Fishfinder Custom Rods

[RockHoppin]

Hi Raiders,

A few weeks ago I spoke with Tony about getting a brutal custom groper rod built up as a heavy weight rock rod to be used to target mainly groper (of course), big kings and anything else capable of swallowing a 7/0 hoodlum. Didn't take long for Tony to recommend the blank (1 piece kilwell FSU6144 cut down to a 6120 with all the usual goodies) and the order was quickly placed - only thing is I ordered 3 of em in 3 different colour schemes! - 1 for me and 2 for the blokes I fish with. "Not a problem" said Tony and promised the rods within a few weeks. Didn’t think it normal for 3 rods to be requested at once and was blown away when it only took the better part of 3 weeks to build these beauties on top of all the other orders. Not sure how many guys here were at Tony’s Fishfinder store on Friday afternoon but those who were (Sammy & CFD) would have been witness to the best rod building workmanship offered through Fishfinder. Was grinning from ear to ear when I finally got my hands on my new toy - gold/black alps winch, gold/black zircon guides, black gimble with all the black and gold bindings colour coded and epoxied to an immaculate finish and made to look like they'd been fused with the blank! The difference between a custom rod and an off the rack 'custom built special' were immediately obvious. Brilliant!

Throughout the build process Tony kept me up to date with all progress and made sure I was kept in the loop with the works. The service and support provided was second to none and this was clearly evident in the final product. I was absolutely blown away by the build quality, strength, weight, balance, beauty and sheer power of the rods . The workmanship was immaculate and the attention to detail was amazing. I can honestly say that I have never had my hands on a custom rod that was built as well or looked as good as the 3 examples delivered to us last Friday. They almost looked too good to use! -almost! - and so I was itching to hit the rocks for a cast asap..

I Knew the southerly was coming on Saturday arvo but couldn’t resist the urge to lob a few baits around. Snuck away for an hour or 2 and managed to pull up a 1.2kg bream before the southerly pushed through and was forced to call it quits just as the burley was starting to work . I normally bag bream like this on my trusty MT7144 and am used to a little tug-o-war on the 6kg outfit but the ease at which the new 6120 handled this fish was comical….poor mr bream had no chance! Can’t bloody wait till its fully loaded up with something a little more challenging! Nevertheless I plan on having a serious fish this weekend but this time the red rock crabs and some fresh squid will be rigged up in the right location and at the right time - unlike the quick desperado session I had on Saturday arvo around Cape Banks.

Anyways, I just wanna give a massive thanks and thumbs up to Tony and the guys at Fishfinder for all their help, assistance and of course, the rods they built for us. Again, the service provided was second to none and I cannot praise them highly enough. To say they're professional is an understatement and I highly recommend them to anyone wishing to have a custom rod built. Be it a 3kg spin stick to a beast like that which I had built...you wont be disappointed. I hope to have some close up pics of these weapons taken shortly and will post asap.

Will definitely be going back in the near future to have another custom special built - mother of all alvey bait casters for jewies, etc - but that can wait..till then I got some serious fishing to do

Thanks again guys, will be seeing you shortly.

Cheers

RockHoppin

Edited March 26, 2007 by RockHoppin

[Sammy0884]

Great to see a smile on a Fishraiders dial! Where are the pics mate!

[johnno]

Bring on PICS

Good to hear you are happy with the rods

[Frantic]

Yep those Kilwell blanks are tremendous made in New Zealand,my trusty allround rock rod

is a custom Kilwell MT 849. Its a ripper of a blank,soft enough to feel those bream bites but plenty

of guts from about halfway down & right to the butt,great for those Jewies that can be a handfull

off the rocks.

[Rode Cary]

man and their toys!!!!

i do understand how u feel mate. its always an awesome feeling when u put your hand on quality stuff, esp fishing gears as we are all fishos

i've seen a couple of Tony's customed made rods and very impressive indeed. am saving my $$ for my first customed made rod. hope its gonna be soon

so is the kilwell FSU 6144 full graphite or a composite? what's the rated line strength?

enjoy your new rod and bring us some pics of your catches

bertrand

[RockHoppin]

so is the kilwell FSU 6144 full graphite or a composite? what's the rated line strength?

Thats the full glass model mate - used exclusively on the stones so it needs to be able to handle the rough stuff. Surprisingly though its not hard on the arms at all - especially with the low mount grips for the alvey. Line class - well, I've got my 651E5 spooled up with 80 pound line for groper fishing but wouldnt use anything less than 10-15kg with this outfit. Like Tony said its way to heavy to use for the smaller fish and so will be used exclusively with the heavier gear - i.e 15-37kg. Caught that bream on my 10kg 650A5 using a 16 pound flourocarbon leader and it felt like I was pulling in a yakka...talk about overkill! Needless to say I wont be targeting bream with this rod...but thats not to say it cant cast a lightly weighted crab bait. Got 30m with a size 2 ball sinker running down to my ab gut bait without even trying...Cant wait to flick around a few sp's for kings and the trusty red rock crab for groper..

Will keep ya posted.

Cheers

[groperman]

Thats the full glass model mate - used exclusively on the stones so it needs to be able to handle the rough stuff. Surprisingly though its not hard on the arms at all - especially with the low mount grips for the alvey. Line class - well, I've got my 651E5 spooled up with 80 pound line for groper fishing but wouldnt use anything less than 10-15kg with this outfit. Like Tony said its way to heavy to use for the smaller fish and so will be used exclusively with the heavier gear - i.e 15-37kg. Caught that bream on my 10kg 650A5 using a 16 pound flourocarbon leader and it felt like I was pulling in a yakka...talk about overkill! Needless to say I wont be targeting bream with this rod...but thats not to say it cant cast a lightly weighted crab bait. Got 30m with a size 2 ball sinker running down to my ab gut bait without even trying...Cant wait to flick around a few sp's for kings and the trusty red rock crab for groper..

Will keep ya posted.

Cheers

How much are these outfits?

[RockHoppin]

How much are these outfits?

All depends on what components you want to use...speak with Tony, he'll walk you through all your options and combos if you're interested in getting something similar built up.

cheers

RockHoppin