In the beginning, Tim Knox, the owner of TigeRodz, just wanted to build himself a custom rod that he could fish with. Knox knew he could build a great fishing rod if he had high quality components and a premium rod blank. With no prior experience, Knox ordered some components and a premium rod blank and went to work building his own custom fishing rod. In the beginning, Knox ran into a few obstacles with no mentor to tutor him. It was all learning through trial and error. “I feel like I had a knack for building custom rods,” said Knox. Over time and practice, Knox self-taught himself how to wrap guides, apply the epoxy, and finish a rod. “It did take forever to learn how to wrap the guide,” said Knox. Knox started building custom rods in his large basement, but has plans to move out to a shop beside the house since he needs additional space to build more rods. The number of tools and rod wrapping equipment just keeps growing as demand for custom built TigeRodz grows.
For the majority of anglers, the hardest choices in life are what color pickup truck to buy and what brand of boat to get. Sorry ladies, it’s the truth. You’re hubby can tell you what color crankbait he caught his last fish on, but probably does not the color of your eyes. For the record, my wife’s eyes are blue…I think, but I do know that the last fish I caught was on a foxy shad pattern Bomber Fat Free Shad crankbait; no wait, her eyes are brown…I think. After buying that pickup truck or getting his boat, the next hardest choice is what rod to pick.
For Bassmaster Elite Series professional angler Gerald “Gman” Swindle, his pick of color for his Toyota truck is black and yellow (Tundra Fishing Team Pro wrap colors); brand of boat, Triton of course.
Selecting the perfect baitcast reel can be a challenging task, especially for newbies to bass fishing. With countless baitcast reels in tackle stores ranging from $300 plus to under $80, which one should an angler pick? Questions such as: How many ball bearings should your baitcast reel have? What brake system works the best? Or what type of drag system do I need? All these questions have to be answered before purchasing that perfect baitcast reel.
The trend in fishing rods is to make them longer, lighter, and stronger. Bigger and better you might say; however, now the rod builders are taking a step back and using micro guides. These smaller, lighter guides are new to the bass rod fishing industry; however, they have been around for a long time. Custom rod builders have fallen in love with the micro guides. One custom rod builder, Tim Knox, owner of TigeRodz has taken to building custom rods with micro guides for anglers. “It’s-micro guides are the hottest thing in the rod industry right now; anglers are looking at rods being built with them to increase casting ability and accuracy,” Knox explained.
Stop! Before you read any further, look at your fishing rods. Do you have a boat or house full of heavy action flipping sticks that could also be used as a pool cue? If so, you may want to skip reading the rest of this article because it’s all about having fun while fishing with Ultralight combos.
Fishing tackle has come a long ways since anglers made that first cast. Some of the early rods had the same flexibility as rebar (concrete reinforcing bar) and weighted about the same. Not today, fishing tackle has gone high-tech. That means lighter, stronger, and more durable materials.
In this unstable economy environment, not every angler can afford to have too many high end, expensive reels. It is just not in their budget. These anglers fish hard. They can be seen at jackpot, weekend, and regional tournaments. Even professional anglers are searching for high quality, low priced reel with sponsorship funds drying up. Unlike a number of other reel manufactures, Quantum has introduced the new Catalyst PT baitcast reel and totally redesign Energy PT baitcast reel that exceeds the expectations for reels at that price point.
For the majority of anglers, the hardest choices in life are what color pickup truck to buy and what brand of boat to get. Sorry ladies, it’s the truth. You’re hubby can tell you what color crankbait he caught his last fish on, but probably does not the color of your eyes. For the record, my wife’s eyes are blue…I think, but I do know that the last fish I caught was on a foxy shad pattern Bomber Fat Free Shad crankbait; no wait, her eyes are brown…I think. After buying that pickup truck or getting his boat, the next hardest choice is what rod to pick.
