Redfeather Custom Fishing Rods

09/26/2026

Big Red was built for a customer in North Carolina that wanted a 2 pc travel Musky rod to use in Canada. The blank is a factory prototype 9'6" St Croix 2 pc Moderate Fast Avid Surf SCIII, and rated to cast lures from 6 to 16 ounces. Per the customers request, the color scheme is based on Ohio State University colors and their football helmet pattern. The joint where the blanks come together is just above the foregrip, which allows the 6'4" rod tip section to do the work it was designed to do. Some surf rod blanks can be made into excellent Musky rods.

The butt cap is a shaped Winn EVA End Cap turned down and reshaped to fit the rear cork grip. The rear and foregrip were custom made from Superior Natural Burl Cork. The reel seat is a Fuji PSS with a Black Locking Hood Nut. All of the metal parts on the rod (Hood Nut, Winding Check, Hook Keeper, Guides, and Tip) are Gloss Black. The Hook Keeper is an American Tackle Deluxe Large, and the guides are American Tackle TiForged Double Foot with Nanolite Rings. The matching tip is an American Tackle RingLock Heavy with a Nanolite tip. The wraps are all done in the OSU colors of Gray, Black, White, and Red. The blank is a factory St Croix color. The color was removed in a section in front of the foregrip to show the natural graphite (where the Redfeather label is), and then clear coated with rod finish. Like most surf rod blanks, this one is light weight for its size, which allows it to handle quite well, and casts big lures with ease.

09/08/2026

08/20/2026

A general overview of what parts are used to make a baitcasting rod handle.

As I was test fitting the handle parts for this rod, I thought it would make a good demonstration showing the parts that make up a handle section of a baitcasting rod. A description of each part with the corresponding picture number is below.

1. Small Winn EVA End Cap - turned down to the same diameter of the rear Carbon Fiber Grip.

2. Cork arbor ring 1/2" thick x 1.25" O.D. - turned down to fit snug inside the end of the rear Carbon Fiber rear grip to keep it supported & centered.

3. Tapered 6" Carbon Fiber tube butt grip in Silver Reflection.

4. Polished Silver Winding Check/Trim Ring. Fits inside the Carbon Fiber tube end, and supports & centers it. The inside diameter is matched to the diameter of the rod blank at that spot.

5. Polished Silver Winding Check/Trim Ring. Fits inside the Carbon Fiber tube end, and supports & centers it. The inside diameter is matched to the diameter of the rod blank at that spot.

6. Tapered 6" Carbon Fiber tube rear grip in Silver Reflection.

7. Custom made EVA Transition Piece - A pc of 1.25" diameter black EVA, cut to length, with one end turned down to fit inside & support the rear grip, and the other end turned down to fit inside the reel seat (there is a small pc of masking tape added to make the fit a little tighter). The middle section was shaped to fit the outside diameter of the rear grip tube, and the other end was turned down to fit the outside diameter of the reel seat. This pc transitions from the rear grip to the reel seat which are different diameters.

8. Fuji 20 mm PSS Graphite Palming Reel Seat.

9. Fuji Extended Reel Seat Locking Nut with Silver Hood.

10. Carbon Fiber Tube (foregrip sleeve cut to length) in Silver Reflection that fits over the Extended Reel Seat Locking Nut, and doubles as a foregrip.

11. Custom made EVA foregrip sleeve end - A pc of 1.25" diameter black EVA cut to length, with the sleeve end turned down to fit inside, and support it, and the other end tapered & rounded to finish it off. The inside diameter of this pc is slightly larger than the blank so it can move back & forth freely without coming in contact with the blank.

A 2 part epoxy is used to keep all parts in place.

Please excuse the numbers in the pics. I have to write them using a desktop mouse, and it's not as easy to do that as it should be.

08/16/2026

This is the first "Pounder" rod that I've built in a while. For those that don't fish for Muskies, it's a rod that can cast 1 pound rubber lures. I picked up this blank, along with several others, from a fellow rod builder who has blanks custom made for his custom rod business. Mike "Yogi" Taake of Yogi Rods LLC , did something that he normally doesn't do, and was kind enough to sell me a sampling of his custom made blanks so I could build them up to try out. I finally had a chance earlier this year to finish up the first one. It's a 9' XX Heavy power rated for 6-16 oz lures. There aren't many options for "Pounder" rod blanks available to rod builders any more, so I was looking forward to building this one, and seeing how it performed casting "One Eyed Jack", my only Pounder Bull Dawg (whose missing 1 eye, and is almost 24" long with his tail straightened out). I bought "One Eyed Jack" used, primarily for testing rods... because there are not a lot of (mentally sound) people that actually like casting 1 lb lures... myself included. Casting Pounders is a workout if you do it for any length of time. This is a fine Big Rubber rod, and casts Reg Bull Dawgs, Medussa's, and Swimbaits really well. The blank has a Fast Action, and is pretty stiff for obvious reasons... like casting up to 1 lb lures. I did add some weight to the butt end to give the rod a nice balance. I enjoy casting big baits on this rod, and have done more of that this year than in the past few years.

The blank is 9' XX Heavy Power, Fast Action, is a sharp looking glossy dark Navy Blue, rated for 60-120 lb line, 6-16 oz lures, and it is a Beast. The grips are made from Blue Burl Cork rings, and Natural Cork rings with a custom shaped Winn EVA Buttcap at the bottom. The reel seat is a Fuji PSS Palming Seat with a Brushed Silver Hood. A matching silver Winding Check is in front of the foregrip, with a Polished Stainless Steel American Tackle Deluxe Large Split Hook Keeper in front of that. The guides are American Tackle TiForged with Polished Stainless Steel Frames, and Nanolite rings. The tip is an American Tackle RingLock Heavy with a polished SS frame, and Nanolite ring. The wraps are all done in ProWrap Metallic Twist in Blue & Silver. The twist threads give a cool random look.

