advantages of building your own rods question

[Markit]

So I built my first rod, it turned out great and I had lots of fun doing it. It was a 6’ lite rod that I will be using for crappie fishing. I have a few questions on the benefits of rod building. 1. As I look for other rod blanks I am finding many nice blanks. Ie. Saint Croix, MHX and others. For a good walleye blank, it seems to run about 75.00 up to 200.00. One can by a very nice walleye rod for 100-200.00 from the store. By building my own rod, am I saving any money? Gaining better quality? Or is it mainly for the fun of it and the ability to add the colors/graphics that I like? 2. I have been buying most of my stuff through mudhole.com Do you all know of a place to get great blanks/components at a lesser price. I will continue to build rods, but it gets a little expensive : ) Thanks in advance for your input.

Mark G.

[upnorth]

My thoughts.

1. Custom rods are just that custom. You build them to exactly what want them to be.

2. The $200 finished rod at the bait store will most likely be built on a $75 blank.

3. It is a good hobby.

[chickeywing]

It's well worth it. I brought one in to work for show-and-tell and ended up with 6 guys ordering rods. They also make a really nice gift for buddies. There's nothing better landing a nice fish on a rod you built.

The big C store has some really nice custom spinning blanks for $23. Great feel. Order them delivered to the store and avoid the shipping.

There is a great guy in Prior Lake I get most of my stuff through. His shop is appointment only but his mail order system is great. Bill will take care of you.

[Brad B]

I get most of my components from Gary's custom rod and reel in Anoka. If I can't get it from him then I use Mudhole. Janns netcraft also carries some rod building stuff.