I just received an inquiry about building a 20/50 lbs sturgeon rod. This will be a first for me as I've only built fly rods. Other than looking at pictures I'm not sure what goes into a good rod, such as guides, handles(cork Eva), guides , one piece blank, 2piece, reel seat, etc .

You can get some awfully nice recipes from Batson's for that build.

Will this rod be used for still fishing, casting and drifting, deep drop, trolling? Form should follow function.

Rob,
Is it line wt., or fish size your mentioning?

Actually a glass rod like this one that you can purchase for $20 - makes a very good sturgeon rod.

Often, with sturgeon, you bait up a big hook with a gob of night crawlers and a heavy pyramid weight and 50 lb line on the reel.

Drop the line to the bottom, drop the rod in a rod holder and have lunch.

When the fish bites, the tip will bend, the clicker on the reel will go off signaling a bite.

Put down your sandwich, take the rod out of the rod holder and reel in your 60 lb sturgeon.

[www.cabelas.com]

Roger Wilson:

Drop the line to the bottom, drop the rod in a rod holder and have lunch.

When the fish bites, the tip will bend, the clicker on the reel will go off signaling a bite.

Put down your sandwich, take the rod out of the rod holder and reel in your 60 lb sturgeon.






All fishing should be that easy .

It sounds like he is saying ounce for ounce a bluegill has more spunk..lol.

As I said before I'm only trying to find some information on this type of rod as I don't have a point of reference as to the correct way to make a surgeon rod. I'll ask about how the rod will be fished. Sturgeon and blue gills are at opposite end of lbs scale!!!!!

Robert you can use a muskie blank of choice and length to suit your/customer needs or wants as for the grips I would use eva for it and cork for the fore grip tied in with a good set of Fuji HN Heavy Casting & Boat Guides no need to get all crazy with a concept set of guides to me that is kind of a waste of $$ as it will be in a rod holder more often than in hand for the seat this would be a good choice SCRSD Deluxe Graphite Casting Reel Seat for the blank if you want around 7 ft this one should fit the build Musky Rod Series - MKY76HF OR you can get a blank that is up to 9 ft you have to remember that they don't make species specific blanks for every fish and a blank is ajust that and doesn't know if you hooked a muskie, sturgeon,catfish, or something from saltwater.
Hope this helps you get a start

The best day to be alive is always tomorrow !!
Think out side the box when all else fails !!!
Wi.

Best information so far. Thanks Matt.

you can E mail me if you have any other questions always willing to help with out the side show comments

The best day to be alive is always tomorrow !!
Think out side the box when all else fails !!!
Wi.

Ok. Thankyou

From our RainShadow lineup we’d recommend our SWB70MH or 80MH
Ignore the line rating, they hold up to the largest - it’s what our guides on the Fraiser river use for Sturgeon.

Specs and Blueprints are available at [www.rainshadowrodblanks.com]

James Taylor
Batson Enterprises
BatsonEnterprises.com | RainShadowRodBlanks.com | ALPSForeCast.com | Build2Fish.com

It's not the target species but the amount of power the rod can provide versus the amount of sensitivity the rod can provide which should influence your blank choice. I can't think of much that influences selection of a rod blank besides the trade-off between power and sensitivity and the trade-off between length and weight which determine rod choice. Well, price and guarantee [which are not attributes of the blank but of the vendor] are also considerations.

Here is an example of the new State Sturgeon record for MN. Notice that the fisherman was using a musky rod with 80 lb test line to catch the fish.

[www.foxnews.com]

So, it would certainly seem that a rod blank suitable for musky fishing would work just fine for Sturgeon fishing.

Good luck

Ok Matt I'll take you up on your offer. The customer wants a 6'6" rod to fish for sturgeon. Also s.s. boat guides, no inserts, and. I.e.guessing that the guides would be bridged. The reel is Penn Senator 4/0. Apparently these reels have a size aka 16 so the correct size seat is used. I plan to use EVA handles but may use a cork upper grip or possibly turn a wood composite upper. Bait fishing in water to 120'.
Customer is leaving a lot up to me a and I've only built fly rods so I need to pick brains of other people willing to share what they know. Are there any kits to be had? Some of the catalogues have complete handle sets.
I've been on YouTube to see how the handles are glued in place. One guy used liquid rubber cement on the handles and epoxy on the seat. Any information tricks short cuts. Bit of a learning curve here but I have a 6'6" spin casting rod to build so I'll have more information to use when I get to that.

Robert,
You could go to a sporting goods store and take a look at the type rod you intend to build.

When gluing the grip in place and the reel seat in place, I prefer to use slow drying epoxy for both.

For this sort of rod, I would use a rear grip that is at least 10 inches long and a fore grip at least 4 inches long and possibly 5 inches long. Nice to have the fore grip wider than your hand so you can have a good rest when you are holding the big fish.

Also, with sort of rod, I would have the fore grip the same size as the rear grip. You want a "handle" in front of the reel that you can grab and exert leverage.

Good luck and good fishing.