Homemade gear, modfications, and improvements??

[river_walleye]

Hello everyone!
 
  Anyone have any pictures of there homemade gear, modifications, lures, etc?? Half the fun of ice fishing for me is getting together with friends and making improvements to the shanty or gear. I have some pictures of ice anchors and sled improvements I'll have to dig up.
 Does anyone have any pictures to share??

[Vex-Um]

Ice shanty has several threads and even forums deducted to this very subject. Explore the site a little more and you'll discover that you aren't the only ice fisherman that enjoys "tricking their trap."

[bpiatt]

I made a Performance Pack for the Ice Troller. I made the transducer arm and the base out of delrin, the transducer holder and showdown bracket is made from kydex.

[BaitBucket]

Thats nice lookin right there BP! Well done.

Heres my ultra lite box, made from 3 milk crates. (27lb empty)

[river_walleye]

Here are a couple of unfinished decoys I have been working on. The perch is sealed, weighted, and ready for paint.

[Rob M-O]

I am making a jig pole out of a busted pole I found.  Here are some pictures of the process.




More pics when I get the tip section glued into the butt section.

[lostman]

about 25 of the thirty rods me and me dad own are handmade, i just started a couple years ago,

here are 4 of my favourites i've made, the second from the top is my favourite, it is amazing, softer tip with lots of backbone... absolutely amazing for aggressive jigging for larger fish such as walleye or lakers



here is another small rod i handmade along with a keychain reel i modfied so that it is useable along with adding a larger handle

[Rob M-O]

Lostman, did you make those the way I am trying to? 

[lostman]

Lostman, did you make those the way I am trying to?

similar but not quite...
i collect broken rods from people and ones from the tackle shop i work at, then i will cut them down similar to what you did,
sand down the blank then put a new clear coat on it,
then you gotta find the backbone line it up then measure or just eyeball where you believe the eyelets should go and mark them down
glue on then wrap the guides on(usually with any sewing or fly tying thread as long as its not hairy)
after they are all done 1 or 2 coats of a flexible clear coat (i use an actual coating made for this but any clear epoxy should work)
find other blanks to use as a whole or cu into shims to snugly place the blank into the handle.
epoxy the blank in then add small wrapping and hook holder

and your done

i can finish a rod in 2 days if i work as nonstop and as soon as the glues and coats dry but i usually only make up a couple a year and will sell a few of them usually starting around 50$ or more if i really like the rod

if you got any other questions pm me this is kinda my compact instructions
and once i start a new one ill take pictures and post a thread somewhere about it

[Rob M-O]

Nice, way more professional than my hatchet job. 

[lostman]

Nice, way more professional than my hatchet job.

if it works then its still a new ice rod!
once you start its hard to stop, make all these rods for specific things, unlike anything rod you can buy

[Curley]

I know a couple guys who make there own rods. They say it's very rewarding. They mostly do acid wrap style rods for salt water conventionals.

[IceBalls]

I had a standard freshwater spinning rod break on me about 1 inch out of the handle.  I took the top section, removed the metal ferrule, and epoxied the rest into the piece that was sticking out of the handle.  That was when I was 15 years old.  Now, 55 years later, that is my favorite ice fishing rod ( I always use it first when I hit the ice).  It's old, it's ugly, the paint is peeling, the guuides are rusting.....but it still catches fish !!!

[$ignmoney]

I got the ice rod kit from Jan's. They turned out OK but don't have the action I wanted. ( I like my other rods I bought better) I didn't know about the backbone thing lostman said. We just guessed where to put the eyes. I tripped over a rod a while back in my shop and broke the tip off it. I think I will have to try it again. Thanks

[The Dad Fisherman]

Rob M-O..Question for you. How are you stripping off the old Guides and epoxy from thos rods. I got a couple busted rods I would like to try that with

[lostman]

every blank will have a backbone
thats one side of the blank will be slightly stiffer then the other, if the backbone isn't straight the rod will bust easier, if it a very definate backbone the rod may want to twist on you while your fighting a fish or tweak of to the side putting an awkward stress on the blank, thus breaking it

easiest way to find it is to put the thicker end of the blank on a flat surface and lightly push straight down on the other end of the rod
it will tend to bend in one direction that is gererally your backbone and you will want to make the rod so that it bends the same way it did when you tested it

[Rob M-O]

To The Dad, I just used a new razor blade and carefully shaved the varnish off the threads and then shaved a little deeper to get the threads and then just peeled everything off using my thumbnail to get in there. 
I have to admit, I probably should have been more careful.
And i should have listened to lostman and figured out the backbone before I got the blank jammed and glued into the butt section.
 

[Rob M-O]

Almost got it finished last night.  Made a jig out of box to hold the rod while I wrapped the guides.  I got the guide threads wrapped.  But man o man, that was an operation that could have used three hands.   Put one coat of head cement on them and a couple more ought to finish the job. 
One jig pole made out of a busted rod.  Can't wait to get the skunk off it.

[$ignmoney]

Very nice Rob. I got to do it,Thanks