First Ice Fishing Rod I ever Built

[Brad B]

this is my first custom made ice rod I built. I just made it on Thursday Night. It is a 26 inch solid carbon light action blank with a 5 inch cork handle on it. I have my second ice rod on the dryer right know. It will be done in the morning. Since December 10 I have now built 3 rods and have components to build another ice rod(going to have a solid wood handle) and another musky rod.

here is a pic of my first ice rod I built :

[Jmeyers]

Nice work Brad let us know how it works out on the ice! will you post a picture of the wood handle rod when you finish it? I would love to see how it looks

[Brad B]

Nice work Brad let us know how it works out on the ice! will you post a picture of the wood handle rod when you finish it? I would love to see how it looks

will do. I plan to try it out on Monday. I took the reel of my Frabill straight line combo and put it on this rod. the Frabill rod was okay but if you check it the guides are like 90 degrees to the spine of the rod. I'm not sure about the wood handle right now. I like it but I need to stain it first(I don't like the natural look of it right now). I will finish it first then build the rod. Still need to pick up the reel seat(this will be modified to replace the graphite center section with the wood). I am thinking doing it at 28 inches(the blank starts at 36inches then I cut it down). It will be some time next month.

[Jmeyers]

Love the little spine check he taught us... Found that some of my rods are a bit out of whack!

[Hardyboy]

If you were to start grabbing store bought rods off the shelf and checking them you would find that only about 10% of them are spined correctly. They sacrifice quality for production,thats why customs have a better feel and are more fishable.