Custom Rod Building 101

[piersm2]

Long time ice roamer, first time poster here!  I have toyed with the idea of building my own rods for a couple years now and I finally think I am going to pull the trigger.  I found a kit on mudhole.com that is decently priced and comes with everything it looks like I would need to get going.  Does anyone have any tips or tricks to building your own rods?  Is there a better kit out there to buy?

Also, when it comes time to go out and buy all of the accessories, what/where is the best place to buy new blanks and other needed parts?

Thank you all for your insight and looking forward to getting started!

[Shoe]

I am cheap.  I built some very nice inexpensive rods for dead sticks before last season.  I found blanks/components on Jann's Netcraft.  Great for the price, IMO.  I had a question about some of the components and got very good advise from them.  I have bought from mudhole, too over the years without issues.

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[icefisher]

I used to build custom rods . Mudhole is a great company to deal with. There kits are pretty good you can also call them up and they will help build a kit for your needs. hope this helps

[wranglerdrvr]

Started building rods last year and even bought the all in one ice rod building kit from mudhole. It’s a nice kit, IMO a great “one stop shop” option to get started so I say do it!

I have since dived down the rabbit hole and built multiple fly and spin rods and even went to a power wrapper. I buy most of my stuff from mudhole and Jann’s and even pick up some blanks on eBay. I think ice rods are my favorite because they’re quick and cheap to make, they make nice gifts to your ice buddies and family members as well!

Hope this helps.

[BigSling]

Grab a beverage, get comfortable, head to the rod building forum https://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?board=130.0, and start reading. 10 pages of threads to go through and a ton of useful information there.

[rgfixit]

I built rods for many years. Mudhole is ridiculously over priced. Their shipping costs approach 30% and their blanks are mediocre. I once ordered a couple of replacement fly rod guides from them and the shipping was double the cost of the eyes. I called and they basically said." Oh well!". I cancelled my account and never looked back. Do some research and get your components from Jann's, Acid Rod or Sportsmans Guide.

Rg