Custom Engineered / Technique Specific
Fresh Water / Salt Water / Fly Fishing
Local: 847-481-8858 Toll Free: 800-216-6152
Local: 847-481-8858 Toll Free: 800-216-6152
2012 Projects
Examples of a few of the rods we designed and built in 2012.
These are examples only. There are hundreds of sizes and actions available in each of these styles.
These are examples only. There are hundreds of sizes and actions available in each of these styles.
Titanium Long Cast
PURPOSE: Medium Heavy Rod for throwing frogs and top water long distances. Need to cover lots of water from shore. Longer rod for casting distance and long hook sets. Light weight and good balance were very important for long hikes and covering a lot of ground.
DESIGN: 7' 6" inshore salt water blank. Premium grade Multi-modulus carbon fiber. Very light and sensitive. Built on a slightly more Moderate action than your typical bass blank, this rod will utilize more of the casting power into the mid-section of the blank, but with plenty of back bone for long hook sets. Designed for an up locking forward hand hold. Longer handle per anglers preference. Fuji's newest Tangle free K guides with up swept titanium frames to keep weight to a minimum. Hybrid Fuji New Guide Concept and Micro Guide train. We used this rod all summer for throwing big top water or large worms in to the next county and hauling them out from shore.
FINISHED SPECS:
7'6" Med-Hvy 3/8 - 3/4oz
Med - Fast Action
Fuji Titanium K-Guides with Alconite Rings
Up-locking Pac Bay Minima Handle Set
EVA Grips designed for a Forward Hand Hold
Premium Trim Rings and Winding Checks in TiCH finish
Finished Weight: 4 oz
Pac Bay Minima Handle
Fuji K Guides
Tangle Free Up Swept K Frame
Titanium K Micro Running Guides
7' 3" Micro Guide - Karl Edition
PURPOSE: Medium Heavy Rod for all purpose bass fishing. Karl wanted a longer rod and a longer handle for casting distance and long hook sets. Designed to replace a favorite rod that had similar trim but lighter and always wanted the handle to be a few inches longer.
DESIGN: Built on a 7' 3" Mid Modulus Mag Bass blank. Very light but plenty of back bone. Split grip design with Fuji ACS custom painted reel seat. Karl likes to fish Jigs and Frogs so we wanted the guide train to be light as possible and sensitive. Pac Bay's Minima 4 guides use a TICH finished stainless steel ring which is 20% to 30% lighter than ceramic rings. We also used micro guides to even further reduce the weight and rod torque. The longer handle made a huge difference in Karl's ability to apply more leverage and make longer casts. Karl has fished the day lights out of this rod with Power Pro for a year now and the guides show no wear. This rod is strong, ultra sensitive, and casts a mile. See more about Minima Guides on our Guide Tech page.
PURPOSE: Medium Heavy Rod for all purpose bass fishing. Karl wanted a longer rod and a longer handle for casting distance and long hook sets. Designed to replace a favorite rod that had similar trim but lighter and always wanted the handle to be a few inches longer.
DESIGN: Built on a 7' 3" Mid Modulus Mag Bass blank. Very light but plenty of back bone. Split grip design with Fuji ACS custom painted reel seat. Karl likes to fish Jigs and Frogs so we wanted the guide train to be light as possible and sensitive. Pac Bay's Minima 4 guides use a TICH finished stainless steel ring which is 20% to 30% lighter than ceramic rings. We also used micro guides to even further reduce the weight and rod torque. The longer handle made a huge difference in Karl's ability to apply more leverage and make longer casts. Karl has fished the day lights out of this rod with Power Pro for a year now and the guides show no wear. This rod is strong, ultra sensitive, and casts a mile. See more about Minima Guides on our Guide Tech page.
Pac Bay Minima Guides
FINISHED SPECS:
7'3" MH 3/8 - 3/4 oz
Fast Action Mag Bass Blank
Pac Bay Minima 4 TiCH micro guides
Fuji ACS Next Gen real seat
EVA Grips
Premium Trim Rings and Winding Checks in Red finish
Finished weight: 4 7/8 OZ
10' Ballistic
PURPOSE: This is one of those in between rods that is hard to find. We do a lot of Salmon fishing from shore and Surf fishing in North Carolina. Sometimes the fish are right off the rocks or the beach but sometimes they are stacked in the current break that's well past where most people can reach. I am talking about reaching out to the boats trolling of the harbor mouth or past the 1st sand bar. Surf blanks in the 10' to 13' range are perfect for slinging heavy spoons for distance but they start at 1 - 4 oz and are big heavy rods. Salmon blanks tend to top out at 1 1/2 oz. Heavier salmon blanks and lighter surf blanks are usually in the 8' 6" range. What we wanted was a 10' or longer rod that had enough power to handle lures in the 1-3 oz range but was light enough to hike out to the rocks or down the beach and we could cast all day without major fatigue. We built two monsters. One on a Cabelas 10' fish eagle blank rated up to 2 oz and another on a modified Lamiglas salmon blank that was extended to 10'.
