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Custom Rods for Smallies (Guest Article)
Blank Selection
Graphite blanks are never 100% graphite but instead are mostly graphite, along with some percentage of resin and fiberglass scrim. Graphite blanks designated “high modulus” use a new, stronger graphite fiber that places much higher demands on the mechanical properties of resin. The jury is still out on the performance of these high-mod rods. Difficulties in manufacture have kept many builders on the sidelines, waiting to see if good blanks can be built.
Blanks come in four basic actions: an extra-fast action has flex in the upper ¼ of the rod; a fast action rod flexes in the upper 1/3; medium action rods flex in the upper half; and a slow action rod flexes progressively over its entire length down to the grip. Variations in action are controlled by the pattern cut in the raw material before forming into a blank. I use extra-fast and fast action rods for smallie fishing, but feel the fast action is probably the best all-around choice, being more suited to spinner and crank bait presentations. Softer action rods have more wobble when casting: wobble I don’t like. I bought an extra-fast rod just for this reason and, while it’s more suited to jig fishing, it still works reasonably well with spinners and cranks, although I do suffer more break-offs. Conversely, my fast action rods are not the best choice for jig fishing either, but I do it, and it works out just fine. Using inappropriate rods is sorta nuts, but when river fishing I often change up my presentation and refuse to hike back to the truck for a different rod. Just plain lazy I guess.
Spine Alignment
When a custom spinning rod is being built, the builder will often orient the guides and reel seat relative to the spine to facilitate maximum casting accuracy. Attendant to this is improved casting distance, because there is less energy-robbing rod wobble thru the casting motion. If a bait casting rod is being built, the builder will often orient the guides and seat 180 degrees differently than that of a spinning rod. This eliminates rod twist when fighting large fish.
When rod twist occurs, the rod and reel will twist along the axis of the rod, forcing the reel to roll up and over or under the rod, out of position. The cause of rod twist is the rod spine is trying to turn into proper alignment relative to the direction of force. Think of a fishing rod as functioning like a caster on an office chair; the caster will twist around its axis until it is oriented properly to the direction of force. A fishing rod behaves in much the same way. Spine alignment is key to the tuning process the custom rod builder uses to optimize rod performance.
You may be surprised to learn the spine of bait casting rods are seldom oriented for accurate casting. This is because of the diversity of casting techniques used in bait casting. Overhand, side arm, underhand, backhand and wrist-flip style casts are used by the bait caster; consequently, if the spine is aligned for one style, say overhand, it would not be aligned for other style casts and the rod would twist under load. Consequently, the custom builder will usually orient the spine of a bait casting rod to eliminate twist.
All rods twist to some degree if not spine aligned and the angler must devote some amount of energy to compensate for it, however slight. The bigger the fish, the more noticeable and troubling the problem becomes. While you and I may never tackle blue marlin or giant tuna, we must still deal with the consequences of spine alignment. A worse case example of rod twist can be seen on television saltwater angling programs; they frequently show anglers struggling to stop the reel from twisting out of position as they battle with their trophy. It looks as if the rod has a life of its own, and in a way it does.
Guide Sizing and Placement
Another element of Fuji’s design concept is more guides on the upper end of the rod. More guides provide more support, and the line will more closely follow the arc of the rod as it’s being deflected. The angular deflection of the line, from one guide to the next, will be less severe if more guides used, thus less stress on the line. When the line more closely follows the shape of the rod, hook-sets are more powerful and line twist is reduced significantly.
One other facet of the new design concept is to have the lightest and lowest guides practical. This is accomplished through material selection and guide design. Lighter guides mean less mass for improved rod sensitivity, and lower guides reduce moment arm, thereby reducing torque on the rod caused by off-axis loading.
Fuji’s new design concept is just one of many methods used to establish guide sizing and placement. Each technique is fodder for much debate among rod builders and each method is scrutinized thoroughly. Consequently, if you talk to four different rod builders, chances are good you will get four different methods for establishing guide placement and sizing. I like the Fuji approach because it’s supported by serious test data and I believe Fuji to be highly credible; they’ve been in the forefront of guide design since 1938. But this is a personal choice, and while I would recommend it, other rod makers can present an equally persuasive argument for their particular method.
