popping rod the custom way

[Andrew Colefax]

not much seems to be mentioned of custom built popping rods so thought i'd put up my current project. i am a part time custom rod builder, building high end sport fishing rods, usually for targetting the 3 B's barra bass and bream. the move back to cairns has seen me get into popping, and of course the rod builder in me meant i wanted to do it my way.

after some research it became apparent there isn't much choice in the way of blanks. Although there are some great models at an economical price point in the hastings USA range 1 pc wasn't an option for convenience reasons. Could've also gone the Smith route with a WRC80 but lack of regular supply and local backup put me off (i wish to be able to offer popping rods to customers) in the end i settled on a blank from the japanese Seed brand, one of their new models the GT710HP. 7'10" long rated PE8-10, 130-150gr cast weight and 13kg max drag. Local importer who i already dealt with meant good supply and backup which is important. Upon receipt of blank i was impressed with its finish and light weight.

I set the butt up with a longish 375mm rear grip and uplock reel seat. i did this for 2 reasons, to reduce load on the threads of the reel seat as well as providing extra length in the rear grip assembly due to my tall 6'5" stature. I spent some time on the foregrip shape, eventually settling on a dual taper shape for comfort when loading the rod 2 handed. I also chose a harder durometer EVA for the foregrip, softer for the rear grip for comfort when tucked under the arm working lures.

Am just finalising guide positioning with help from Brandon (he kindly supplied me a cross section of guide measurements from similairly rated rods to set a baseline) will then commence wrapping to 'bombproof' specs all guides underbound, stripper guide triple overbound and rest double overbound. Looking forward to the fishing the finished result, will post more pics and final weight when i am done.

Sorry for the rant, can't help myself when it comes to rod building...that said i consider myself a fisherman who builds rods, not a rod builder who fishes if that makes sense...

[Brandon Khoo]

looks promising, Andrew
how did you shape the EVA?

[Peter Morris]

Looks very nice mate,

I know the job you do is of extremely high quality.....SO when you finish it...please dont show me as I may want one...

Pete

[Andrew Colefax]

thanks Pete, i'm sure you'll get a look when you're up for a visit

Brandon, i have a lathe as i turn most of my grips, whether it be EVA or cork. i didn't have a mandrel big enough for the ID of this grip though so i turned one up out of a bit of broom handle

another problem i encountered was assembling the grips onto the butt section. being a straight tube meant i had to turn a tapered mandrel that fitted into the butt section like the blank does, ending up flush with the tube allowing me to expand the EVA onto the butt section but more importantly ensure correct epoxy coverage.

I'm keen on turning a few poppers as well, have a few ideas regarding shape, the through wiring seems pretty straight forward i'll give it a try when i've got more time

[Rohit Saqa Lal]

Good to see local builders getting into these types of specialised sticks, it can only have the good benefit of hopefully giving us better access to more whacky and wonderfull parts and blanks

I have been working on a popper rod development as well for my lineup. I will post up some progress reports under a separate thread

[Craig WILLIAMS]

Colefox,

Any chance you have the weight specifications for that Seed GT710HP blank (blank weight only, prior to build) which you assembled?

[Travis Pantohan]

Andrew

  Looks good.  Like that foregrip shape.  What type of guides if you mind me asking?

[Brian J Richardson]

Hi Folks

I've been building my own rods for 40 years now.  Nothing better than building your own rod and catching a big fish.  Here's some pics of a Seeker Hercules 80 I built a year or so ago.  Recently got my PB GT 37kg.  Triple wrap guides, finish each layer, Fuji Alconite guides. It's possible to build very high quality rods at a fraction of the cost of buying a built rod...and there's a lot of satisfaction.  Be good to see what types of blanks are on the market and compare.  I get my blanks from the USA and like the Seeker Hercules and recently built a couple of Phenix rods that are a carbon / kevlar composite blank.

[Chris Dennis]

Brian,
I've never been overly bothered by the look of my gear so long as it worked but you've done a hell of a job on the Hercules and I might just be changing my opinion about 'aesthetics'. I don't know much about ring spacings on GT rods but the extra ring or 2 seems to go nicely with the bend of the rod and I often wondered why a lot of rods only come with 6 or max 7.   

[Brian J Richardson]

Hello Chris

There is a trade off between casting distance and the number of guides.  More guides equals better distribution of the rod's power among the guides...less chance to pop a guide off.  I've built 2 of the Herc 80's now and I think I have the guide spacing where it needs to be.  Casts very well and a really good smooth bend in the rod.

I think mfgr's use less guides so the rod weights less, maybe better casting distance and it's a tad cheaper.  With good guide spacing I don't think an extra guide or 2 will hurt casting distance much if at all.