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Guides
I feel like Fuji’s concept stainless guides with alconite rings or concept Titanium guides with SIC rings are the best guides you can put on a bass rod. While many manufactures build with a different brand to keep profits up, I would rather not sacrifice performance.
Click the picture above to download a .PDF file explaining the Fuji Guide Concept. Clicking the photo of the rings (below) will download a .PDF file providing detail on the specific ring types offered by Fuji. 
Micro Guides - click image below to enlarge
Guide Comparison - click image below to enlarge
Handle & Reel Seat
Rather it is graphite or cork, the length, style, and size of the handle all play a big part in the sensitivity, comfort, and balance of the rod.
Click images below to enlarge
split grip
graphite
spinning
Questions?
If you have ANY questions, please don’t hesitate to give me a call, or send me an email. I’m looking forward to talking to you.
Thanks,
Dan
937-307-6863
Custom Rods
When someone thinks of a custom rod, often one assumes they won’t be able to afford it, and they may be right because normally a custom rod has time consuming decorative artwork or exotic handles that significantly increases the cost. While all of this is ok, if that’s what you are after, it is not my specialty and I would rather recommend you to someone else than to build you something you won’t be satisfied with. I build rods for bass fisherman and tournament anglers who understand that a rods performance, when designed around an individual, can give them the competitive edge. By eliminating decorative artwork and by purchasing material in large quantities, I can generally provide a custom rod at a lower cost, when compared to a mass produced rod of similar quality bought elsewhere.
Advantages
The advantages of owning a custom rod, besides choosing thread colors and having the option to add your name to it, are numerous. With the proper size, location, and number of the guides, (see “Guides” below) you can utilize the full potential of the blank whether you’re casting, feeling the bite, setting the hook, or fighting the fish. By using lighter guides, the rod becomes better balanced. With that reduction of weight alone, the rod increases in sensitivity and can result in a longer more accurate cast and a less fatigued arm at the end of the day. The reason for this is the blank stores energy on the back cast… when the lure is released; the rod has to stop that momentum. (See “Blank” below) The less weight the rod has to stop, the quicker it returns to normal, thus decreasing the friction created by the line being slapped by the guide rings. With a conventional casting rod, the guides being on top of the rod will act as a small lever, twisting and straining the blank in the direction of the load. Extra effort is made fighting a fish by keeping the reel in an upright position resisting this torque. As far back as the ‘70’s, fisherman have tried to come up with a solution to eliminate this rod torque. The solution is to have a spiral wrap (see picture below) which puts the guides on the bottom of the rod acting much like a spinning rod, thus eliminating torque. I’m not able to notice any disadvantages of this with the exception of “maybe” looking a little different. A spiral wrap is supposed to increase accuracy and distance, but that should be left up to each angler to determine for themselves.
click image to enlarge
Things to Consider
Blanks:
When purchasing a rod, it seems that most manufacturers try to sell there product based on modulus ratings. Modulus is a term used to describe the stiffness to weight ratio. An elastic modulus is the mathematical description of an object or substance's tendency to be deformed elastically (non-permanently) when a force is applied to it. Therefore when a blank increases in modulus ratings, it is also increasing its ability to store & release the energy it stores when flexed via a cast or fish. The higher the (true) modulus of a rod is the lighter and more sensitive it will be, but with an increase in modulus, cost increases and resilience decreases.
While this seems logical to use as a selling point to sell more rods, as some do with their IM6 modulus rating, IM7, IM8…etc. as far as I know, there isn’t an industry standard for the amount of modulus in graphite, but is based more on a range depending on the manufacturers formula. Therefore one rod may be rated the same as another, but could be less expensive because it has lower modulus in its blank. Just because a rod is expensive and has a high modulus doesn’t ensure that the blank design is the right one for the application you are looking for. Many blanks are designed for a specific fishing technique, where others are a standard blank with the intended application/technique of the rod not factored in, i.e. technique or species taken into account. Other factors to consider in blank design are length, diameter, taper, wall thickness and material along with how the material is placed on the mandrel to create the blank. All factors above will determine the rod’s action, taper, weight, and strength.
I feel like Rogue Rod’s light weight Magnum Bass series blanks offer some of the finest tapers in the industry. Top that off with their customer support that has time and time again gone out of the way to accommodate me makes for a great group of people to work with. If you do not buy a rod from me, please consider one from the fine folks at Rogue Rods. www.roguerods.com