with a somewhat limited selection. Otherwise it is hard to find that combination. Again, in this case actual casting characteristics are not much of a factor so it isn’t very important. But on a larger rod I would seek out other’s recommendations and go with that if I could.
Besides the blank here are the other components included in the kit:
Pac Bay reverse half wells inlet grip
Pac Bay UL nickel/silver reel seat skeleton
Maple wood insert
Chrome hookkeeper
Snake guide set
Chrome tip top #4
Winding check .25”
Dark green wrapping thread
I’ll cover these items and the choices involved with each as we get to them during the build. There are some adhesives and coatings also required (can be ordered with the kit), plus some simple tools. I’ll also talk about each as we get to them.
All this for the princely sum of $52.27 (shipping included). I figure that is a low risk if a mess it up, and a reasonable price for a rod that will be somewhat of a specialty item for me. Plus hopefully it will be fun to make, and fun to fish with.
Blah blah blah, enough of this philosophizing. It is time to start rod building!
I’m surprised at the low cost of the outfit given that all the parts are already machined into an almost finished state (the guides & tip, the maple insert, reel seat) and basically all you have to do is put them together. Maybe you’ll prove me wrong there. I would have guessed more than double that price. I suppose the manufacturers can tool up to mass produce the parts at a low unit cost, then make a killing on the markup of finished rods counting on the fact that not many folks have the time, motivation, skill, patience, tools, etc to put together their own rods.
What is the price of one of the top-of-the-line kits?
If you want to, you can buy a blank for $200-300, a reel seat for $60-70 (burl cocobolo insert? must look pretty nice), plus $25 for really good cork, plus I’m sure there are some expensive guides with teflon inserts or something. They don’t put the most expensive components in the kits, I suppose figuring that if someone is going the expensive route they will want to choose everything separately.
I think the real value in a good rod is how the blank is matched with the other components, particularly the guide spacing. Otherwise most of this stuff is just for show, like to cork and the reel seat insert.
I too was surprised at how cheap this outfit was. That was one of the big reasons to try to build this rod, I figured the risk was pretty darn low. The eight weight I just built was about $80. Maybe I should have waited and fished that some before building another of the same line of kits, but they are so different that it would be hard to compare anyway.
Todd… My son and I are building the 6’6″ 2-piece 2-weights from H&H kits. I went through the kit parts today and want to forewarn that the bore on the cork grip included with the kit are .25, so it does not fit the blank (the bore is too big.) The butt of the blank measures .25, so the diameter of the area on the blank above the reel seat is far smaller than the bore of the grip provided in the kit. The rubber winding check also has an iside diameter of .25, so it is too big. I am returning the grips & winding checks to H&H for credit, as they do not stock ready made grips and winding checks with bores smaller than .25. They are great folks and I am sure they will give me a credit on a future purchase. They offered to substitute cork rings for the ready made grips, but the bore on their rings is also .25. I have ordered rings with a 1/8″ diameter and an extra small bore reamer from Shoff Tackle to build my own grips. Keep us posted on your progress and we will do likewise with our efforts. Good Luck and Very Best Regards, Vance
Vance,
Thanks for the tip. It is great to know someone else is doing this too. Keep in mind that I am a rank amateur so take everything I post in that vein. I am interested in your experiences with this project.
As far as the handle goes, I have actually completed that step but have been unable to post due to logon problems. (Kevin!)
I put the handle on and must admit that I was so suprised that I didn’t have to do any filing that I didn’t really notice the poor fit at the upper end. At that point my blank is just a hair under .240, so with the handle bore a nominal .250 it is a little big, but maybe not that much bigger than I would have made myself by filing. A perfect fit on the winding check would have covered all sins, but then I did notice that the winding check was a little big. But I put it on too, centered, and it fits OK but not snug.
I guess this is one of those items where you get to make the choices when you build your own rod. I suppose that this is within my tolerance level and that is what is important. I don’t know that anyone would notice the imperfection in the winding check except with close inspection (except now potentially everyone in the world with access to the internet!), but I know, and if you put it on you would know too.
Good luck with the cork rings and keep me posted!
Todd