Building your own rod is not difficult, if you are a bit of a craftsman to
begin with. You might save a small bit of money, but not enough if you find
the building to be a chore. The main advantage is that you will get the rod
you want with the type of grip, reel seat, guides, blank, and wraps that
suit your taste. Finding all of these in a single commercial rod is
difficult. I find that I like varnished wraps and dislike the commercial use
of epoxy on the wraps. I also like to shape the grip to suit me and I just
like to fish a rod I built myself - which is probably the main reason I've
built a few rods.

You say you're a DIYer, so you'll probably enjoy building a rod and that
will make it worth it to you.

Gene

"mdk77" wrote in message
ups.com...
I ran across this on the internet and wondered what the advantages and
disadvantages are to building your own fly rod. Is this something the
average fisherman should stay away from (too difficult)? Anyone here
fish rods they built themselves? What are some recommended resources
for this (books, web sites etc.).

I'm a guy who is a hopeless DIY person. It's a sickness :-( and an
ongoing source of ribbing from my teenage children when I try to build
everything from our radio's to our furniture. They do think it's cool
that I tie my own flies though. Their friends tell them they're not
sure if I'm a madman or a genius (definitely a madman IMHO).

Thanks in advance for the info.