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[DanNagt]

Hey folks,

I'm a volunteer leader for a small church based boys club for boys ranging from 9-12 years old. In trying to select the merit badges that the group could work on this year together, I came across 'rod building' and 'fishing' as some of the badges. One of the fishing badge prerequisites is that they must own a rod and so I thought that by earning the 'rod building' badge as well and learning how to build a rod would be, however challenging, a good way to promote ownership and teach responsibility and care for their equipment as well as the fisheries they could partake in. Ambitious goals? yes, perhaps but one can try and see if there is an interest, right? If there's interest, I'm also going to try and get some of it subsidized by the club.

Onto to my point. As boys and parents are not made of money - I am looking for some economical and perhaps easier rod building kits and would like to pose the question here - are there any out there? Are supplies and/or kits available in the lower mainland that I could look into? I would be looking for probably 5-6 spin-casting kits (not sure of the registration numbers yet this year) for my group and perhaps some reels to suit.

Any advice would be helpful.

Thanks in advance,
Dan

[typhoon]

Rod building will certainly be a challenge, not so much because of the cost as for the cost of infrastructure.
In order to build a rod you need the following:
1. rod wrapping jig with thread tensioner
2. rod turner for drying epoxy
It is possible to build these machines fairly cost effectively but they still need some specialized parts. The cost to purchase them is quite expensive.
Building a factory quality rod is relatively easy, though I'm not sure that 9-12 year olds will have the patience to build something that can actually be fished, however.
Also, the parts cost to build a factory quality spinning rod will be much higher than the cost to buy the whole rod at Canadian Tire.

Things get much more complicated when you want to build a custom rod, with accent trim, thread patterns, custom cork grips, logo, etc. Unfortunately these are the aspects of rod building that are interesting and require many, many hours of practice (and failure).

Try Mark at Valley Custom Rods - he may be able to get kits at reduced prices for a boys club.

Other options you might want to consider would be building lures (spoons, spinners, etc), or tying flies. The startup costs for these activities are quite a bit lower than for rod building.

[Sandy]

maybe a plan would be is too get the kids to source beater rods at goodwill flea markets, and repair them ie: replace the guide/s etc. making a winding jig is easy and cheap cardboard box and a heavy book, keep it simple.

[Valley Custom Rods]

Hi there,
There is no question I can help out here and would be pleased to do so.  Please contact me at info@valleycustomrods.com and let's get the kids building some rods!!! Better yet building rods and catching a few fish with them.
Regards,
Mark