Custom rods or mass production rods? Yes, you can go buy a rod at any tackle shop or just about any large store in the United States, however does that savings of money actually last in the long run? I mean, you can buy just about any size, length or use rod, however will it last as long as a rod built to your specifications?
We at Smokin Em Charters use nothing but custom rods aboard out boats, reason for this is that we have the rods and reels matched so that you have the lightest weight possible with the ability to get the big one to the boat. Makes for a huge difference between throwing lures all day and it being effortless to throwing lures all day and being wore out. We have our rods built around our reels, which is something you cannot due at most stores. We also can specify as to the feel and backbone of a rod will be. We recently started using a custom live bait rod offshore and at first glimpse we had speculation as to whether this rod would hold up. Super light tip that seemed like it would snap in half with just the weight of a 1/4 pound Blue Runner as bait..yet alone a 30-50 pound Kingfish. The rod builder told us to break the rod on a fish and he would build us a better one. After being put to this challenge we fitted the rod with a reel and put it into service aboard Smokin Em. We put our first baits out on proven live bait rods and then reluctantly placed the new rod into action. After 5 minutes of being in the water the rod tip started to dance with the motion of the bait and I advised a client that the bait was nervous, next thing we knew the rod was bent in half and reel screaming of a large Kingfish. This rod showed through the tip the nervousness of the bait, had tremendous backbone and was doubled in half. we got the first fish to the boat and gaffed the 20 pound King. With this type of performance we have since put 4 more of these rods into service...nothing in a store compares. We have also done the same with our trolling rods and the clients are the ones that benefit. Anyone interested in a custom rod can feel free to contact me and I will personally take it to the rod builder to design a rod for the type of fishing you are doing, whether it be bass, snook, trout, dolphin, kingfish or wahoo. And they will all proudly display the Smokin Em Charters logo..