New to rod building

[Clsykes16]

I’m new to rod building and I’m look for some good quality rods that have good sensitivity and durable. I would like to build a good Texas rig rod and a drop shot rod first. Any recommendations on blanks and any tips/tricks will be greatly appreciated.

[aquademon17]

MHX has a great variety of blanks to choose from for any build

[denraytay]

MHX has some blanks that are good for some applications. I would not say they have sensitive blanks for Texas rigs or drop shot. Some brands you might want to look at is Rainshadow if you can find an eternity in the length you are looking for they are sensitive rods. Point Blank, North Fork Composite, Rod Geeks(St Croix blanks). Those are the only brands I have used that will say you can find a great for sensitivity. Others have highly recommended Phoenix, I havent built on one of them yet to say.

[M-D]

Mud hole has a ton of great videos to help you get started. You can call them and get someone on the phone to talk you through blank and component selection based on what you want to build.
YouTube has a bunch of great videos too.

[BRADVAN]

You are probably going to hear a lot of opinions, a lot like which boat or truck or lawn mower is best. Read them through and go with your gut. I order from Mud Hole and use MHX blanks, but I'm not about to bash any of the other choices. I've just not used them. Mud Hole does have several how-to type videos.

[willwork4fish]

Definitely watch some videos on YouTube, there's a lot of them out there. Mudhole has them and also some from Kevin Brotz at GetBit. I'd suggest getting all of your equipment and practicing wrapping to get that down especially before doing a dropshot rod...the first 3 or 4 guides from the tip can be kind of challenging.

[omykee]

Definitely watch some videos on YouTube, there's a lot of them out there. Mudhole has them and also some from Kevin Brotz at GetBit. I'd suggest getting all of your equipment and practicing wrapping to get that down especially before doing a dropshot rod...the first 3 or 4 guides from the tip can be kind of challenging.

Mike Im getting ready to build a ds baitcaster... could you explain the challenge with the guides you mentioned ... thank you sir... Mychael

[ECobb91]

I’ve only used mudhole blanks and Rod Geeks blanks. I’m a big St Croix fan so I love the rod geeks stuff. Starting out I’d use a CRB blank, it’s cheap but sensitive too. I actually use it as my Ned Rig rod and it feels more sensitive than some $100-140 store bought rods. The Mudhole Color series are also decent for the money. Not as sensitive as i thought they would’ve been but it’s a great senko/ finesse worm rod.

[willwork4fish]

Mike Im getting ready to build a ds baitcaster... could you explain the challenge with the guides you mentioned ... thank you sir... Mychael

It's just because the tips are thin and flexible, you have to get your thread tension just right and it's easy to misalign a guide. That's all. I've wrapped a lot of guides and DS and L/UL tips in general still make me swear from time to time.

[rcraigrrt]

Go get you some Rainshadow blanks. Any of the 3 Revelation, Immortal or Eternity blanks are amazing. For the money the Revelations are hard to beat for the money, the immortals are phenomenal, I don’t have any made with the Eternity blanks but have heard they’re really sensitive too!

[DrewFlu33]

It's just because the tips are thin and flexible, you have to get your thread tension just right and it's easy to misalign a guide. That's all. I've wrapped a lot of guides and DS and L/UL tips in general still make me swear from time to time.

Good advice!

Lucky thing here that the OP is from the South so he won't have the bright idea like I did that an ice rod is a good first thing to try to build...after all it must be easier since it's shorter! Arbor a blank with a 6 mm butt to fit a standard size reel seat? Sure thing! Figure out how to drill out solid EVA grips straight with no drill press since you can't find any with an ID small enough for the blank, then figure out how to shape them with a hand drill, file, and sandpaper to look halfway decent because they're way too fat? Go for it! Aforementioned blank is a glass "noodle" style with a 0.75 mm tip? Sounds like a great idea to me, definitely won't have any problems wrapping 5 guides in a 10 inch span on a blank that small and flexible! That whole thing backfired just a bit....

I can't believe I didn't throw in the towel then and there. Only positive is that the first open water rod I built was a cinch compared to that! Well that and I suppose the fact that I finished it and still fish it to this day. Caught my biggest ice walleye with it last year, even.

[ifishinxs]

http://acidrod.com/