I really like how the rod turned out, and very happy with it's performance. It casts "One Eyed Jack" easier than you would expect from a 1 lb lure. Since I sold my personal Pounder rod last season, I have been without one until now. I'll be hanging on to this one, but can build one for anyone in need of a really nice big bait rod. Nice job on the blanks Yogi!

06/30/2026

Congrats to Joe on his new 52" Wisconsin Personal Best Musky caught last week using one of the 9'4" Bushido 3K 4-12 oz rods built for him earlier this year. He gets extra points for successfully netting this big girl while fishing solo. That's getting it done!

06/25/2026

This rod headed to Missouri to chase Muskies, and big Largemouth Bass. The blank was an 8' St Croix Legend Tournament Medium Heavy Top-n-Tail that is factory rated for lures up to 3 oz, and extended to a finished length of 8'4". The factory blue was kept on the blank, but it was wet sanded, and hand polished to a nice shine. The butt cap is a Winn EVA Round profile, and the grips were made from really durable Superior Natural Burl Cork rings to the customers specs. The casting reel seat is a Fuji ECS Exposed Blank 17mm, with a black hood on the locking nut. Exposed Blank means that there is an oval opening in front of the trigger on the underside of the reel seat that shows the blank. The Winding Checks are Anodized Green Aluminum that are a close color match the Metallic Green thread. The other thread used to wrap is the same blue thread that St Croix uses on their finished Legend Tournaments, and is a nice contrast to the bright green. The hook keeper is a Kigan Titanium Single Band. The first 2 guides are American Tackle Polished TiForged Double Foot, and the rest of the running guides are American Tackle Polished TiForged Single Foot. All of the guides and the matching American Tackle RingLock Tip have Nanolite Rings. The rod casts lighter lures great, and should work well for some Southern Muskies, and big Bass.

05/24/2026

Bill always tells it like it is.

05/17/2026

9'10" Bushido 3K Musky Rod. I have been able to source the proper Carbon Fiber parts to now extend Bushido 3K blanks out to 10'+. Anything over 10' cannot be shipped (at least for any reasonable amount of money), and would have to be picked up, or possibly meet up somewhere to hand off. We would have to discsuss any rods 9'10" to 10' for shipping, as the length also depends on the size of the tube necessary, which has to be taken into account when determining length + girth for Speedee shipments.

This blank was a 7'11" Bushido 3K X-Heavy for casting 3-10 oz lures, and extended to 9'10" long. The blank was clear coated with an automotive grade Urethane 2K clear coat, which really makes the Reinforced Carbon Fiber Matrix Twill in the blank really jump out (see the last pic in the sunlight), and adds an extra layer of protection to the blank. The butt cap is a shaped Winn Black EVA End Cap. The grips are custom made using solid black EVA along with black/purple camo EVA. The Fuji 20mm Standard Trigger Reel Seat has a Silver hood on the locking nut. The American Tackle Deluxe Large Hook Keeper has a chrome finish to match the silver Annodized Winding check, and the American Tackle TiForged Double Foot Polished Guides, with Nanolite rings. The tip guide is an American Tackle RingLock Heavy Duty in chrome with a Nanolite ring. The wraps are all done in a Fuji Metallic Purple, which look really sharp in contrast to the rod blank. A little weight was needed in the butt end to give the rod a proper balance (since it is so long), and it came out nice. The rod casts very smooth, ridiculously far, and allows for some pretty deep figure 8's.

05/03/2026

A customer liked his friends Bushido 3K Musky rods so much, he ordered an identical pair of 9'4" XXH's. The blanks are 7'11" MHX Bushido 3K XXH for 4-12 oz lures, and extended to 9'4" final length. The rod blanks have been clear coated with an automotive Urethane 2K Clear, and really makes the Carbon Fiber wrap in the blanks look 3D. It also adds another layer of protection to the rod blank. The custom grips are made from Natural Superior Burl Cork rings, and shaped as needed. Superior Burl is made from cork, and looks very similar to Natural cork, but is more dense, which makes it much more durable. It offers a good grip wet or dry. The butt cap is a custom shaped Winn Black EVA end cap. The reel seats are Fuji Deluxe Standard Trigger, with a silver hood. The winding check in front of the foregrip is Annodized Aluminum in polished silver, and matches the Metallic Silver wraps on the entire rod. The hook keepers are from American Tackle, and are the Deluxe Large size in chrome. The guides are American Tackle TiForged Air Double Foot in chrome for the entire guide train. These have a lightweight hardened Stainless Steel ring instead of a Ceramic one, which makes them very light weight, and no chance of Ceramic breaking. The Chrome American Tackle RingLock Heavy Duty Tips do have a Nanolite Ceramic Ring. No matter which guide rings you choose to have on your rod, the tips should have a Ceramic Ring. Because it is such a friction point, braided line will eventually wear/cut into the Stainless Steel ring on a tip, but will not cut into a good quality Ceramic one. Some weight was added to the butt end of each rod to really balance them out. A balanced rod that is heavier will feel lighter in hand to a physically lighter unbalanced rod, and will bring less fatigue when casting all day.

05/01/2026

Important Contact Info

To anyone that would like to contact me regarding a custom build, or any questions, PLEASE message me via email at [email protected], and not thru here. Facebook is unreliable for messaging. Thank you. Bob Avery