F_W_2015_02_

ROD BUILDER

58 | fishingworld.com.au | February 2015

THIS month I’m detailing a rod I recently

built for a customer who wanted to fish plastics

in the deep water for jewies. He wanted this to

be a spin rod with cork grips and he’s matching

it with a 5000 sized reel. He fishes 30lb braid

for the fish that he’s targeting, which range in

size up to 30kg.

With this in mind, the blank choice had to

be strong, yet still possess sensitivity to feel the

gentle bites of these big fish.

I decided to go with a United Composite

blank from the Dual Helix range. These blanks

are very strong due to their construction and

design and will easily handle this type of work.

This type of rod suits a rubber butt cap and

the Fuji butt caps fit neatly onto a pre-shaped

cork rear spin grip, also from Fuji’s local

distributors, Frogley’s Offshore. These cork

grips come in a variety of IDs, so try to choose

the size closest but not larger than the blank

diameter. I then ream the cork with “cork

reamers” until it fits snugly into position.

Cork reamers can be purchased or easily made

from pieces of old blank wrapped in strips of

sanding tape. Just spiral the tape up the piece

of blank and glue it in place with a contact

adhesive. You can make these in several

different sizes to suit any situation.

Once the rear grip and butt cap were glued

in position, I then fitted the reel seat. This is an

easy choice, as Fuji manufactures the highest

quality graphite reel seats on the market. I used

a size 18 reel seat as this will match the reel to

be used. Use masking tape to ensure a snug fit

and then glue the reel seat into position with a

good quality slow curing epoxy glue.

Next is a cork front grip. As with the rear grip,

it comes with a couple of different IDs and the

fitting is the same as previously described.

I finish off the handle with a rubber winding

check. These can be purchased in many sizes

with 1mm differences in diameter. I use a

winding check slightly smaller than the

diameter of the blank in its finished position,

as they will stretch slightly and this will hold it

in position until you bind on a trim wrap.

The guides I used on this rod are anti-tangle

Fuji “Ks”. To keep costs down I’ve used

Environmental Chrome frames instead of

Titanium, which is usually always my

preference. These guides still have the silicon

carbide ring, which provides very little friction

to the braid. I only underbound the stripper

guide, but double overbound all of the guides

for added strength.

To finish the binds, I coated them with two

thin coats of Thread Master lite epoxy.

This results in a high lustre finish that will

protect your bindings for years to come. I also

like to apply a coat of cork sealer to the cork

grips to help protect them.

The finished rod will not be the lightest rod

you have used, but it will be strong and is

specifically designed for the purpose of landing

big jewies. It would also double nicely to pull

barra out from the sticks while casting plastics

amongst the snags.

Jewie Corker

BRAD JOB has the perfect rod for targeting

deep water jewies on soft plastics.

PROUDLY SPONSORED BY

WITH BR AD JOB

ILLUSTR ATION: CHRIS PAL ATSIDES

S PECIFICATIONS

UNITED COMPOSITES UC66XH

BUT T CAP: Fuji BRC19

RE AR GRIP: Fuji Cork 200 x 12

REEL SE AT: Fuji DPSSD 18

FRONT GRIP: Fuji Cork 100 x 10

TIP: Fuji TFST # 8/2.4

GUIDES: Fuji PK WSG 1 x #30, PKLSG 1 x #20,

1 x #12, PK TSG 5 x # 8

GUIDE SPACINGS: Tip, 75, 80, 90, 110, 130,

160, 200, 250 mm

TARGE T SPECIES: Jew, barra, etc

APPROXIMATE COS T: $500

Tip: Fuji TFST # 8/2.4

Fuji Cork 100 x 10

Fuji DPSSD 18

Fuji BRC19

Fuji Cork 200 x 12

PK TSG # 8

PK TSG # 8

PK TSG # 8

PK TSG # 8

PK TSG 5 x # 8

#12

PKLSG #20

Fuji PK WSG #30

75 mm

80 mm

90 mm

110 mm

130 mm

160 mm

200 mm

250 mm