Guide Primer
Fuji and others offer guide rings in a variety of ceramic materials. Cermet, silicon carbide, alconite, hardloy, aluminum oxide, and white ceramic. While I have been using silicon carbide guides for nearly twenty years and they show no wear, cermet engineering data looks superior to silicon carbide in most respects and will probably be specified on my next custom rod. Note that the difference in the cost of a custom rod built with cheap guides versus a rod made with quality guides is negligible. A rod built with good quality guides will be roughly $20-$30 more. Big deal. It makes little sense to skimp on guide quality; if you want to save expenses on a custom rod, guides are not a good place to do it. Most of the cost of a custom rod is labor, not materials; the amount of labor required to mount components is the same, regardless of their quality.
There is one exception to this picture of quality vs. economics that is more linear. Fuji offers a line of titanium guides that are astronomically expensive, costing as much as 10 times more than a comparable guide in silicon carbide; a single titanium guide can cost as much as $50. These guides only make sense if you have money to burn, burn, burn. While they do improve sensitivity, you have to ask yourself if the additional feel is worth the extra $150-$200 for the rod. Very few anglers opt for titanium guides.
The preparation and wrapping of guides is absolutely critical. If the guides have not been prepared and deburred properly, any burr on the bottom of the guide foot will eventually abrade the rod body, forming a weak spot and become a likely failure point. If the wrap is too tight, a stress riser is created at the end of the wrap. Because the wrap will not allow the rod to deform as it flexes; this juncture is where the rod will likely fail when heavily stressed. Should the wrap be too loose, the guide will eventually start to float within the wrap pocket and possibly pop out.
All guides and wrappings form flat spots in the smooth arc of the rod as it bends. These flats spots affect rod action and make the rod more sluggish and stiff while reducing sensitivity. Although these flats can’t be eliminated, their size can be considerably reduced through the use of single foot guides, instead of guides of double foot design. As an example, a 30 mm double foot butt guide including wrapping will form a flat of roughly 2.64 inches long. A comparable single foot guide forms a flat spot of approximately .940 inches long. This is a 65% reduction! Comparable reductions will be seen for all of the guides on the rod, helping to maintain rod action and sensitivity.
Maximizing Sensitivity
Because a rod is super-sensitive, it doesn’t mean it’s a good fishing tool for our purposes. Optimizing all the design elements for sensitivity in a rod will be very expensive, degrade casting ability and the rod will be more subject to line breakage. Thus, it wouldn’t be the best rod for spinner and crank bait fishing; more arm and less wrist would be needed for casting and the rod would not absorb the shock of a hard strike very well. It would however, make an excellent rod for vertical jigging for walleye.
Rod Balance
Grip Facts
Grip design is important for smallie river fishing because it can make fighting the fish easier. A production 6 foot light spinning rod has a grip that measures approximately 7 ½ inches from reel post to butt cap. A custom light spinning rod designed for river fishing will have a grip of approximately 9 inches from reel post to butt cap. It may not seem like much, but this little extra length is important because it allows the rod to be braced against the underside of the forearm, not just held by the wrist, when fighting a fish. Supporting the rod in this way is less fatiguing and provides better control because you can use the larger muscle groups of your arm to control the fish.
Reel Seats
Fuji reel seats are notable for several reasons. Their reel seats use large square threads to secure the reel nut and stainless steel hood over the reel foot. No worries about thread damage here. The graphite material Fuji uses is of the highest quality and amazingly strong for a seat that can weigh less than one ounce. Tests were done on the Fuji seat soon after it was introduced to the market involving a Penn International 80 big-game reel. This great reel, noted for its bullet-proof construction and quality materials, was mounted on a Fuji graphite seat and then mechanically twisted. The foot of the Penn finally bent and failed as pressure was increased. The Fuji reel seat remained intact! The only drawback I can find with the Fuji seat is their plain-Jane appearance. They may not be butt-ugly, but they ain’t pretty either. Here too, Koreans and others build inferior reel seats made to look like the Fuji, so be certain you are getting what you pay for.
