Fishing

Sooo let's just say I'm thinking about building myself a new Rod. I went to my local "Got It All" store (WalMart) and I found some Ugly Stick poles for about $31 each. I do a lot of Bass, Catfish, Pike fishing. I mostly fish Freshwater, not sure if that matters or not. But I am not sure what length to get. I'm currently useing a Mitchell 6' Pole and a Mitchell Espirit Reel. Its real light action, and I'm not sure if the gear I have is right. Anyway, I just want a couple of reccomendations as far as size goes and versatility. Lets just say I'm giving you a $70-$100 budget! :) Thanks again guys, you're all so helpful!
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There's a fine line between fishing and just standing on the shore like an idiot. ~Steven Wright

-Cody (Scruffy)
"Catch, Kiss, and Release!" Storm Lures Rule!

A 6 foot rod is a good all around rod, just depends on what power you want, heavy, med, light, and action, fast moderate or slow.
those ugly stick rods you found are they blanks or complete rods ?? with the limit of funds of you have you can build a very nice rod im6 graphite, fuji guiges and cork handle. try looking at mudhole.com. they have a very big and good selection of rod building material. hope this helps. later chuck

I'm starting to think that maybe building a rod is a bit out of my league for right now. It really looks complicated and I'm not sure if I have the funds to afford a new rod. It sucks, but it would be a lot of fun to build one! :)
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There's a fine line between fishing and just standing on the shore like an idiot. ~Steven Wright

-Cody (Scruffy)
"Catch, Kiss, and Release!" Storm Lures Rule!

building a rod is really not that hard, you can make a rod holder for a few bucks and use a book to keep your thread tight. just look at cabelas hand rod wrapper and make somethig like that. you can even use a cardboard box. building a rod will not save you any money at all, in fact it costs more to build a CHEAP rod then it would be to just but a 30$ rod from wallmart. the only way you get a good deal building a rod is to use the top end blanks like GL loomis blanks. I built a GL3 loomis last year the total cost was about 150$ for the blank and all the parts. this same rod at sportsmans wharehouse sells for over 200$.
the thing I like about building my own rods is I can do anything I want to do with it. later chuck

I would go with a 5'10''-6'0'' medium action rod. Since your fishing for bass, catfish and pike I would go with 10 or 12 pound test.


Trout and Salmon Board Moderator

I agree with all the above except the part about not being able to build a nice rod cheaper than one could buy an "off the shelf" rod. One can absolutely build not only a better rod but can do it cheaper too! Of course, one CAN spen a ton on start-up materials and a power wrapper but that is not necessary. As already said above a cardboard box will make a usable hand wrapper to start and you can put your thread spool in a cup and run the thread thru a phone book for tension. There are lots of quality blanks which won't break the bank too.
Raymond Adams
Snake River Rods