Cabelas Fish Eagle II Balnk - AT Aero real seat
Fuji Titanium K Guides
Lamiglass 10' Ballistic - Fuji Graphite real seat with
Custom concealed hood - Titanium K Guides
DESIGN: 10' Med Heavy. The Fish Eagle II blank is a standard 36 Mil blank with an additional wrap in the butt section for strength. Very strong and durable. Mod fast action. The Lamiglass is a higher modulus blend with a faster action. Both are very light for a 10' rod. Longer handles for casting distance and thicker but grips to fit comfortably under your arm. Split grip designs for less weight. Both reel seats allow for a rear, mid, or front grip style. We also used Fuji titanium K guides for reduced weight. Tangle free New Guide Concept layout with semi micro guides for casting distance and light top ends. Both rods are NOT top heavy and are comfortable to fish all day. Look at the 10' St Croix surf rod to the far right compared to the Ballistic. I love that rod but it will wear you out slinging spoons at breaking blue fish and mackerel all day. It is also just too much tackle to haul around for Salmon fishing. The very affordable Cabelas blank finished at 8 3/8 oz and the higher modulus Lamiglas finished at 7 1/4 oz. Very light compared to the surf rod at 13 7/8 oz. The lighter Lamiglass blank is a little more sensitive but both will cast a 1 oz to 2 oz kastmaster or salt water jigging spoon across state lines.
I prefer a front hand hold but this grip set will work for anyone.
This King was caught on the drop at the end of a 100 plus yard cast. Fish were porpoising just outside the rip line caused by a strong south wind creating current against the incoming waves.
This King was caught on the drop at the end of a 100 plus yard cast. Fish were porpoising just outside the rip line caused by a strong south wind creating current against the incoming waves.
Ballistic VS St Croix Premier Surf 1- 4oz. 
We caught half our 2012 kings on this rod. It was a joy for casting and long battles. Wide spool reel and 14 lb braid made it fun just to see how far you could throw a spoon even when it was slow.
We caught half our 2012 kings on this rod. It was a joy for casting and long battles. Wide spool reel and 14 lb braid made it fun just to see how far you could throw a spoon even when it was slow.Reaction Crank Bait Rod
PURPOSE: A lighter crank bait rod. A long day of throwing crank baits can wear out your arms and your wrist. Many of the Fiberglass rods and graphite E-glass or S-glass blends have the right action but are just too heavy for us. We build high modulus graphite fly rods with very moderate actions all the time so there is no reason why you can't have a light Crank Bait rod with the right action. This rod is balanced, not top heavy, longer handle to tuck under your arm, and spiral wrapped micro guides for no wrist torque. End of the day. Your wrist isn't toast and no bruises on your ribs. Two more sizes up to 1/2 - 1-3/8 oz available and up to 8 feet.
Spiral Wrapped Guides - Check out Guide Tech Page
FINISHED SPECS:
7'6" Moderate 1/4 - 5/8 oz
Moderate
Fuji Alconite micro guides
Fuji ACS Next Gen real seat
EVA Grips
Premium Titanium Trim Rings and Winding Checks in TICH
Finished weight: 4 oz
The Winch
PURPOSE: Heavy cover for Bass, Swim bait, Pike, and light Musky duty. Wanted
a rod in the 8' range for heavy work. This came out of working on several musky rods. Again so many flipping sticks and Musky rods are super heavy broom sticks. Everyone thinks they are going to flip a 10 lb bass in the boat or hook a 50" musky every time they go out so we tend to over gear. Taking from our Salt Water experience we again looked to inshore Salt Water blanks. Even though this blank is rated up to 2 oz lure weights and used to catch Tarpon, Red fish, and King Mackerel, it's still light. For balance and minimum weight we also utilized a carbon fiber custom split grip and all Titanium Fuji SIC guide train.
Spiral Guide Wrap under Load. You can tuck this rod under your arm and support it with two fingers fully loaded. No death grip on the reel frame needed.