Fuji isn’t the only game in town. Strubble makes a line of plated brass skeleton seats with exotic wood inserts that are absolutely beautiful, and AFTCO makes a fine line of quality reel seats that merit a close look. Surprisingly, many reel seats will fit only a limited number of reels; most seat manufacturers haven’t developed good data on all the various reel designs, so your reel may not fit the seat you’ve specified. Fuji has done their homework here and their seats will fit just about every reel made. The root problem is that there’s no standard for reel foot design among the plethora of reel manufacturers. Every manufacturer has its own particular design, forcing the seat manufacturers to compensate accordingly. No matter whose reel seat you select, check to make sure your reel fits before having it installed.
Quality You Can See
The Ultimate Smallie Rod
Expect to pay roughly $300-$500 for this theoretical rod from a good custom rod builder. It will give you many years of joy and out-perform every off-the-shelf rod on the planet.
by Michael E. Little
Why A Custom Rod?
When anglers opt for a custom fishing rod, they do so primarily for improved performance. Compared to a commercial off-the-shelf rod, a good custom rod will offer a 10%-20% performance advantage; it will cast farther, be more sensitive, provide better hook-sets, be more comfortable to use, and provide a longer service life. Commercial rods are designed around a set of averages: the average sized reel, average line weight of average stiffness, average lure weight and the average fisherman’s grip. It’s impossible for a commercial rod manufacturer to do anything else, if he wants to sell many rods. Commercial production rods are, by necessity, a “one size fits all“ affair. By contrast, the custom rod maker builds a new rod around known values; the type of fishing you intend, the specific line you’ll use, the exact reel you will mount, the lure weight you will use, the size of your hand, and the balance you prefer. What follows is an education.
Graphite blanks carry a wide array of material designations and every maker seems determined to confuse the issue with their own scientific sounding moniker - well la-de-da. In 1974 Fenwick introduced the first graphite rods to the world. Although graphite blanks are much more difficult to make, the advantages of this material are legion: graphite is much more rigid than glass; it transmits vibrations better for improved sensitivity; its rigidity also allows blanks to be 25%-35% lighter than a glass blank of comparable strength; graphite is four times stronger than steel and over twice as strong as glass; graphite has better vibration damping characteristics than fiberglass and maintains its superior qualities longer; structural fatigue tests were conducted on blanks of graphite, fiberglass and bamboo. The tests consisted of 30,000 flexing cycles designed to simulate casting. The fiberglass softened 8%, the bamboo 6% and the graphite less than 1%.
All fishing rods have a spine. When a modern rod blank is built, the nature of the manufacturing process creates a blank that has one direction of bending that is true and exhibits no torque or rod twist at the tip. The orientation of the spine in relation to the guides and reel seat is critical to good performance. Spine orientation can be optimized by the custom rod builder one of two ways: for improved casting accuracy or elimination of rod twist under load. Very few, if any, commercial manufacturers take the time to orient the spine of production rods. The result is that production rods suffer from poor casting accuracy and twist under load. If you find a commercial rod with proper spine alignment, consider it a fortunate accident, because it was strictly a matter of pot luck.
As a result of research into improved guide and rod performance, Fuji has introduced a new design concept that’s very different from all previous rod design theory with regard to guide size, height, and spacing. Applied primarily to spinning rods, the new theory strives to eliminate as much line resistance at the guides as possible. The net result is a 9+% improvement in casting distance compared to a “normal“ rod, all other factors being equal. While this increase may seem trivial, when working in concert with spine alignment and other elements, the improved casting distance of a custom rod can be eye-opening.
Good guides are critical to a rod’s performance and service life. Most guides have stainless steel frames and usually some sort of ceramic ring for the line to run through. Not all guides are created equal; Fuji is, without doubt, the best guide supplier available and has a well earned a reputation for quality materials, workmanship, and innovation. Inferior guides are being produced in Korea and Indonesia that are made to look exactly like Fuji guides, but lack the quality control, premium materials, and robust construction. Cheap guides use soft metal frames subject to bending or breakage and ceramic rings that tend to be brittle and prone to fracture.
The more sensitive a rod is, the more easily a light bite is detected and the more fish are caught. Sensitivity is a function of component mass, guide spacing, guide design, guide frame material, rod action, and rod material. To maximize rod sensitivity; use light, low frame guides; use a thin, stiff, high modulus graphite blank with extra-fast action; use more guides near the tip; use only single foot guides; if possible use titanium guides.
