Coming in at under 10 ounces this is one light, but powerful surf rod!
The common trend in surf rod design these days seems to be the lighter, the better – minimalistic grips, smaller reel seats, lighter blanks, lighter guides, and smaller wraps.
Of course, the overbuilt rod has its time and place still and should always be considered when fishing locations that might see a degree of abuse on your equipment. These locations could be jetties, boulder fields, or just when the surf really kicks up. It’s also helpful when you have to use your fishing rod as a tool for navigating the terrain.
This build will not cover how to build a rod for those types of conditions but a complete 180 of that big stick design. For this project I assembled a very minimalistic, lightweight surf rod that will excel at fishing sandy beaches and back bays without causing any fatigue on the caster whatsoever because of the virtually weightless, but it boasts some of the best components that Fuji has to offer. This is the type of rod that you will be able to fish for a week straight, tide after tide, and not feel the slightest bit of tiredness while doing so.
The Blank
With every rod build starts a blank. The blank is the foundation of any build and determines what the rod will be used for. In our previous rod building installments, we used the Century Weapon Jr. blanks for an inshore fluking build as well as a snap-jig rod, so for this ultra-light surf rod build, we stuck with the Century weapon blank model ISS10872GB which boasts 30% weight reduction but 70% increase in tinsel strength, meaning I won’t be sacrificing any strength at all for the lighter weight. The lure rating is from 1/2 to 4 ounces and will handle up to 50-pound test according to the Century specs.
This blank also has Textreme technology, which is an extremely thin, wide weave wrap of carbon used in aerospace and racing applications for added fracture resistance, making the lightweight blank even stronger! On top of that, the Weapon is made from Graphene, which as the folks at Century explain, “was developed by scientists at the University of Manchester in England. It is 200 times stronger than steel and harder than diamond while remaining flexible. It is manufactured in sheets that are only a molecule thick. In this application, it is used for strength, weight reduction, durability, recovery, and anti-torsional properties.”
Needless to say, the Weapon was a proper choice for my build.
The Guides
For those of you who don’t know, The Fisherman Magazine’s Jenni Ackerman is also proficient in rod building. When talking about the advancements in rod-building technology, she said, “The science behind every aspect of fishing is phenomenal. From the rod blank itself to the guides, there is so much effort put into every bit that gets built into your fishing slaying stick.”
In discussing the nitty-gritty of rod building, specifically the guide layouts themselves, Jenni said “when you want to start building your rod, the guide layout is so important. You want to make sure your measurements are accurate so you don’t have any flaws affecting your cast or line lay. My favorite layout was created by Bobby Hyrszko of Grumpys Tackle, which revolutionized the surf game. My pet peeve is heavy rod builds, and Bobby created a guide layout for a 9-footer that is lighter and can outcast my 10-footer, but here’s the kicker: all single-foot guides. This was unheard of on a surf rod until now, when we test casted this machine, if we didn’t stop the sinker it would’ve gone into a window at the house across the street from the park. The evolution of guide layouts like these has created such a window to better benefit the angler, less fatigue with a lighter rod, and a farther casting distance achieved with less effort.”
Down in ICAST this past July, I had another conversation with Jack Baron from Fuji about our rod-building series so far and what was in the pipeline for The Fisherman’s Rod Build Series in coming issues, hinting at the featherweight surf rod build. With some additional email exchanges, I was able to secure a set of single-foot K-Series spinning guides for the build. The set included one TKLSG25SH, one TKLSG12SH, eight TKTSG8S guides, and a TMNST8 (6.5) tip. These guides have a superlight and corrosion-resistant titanium frame along with a silicon carbide (SiC) ring to allow braided lines to run through them with minimal resistance and to withstand years of use.
After talking with the staff at Fuji, we came up with an appropriate layout for the 9-footer with the guides provided. Starting with the butt cap to the center of the reel seat, the distance is 21 inches. From the center of the reel seat to the first guide measured out at 26-1/2 inches then the following distances between guides: 25mm to 12mm; 8-3/4 inches, 12mm to 8mm; 8-1/2 inches, 8mm to 8mm; 7-1/4 inches, 8mm to 8mm; 6-3/4 inches, 8mm to 8mm; 6-1/4 inches, 8mm to 8mm; 6 inches, 8mm to 8mm; 5-3/4 inches, 8mm to 8mm; 5 inches, 8mm to 8mm; 4 inches, 8mm to tip; 3-3/4 inches. The total guide layout has 10 guides and one tip when all laid out.
Additional Hardware
A favorite reel seat of mine has always been the Fuji DNPSD Deluxe Ergonomic Spinning Reel Seat. I’ve used this model on many of my surf rod builds over the years. The seat is very comfortable in my hands and holds any surf reel well in a size 20, so naturally, it was my first choice for this build. I incorporated some Fuji “Nubbin” EVA pieces for a custom touch and because I liked the look of the above and below the seat. I also ended up using a Fuji BRC19 surf butt cap for the end. I’ve used this style cap for years, and the durability of it is unmatched. All of the trim pieces and butt cap received rubber winding check pieces to give it a nice finished look.
Assembly
I started off by measuring the location of my reel seat and marking it on the blank with a marker. This would also determine where I would place my trim pieces on either side of the reel seat. Next step was to ream out the trim pieces to make sure they fit on either side of the reel seat.
Once everything was fitted into place, I built up a tape arbor on the butt end of the rod since the inside diameter of the butt cap was a bit larger than the outside diameter of the rod. One-inch masking tape did the job for this arbor.
The next step was to build up tape arbors for the reel seat. Keep in mind to have the bottom of the reel seat trim piece as well as the winding checks for the piece and butt cap on the rod already because you will not be able to put it on once the arbors are built into place. I used four arbors spaced out where the reel seat would be for this. After making sure all of the pieces are going to fit into place once again, it’s time to glue. Using Flex Coat Rod Builders Epoxy Glue, I started by covering the reel seat arbors. Once I slid the reel seat into place, I used a little bit of glue to fix the EVA trim pieces as well. Then, I slid the winding checks into place against the EVA. Lastly, I moved onto the butt cap by filling it with glue first and sliding it onto the arbor at the end of the rod. My last winding check was then slid into place, and everything was left to dry.
After everything locks up (a couple of hours to be safe) I measured out the guide placements and marked them on the blank. Since this is a two-piece blank I ‘spined’ the top half of the rod by rolling it on the floor and looked for the location where the blank ‘popped’ into place. This ‘spine’ of the rod would be where I would lay my guides on.
Once the spine is found and the guides are taped into place, the wrapping begins. For this surf rod build, I used black thread with silver trim to match the guide frames and the reel seat hood. Single, short wraps keep the weight down on the blank. Once the guides are wrapped into place and straightened out, they get two coats of Flex Coat High Build finish.
All said and done, this sweet Century build adorned with all Fuji components comes in at under 10 ounces, just in time for the 2024 fall run of stripers and bluefish!