Check out Guide Tech page for more on Spiral wrapped guides.
We also throw top water for bass and jigs or wax wing spoons at salt water fish with this all day long. No difference in casting distance and it wont wear you out.
FINISHED SPECS:
8' Fast 3/4 - 2 oz
Moderate - Fast
Fuji Titanium Frame SIC guides
Minima Real Seat & Carbon Fiber
EVA Grips
Premium Anodized Trim and Winding Checks
Finished weight: 5 3/4 oz
The Stealth Rod
PURPOSE: Medium Light Rod for throwing light jigs and soft plastics. Moderate light action for backing off of finicky bass or small mouth in clear water. Longer rod for casting distance and long hook sets. Light action and good balance are very important for protecting light line with hard pulling fish. ALSO per our Bass Pro this is a great drop shot rod for light line. No heavy hook set needed. Load it up and they are not coming off.
DESIGN: 7' 6" Premium grade Multi-modulus carbon fiber blank. Very light and sensitive. Built on a more Moderate action than your typical bass blank this rod is soft enough to protect light line presentations with enough back bone for strong fish. Pac Bay Minima reel seats can be installed up locking or down locking depending on hand hold. AT A-frame Micro Guide train on a spinning rod? Yes, they work on spinning rods too. We tested micro guides side by side on the same blanks for both casting and spinning rods. Same results. 5% to 8% further casting distance. Better load distribution. Less torque. More Sensitive.
Check out our Guide Tech page for more on Micro Guides for spinning Rods.
FINISHED SPECS:
7'6" Med-Light 1/4 - 1/2 oz
Moderate Action
AT A-frame micro guides with Nonolite Rings
Down Locking Pac Bay Minima Handle Set
EVA Grips designed for a Rear Hand Hold
Standard Trim with Metalic wrap
Finished Weight: 3 5/8 oz
Spinning Rod Micro Guides
Salmon Rods
9' TRAVEL ROD:
PURPOSE: Most travel rods top out at 7'. I own several and you can find a few that are 7'6". We wanted a longer rod that could be thrown in a carry bag, in a back pack, or on a bike. Most fly rod blanks are four pieces so we took a 9' 12 weight fly rod blank and turned it into a spinning rod. Fly rod blanks are a slow action compared to standard rods but a 12wt salt water blank is pretty sturdy. Fly fishermen catch tarpon and bill fish with this size rod. We wanted something that could handle salmon or get thrown in a bag for a quick trip to the ocean for light surf duty.
Design: 9' Temple Fork TiCr X Series blank. We have built a number of fly rods on Temple Fork blanks. Very affordable and we have had excellent results with their line. To keep weight down especially on the upper end of this rod we used New Fuji Titanium KH guides with micro guide running guides. This is the first rod we have installed the new Fuji KR concept guide train. This is their most recent innovation. The idea is to choke down the line even faster to get to the smaller running guides and get the line flowing smoothly as soon as possible. So far it works great. This is turning out to be one of our favorite salmon rods and I have used it to throw small spoons at blue fish and spanish mackerel in the surf. Check out our Guide Tech page and the Media page for the Fuji K and KR videos.
FINISHED SPECS:
9' 12 wt - 1/4 to 3/4 oz
Moderate Action
Titanium Fuji KR Concept Guids with Alconite Rings
Down Locking Pac Bay Woven Graphite Reel Seat
EVA Grips designed for Rear, Mid, or Forward Hand Hold
Concealed Hood with Anodized Trim and Winding Checks
Finished Weight: 5 3/4 oz
8' 6" SALMON CLASSIC
Everybody's standard salmon rod. 8' 6" 1/4 - 3/4. Good for small to medium spoons. Light enough to throw a crank bait or slip bobber with enough back bone to handle bigger fish. This is a work horse. Maybe a little light for big kings and a bit to much for small jigs under a slip bobber but will worlk well for all. We caught most of our kings this year casting smaller spoons for browns with this rod. Many of the kings this season went for a smaller package. We had to chase a few but what fun. Super light hybrid guide train. Very light weight for long days and 1,000s of casts.
FINISHED SPECS:
8' 6" 1/4 to 3/4 oz
Fast Action
PacBay TiCH Minima Guides
Fuji Ergonomic Reel Seat
EVA Grips designed for Forward Hand Hold
Cut out for Exposed blank
Finished Weight: 5 1/8 oz
9' Travel bottom 8' 6" Salmon top
9' Travel left 8' 6" Salmon right
9' Travel Rod
8' 6" Salmon Rod