Personal taste is the determining factor with rod balance; there is no “right answer“. I prefer an outfit that is slightly tip heavy only because that’s the way my stuff worked out and it suites me fine. I could say it gives me better control and is more accurate but, in point of fact, it is what it is and I‘m satisfied with it. After making hundreds of casts a day and having no problems with soreness, I gotta think my equipment balances is just fine. But, if I started developing some sort of repetitive motion injury, the grip and balance characteristics would be the first place I’d look. A custom rod builder can create just about any balance the customer would want. So, if you have no specific requirement, let the rod maker do his thing. If you know what works best for you, tell the man and he’ll accommodate you.
True balance is problematic because it must take into account the terminal tackle being used; if a rod is balanced with a 1/8 oz lure, it will not be balanced with a ¼ oz lure. If balance becomes super-critical, the angler will be very limited as to the baits he can use and will sacrifice some versatility.
The materials and grip design are solely a matter of personal preference. Good quality cork is becoming difficult to find, but is the classic grip material of choice for several reasons; it’s not slippery when wet, it warms to the touch immediately, it will last nearly forever if of good quality and it is easily cleaned. It is also the most expensive grip to make properly because of material cost and hand work required to build up a nice grip. Finished cork grip assemblies are available from overseas suppliers; while these are less expensive than “built up” cork grips, they often have fillers used to hide flaws in the material and are not recommended. Synthetic grips have the advantage of cost; a man-made grip is less expensive because of reduced material costs and it’s easier to install. They offer the ability to be quite fancy, with different colors available and an infinite number of laminating possibilities.
Reel seats are made of four different materials; aluminum, plated brass, nickel silver, and graphite composite. Aluminum is light weight and will not corrode, but suffers from the softness of the material itself; the threads tend to bind and it’s relatively easy to damage the fine vee-threads of the reel lock. Once damaged, the seat and grip may have to be cut off and replaced. Plated brass, while harder than aluminum, uses a different thread form, less subject to damage and binding. You’ll pay a weight penalty with brass however, because it’s heavier than aluminum or graphite. Nickel silver is a good material, though suffers from the same weight problem as brass. It polishes up beautifully and is a favorite for fly rods. Any misgivings with threads may not be a problem if you mount the reel and leave it on the rod, seldom removing it except for maintenance. Graphite composite is the strongest and lightest weight material available; it is 60% lighter than a comparable chromed brass seat and will not corrode, nor does it suffer from weak or binding threads.
A sad truth is there are good rod makers, and there are others I wouldn‘t let walk my dog. So, how can you spot a good custom builder? Use your eyes. Rod building is very detail oriented, so learn to look at the details, not just the overall picture. Look at the man’s shop; it is clean, neat and tidy? You may see a rod lathe, wrapping fixtures, finishing fixtures, and drying equipment or you may see very little equipment. Minimal equipment doesn’t mean the man can’t make a quality rod, just as fancy equipment doesn’t mean you’ll get a quality product. Check examples of the work. Sight down the rod to see if the guides are aligned. Look at the wraps. They should be almost sculptural with no lumps and should have smooth, fluid transitions from the rod body all the way up the guide foot. Are the wraps finely detailed or was heavy thread used? Do the wraps carry forward of the guide foot? Are the guides locked into the wraps? Are the wraps proportional to the size of the guides? Does the maker use subtle highlights at the wraps, tip and winding check? Look at the rod marking; a custom builder will often label his rod with his name, the customer’s name, the line weight, and lure weight the rod is designed for. Does the marking look professional or does it look like your seven year old niece did it with crayon? Does the grip appear smooth with no glue showing? Are all the components tight? Ask the builder to explain spine alignment. Quiz him on guide theory and placement. Ask him for a list of five customers, call three and quiz them on their overall satisfaction; visit one or two to see if what you saw in the shop was typical of the builder’s work.
Now that we have covered the basics, let’s design the ideal smallie rod for river and stream fishing. Before we begin, let me say my opinions are based on 20 years of smallie fishing, 18 of them with custom rods designed for this exact purpose. Our theoretical rod will not be cheap, but it won’t be anything fancy either. This will be a light spinning rod, weighing roughly 3 ounces, designed for 4 or 6 pound limp mono and 3/32 ounce lure weight. Let the arguments begin.
Published on River Smallies.com with permission
This is Michael's fourth contribution to River Smallies.com. He can be reached at michaelelittle@earthlink.net.