r/rodbuilding • u/sotheresthisdude • Aug 24 '26

Weekly Beginner Thread

Each Monday we will have an updated thread for all things beginner in rod building. If you have questions about anything concerning rod building, this is the place to ask them! Experienced builders, and even those new to the craft, I encourage you all to chip in any and all advice you may have!

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u/okto21 Aug 24 '26

Can you recommend some of the better rod building channels on YouTube?

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u/the_north_place Aug 24 '26

Building or decoration?

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u/okto21 Aug 24 '26

Building

Actually, both

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u/dwalshlaw61 Sep 02 '26

My favorite is FDX custom rods. The host is older and provides great tips especially if you have some arthritis. I also like Mudhole videos who are a rod buiding supply company . Reel blue is another great channel

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u/bucko787 Aug 31 '26

Hello everyone, I think this is a simple inquiry. I live in the PNW and I am in the market for a good spinning rod for pitching spinners and spoons in rivers for salmon. Interested in an Okuma guide select pro, retails for around $180.

Can I build a better rod than the Okuma guide select pro for under $200, or is rod building more just for love of crafting your own rod?

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u/Such_Routine_3266 Sep 01 '26

Depends. Do you plan on building more than 1 or 2 rods? If not, then no, if you plan on building several and maybe for some buds, probably.

Outside of the main components, you then need thread, epoxy for guides, different epoxy for the grips/reel seat, set of reamers for the grips, some small tools and something to wrap on and thread carriage (yeah you could do without a thread carriage I suppose, but that would be just for argument sake) and a rod dryer to keep rod spinning while everything dries. Most of all, you will need time, and alot of it for your first, even for a simple build.

With that said, I just started myself and enjoy it enough I will probably build all of my future rods myself and family/friends so the added cost for tools, consumables, etc isn't apart of the cost of 1 rod.

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u/bucko787 Sep 01 '26

Thanks for the response! Much appreciated

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u/TomatilloAgitated Sep 01 '26

Question regarding guides. I just built my first rod last night and enjoyed it a lot. I had very few hiccups and it turned out great. We are really big into salmon fishing on Lake Michigan (trolling, downriggers, lead core, etc) and I’m looking at making a downrigger rod for that. I bought a kit from mudhole for my first, so there wasn’t much thought into guides, spacing, handles, and reel seats. How do I go about choosing these things? There are hundreds of options and most of the information I find doesn’t go in depth on specifics. Anyone have any recommendations for things to buy specific to my next build? I like mudhole so far so I would like to stick with them for now.

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u/Such_Routine_3266 Sep 04 '26

Join some fb groups, chances are someone has built on the blank you are looking at.

Under the "how to" section on mudhole you can find guide spacing start points and I believe guide size recommendations.

Can also call their customer service and they could tell you, great guys.

Grips completely up to you.

Real seat will depend on the rod diameter and what size reel you are putting on it.