Building rods is addictive! I've replaced all my old rods with rods I built from Mudhole. Now rod storage is an issue - haha! I really like fishing their 7 ft light action rods with a Shimano Shara 1000 for white bass and crappie, the 8 ft medium action rods for red fishing at the coast and they work well for bass fishing too.

Once you figure it out, you can knock out a rod in 8-10 hours of hands on time, spread over a couple of days.

That yellow / gold fish appears to be a decal, if it is a weave it's really nice and flat. Looks great .

It's a decal - Mudhole has a variety of decal species.

Yeah, I've built rods before, but the time! I can either fish or build. I'd much rather be on the water.

Fishing always comes 1st, the rods, lures, and jigs are built when I'm not fishing!

Have you ever repaired a broken eye?

Replacing guides and tips is easy. Pm if you need help. You can’t really repair a broken eye you just replace the guide or tip.

Thank you for the offer, I watched a video and will attempt it. If I can’t make it look nice, I’ll have my buddy above fix it for me.

Edwin Evers, I believe it was, did a YouTube video on replacing a guide. Now, if I was home in the basement, I'd never do this, but he shows how really important all the "pretty" is when it comes to catching fish. I've wrapped a lot guides with 15 lb. Big Game.

This is ugly, fellers.

Shiner, sorry it took me so long, but here is a picture I made on the lake today of the 3 rods I have put together myself. The one on the right with the red thread is the 6.5' that I just did and mentioned earlier. Since I haven't bought any of their equipment, a rod put together by a pro or even a good amateur would look a lot better, but I think mine will catch fish just as well. I have about $75 in each rod. I have been unsure of what foregrip works best for me, but I think the 4" grip on the last one is it. Good luck to anyone who decides to try to wrap your own.

Coosa, Looks good man. Obviously getting a lot of use out of them too, and that makes it even better. Certainly aren’t going to have lot of stock options for that rod.

Let me know if you guys find any stellar deals on blanks. Just started my 2nd build...

I usually don't BUILD them, but RE-BUILD: I'm taking rod with a good blank (often with good handle) and then only need to replace guides.
Sometimes need to modify handle, too.
But when I buy the rod, I at least can try it / test it to understand it - if blank is really what I need.
I pay no attention to appearance at all... sorry guys i'm only interested in needed functionality/performance.

Build #2