# Christmas Gift finally arrived. My First Custom Rod!



## Jim

I have been waiting 2 months (since Xmas) for my rod to be built, and today it finally arrived. The wait was well worth it. I contacted Matt Davis, Owner of Otterods to build be a custom rod for one of my reels. Two months and 49 e-mails later, there was a PVC tube on my front steps. It took me about 20 minutes (no joke) to unpack the rod from this fortress of a PVC pipe that Matt Packed it in. Boy was I in for a treat. Everyone talks the talk of a custom rod, but unless you hold one in your hand you will not understand. This was my Xmas gift and I went all out. You only live once, and I went for it! (she let me :mrgreen: ). My wife could really care less about my fishing stuff, but even this rod caught her eye. She made the BIG mistake of saying "all your rods should be like that".

Down to the nitty gritty!  

The rod was built for my 2003 Daiwa Pixy.
I wanted a finesse Rod that would throw 1/8 to 3/8 lures with no issues. Im talking finnese cranks to finesse weightless 3-inch senko style plastics.
Matt asked me what Line I was going to use, what reel Iwas going to use, what types and bodies of water I fish, and he came back to me with a bunch of different combinations of rods. 
I stated I wanted the BEST out there since chances are this would be my first and only super high end rod. We finally agreed on a GLoomis GLX SJ842 Blank, Fuji reel seat, Fuji Titanium SIC guides, Split rear grip, Custom cork inlay, and what I really wanted was the thread color to match the color of the reel. I love this Orange color, and to be quite honest, I did not think Matt was going to be able to pull it off. BOY WAS I WRONG!

I can not wait till this Winter is over!


----------



## Anonymous

That thing is sweeeet :shock: . 

Did you have the reel painted to match or visa versa?


----------



## Jim

BRYCE said:


> That thing is sweeeet :shock: .
> 
> Did you have the reel painted to match or visa versa?



Bryce,
The reel came that color....Same color as the Daiwa Sol line of reels, and Matt used the exact match thread for the guides. I cant wait till the weather warms up!


----------



## Icefisher15

soo thats where the orange pixy went... ha very nice.


----------



## Anonymous

Jim,

I still need to get my fingerprints on the inside of that wippy reel, to make it a reel man. :lol: 

D.R.


----------



## dampeoples

That's a nice setup Jim!


----------



## Mattman

Glad you like it Jim!


Thanks guys.


----------



## MARINE0341

Nice rod!

What does something like that run?


----------



## ACarbone624

Bringing up an old thread....

That rod is sweet Jim. How is it holding up?


----------



## Waterwings

Dang, that rod is sharp! 8)


----------



## BLK fisher

Very nice rod JIm. Hope it catches a ton of fish for ya.


----------



## Jim

ACarbone624 said:


> Bringing up an old thread....
> 
> That rod is sweet Jim. How is it holding up?




The rod is the best rod I own....not one single doubt. I love it. If I had the coin, I would have all custom built rods.

I did sell the reel, I want to get a Curado for it.


----------



## slim357

lol you had the rod made to match the reel and you sold the reel, this isnt why you were lookin for an old curado to spray paint was it?


----------



## Jim

slim357 said:


> lol you had the rod made to match the reel and you sold the reel, this isnt why you were lookin for an old curado to spray paint was it?




:LOL2: no, I actually found some spray paint in my basement that I wanted to use up. I just cant get used to reels other than Shimanos.


----------



## Salmon_Slayer_2008_Lund

Thats a sweet combo. I love the way the Daiwa Sol and the rod compliment each other nicely!


----------



## willfishforfood

SWEET Stick Jim. 
WFFF


----------



## Popeye

That is a nice looking rod except...

... did you notice the guides don't quite line up?



:lol:


----------



## redbug

jim youare too nice I just saw the latest add-on to the give away list....





[-o< [-o< [-o<


----------



## Jim

redbug said:


> jim youare too nice I just saw the latest add-on to the give away list....
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> [-o< [-o< [-o<




Never....I'm being buried with it. :LOL2:

But I have something in store for the Dale Hallow trip 8)


----------



## russ010

I WANT ONE!!!!

Who did you have make it for you? I thought I read through the whole blog, but I don't remember seeing it anywhere....


OK, I should have read the first sentence of your post before seeing my favorite color in the picture... nevermind


----------



## Mattman

russ010 said:


> Who did you have make it for you?



I made it.


----------



## willfishforfood

Nice Rod Mat. Spilt grips a no fore grig isn't catching on it tne Northwest yet. But guys on the rivers are looking hard at my UL sfuff.
WFFF


----------

