Choosing Components

The first thing you need to do is decide what type of rod you want to build. Do you primarily fly fish? Spinfish? Do you want a bait casting rod or even a salt water surf rod? Once you have decided that, you will find that most blank manufacturers have made it fairly easy to choose one of their products.

Custom Tackle Supply of Tennessee has a great selection of blanks from G-Loomis, St. Croix, Shakespeare, and Lamiglas to choose from. With great prices, friendly and helpful staff, and quality products, we are proud to recommend them.

Blanks usually are described with the specifications and ratings for which they are suited. You can pick a blank from both graphite and fibreglass, that has been made for particular fishing situations.

For example, consider this listing of G-Loomis' GLX blanks, very high quality rods made from ultra high modulus graphite. The blank listing on the linked page is divided into categories based on the optimum use for each blank, whether it be light fly, steelhead, or spin jig.

To determine which series of blanks you should purchase, you should consider what type of fishing you will be doing. If the fish you are targetting bite very softly, choose a material which will accentuate the sensitivity (G-Loomis' GLX series, for example). If the fish bite more agressively, then it is fine to choose a less sensitive blank.

If you fish for many hours at a time, it is likely important for you to choose a lighter rod (unless you're really interested in building muscle mass!). Price is definitely another important consideration, so be sure to take the time to weigh (pun intended!) the advantages of the lighter, more sensitive rods against your budget limitations, and the chance that your "significant other" will kill you for spending all your vacation money on a blank.