The right rod is the key component, literally the backbone, to success in all fishing situations!
Built in the USA, Local Hooker Rods is located on Cape Cod Massachusetts. Their goal is to build you the finest rods, without compromise. They stand behind your rod with a Limited-Lifetime Warranty.
They build rods using the best components. First they test and spine every rod. They do a parabolic curve and deflection test to measure the placement and accuracy of the guides. It is extremely important to understand the guides on your rod carry the load (your fish), just as a truss system carries the load on the roof of a building. Your guides are placed along the entire parabolic curve of a spined rod.
Thread is more than pretty colors; it's what holds your guides and keeps them stable. They under-wrap the guide feet once and over-wrap them twice using Gudebrod thread. Then apply a two-step, slow-dry, UV-embedded epoxy to ensure the thread is thoroughly sealed and water-tight. Finally, the reel seats are fitted and glued solid to help ensure they don't break loose.
Does all this take more time and cost more?
You betcha it does; but you will not find a better built fishing rod anywhere!
There are a lot of ways to cut costs and quality when building a rod. It's what's under the hood that really counts! Here are several ways to build rods that look nice but have no quality:
Skimping on the number, quality and type of guides. Many guides and tops are inferior stainless steel and plating, causing them to rust and break over time. The frames are weak using low-carbon, very thin gauge steel.
Not under-wrapping the guide feet, and over-wrapping them once using cheap thread is a common practice.
Using an ultra violet finish on blanks and guide wraps. This method sets up under a UV light in 15 seconds. It's gummy underneath with a very hard brittle exterior. The finish dulls and gets even harder in the sun, eventually cracking and peeling around the guide feet, allowing water to seep in.
Spining the backbone is one of the most important aspects of a well-built rod, and it is almost unheard of with most factory production rods.
Many reel seats have cardboard filler sleeves, shims, masking tape or electrical tape with a spot of glue to hold them on the blank. Eventually these get wet and breakdown causing reel seat failure.
Just because a rod lists the best name in components doesn't always make it a good rod. If not assembled properly, it's just good junk!
There are many rods called "custom" that are little more than embroidered to look nice. They have beautiful wraps and weaves but are no better built than an imported factory rod. In fact, many are pre-built overseas and shipped to the US to be embroidered and sold as custom rods. You'll see these: "Made in the USA". Just know what you're buying. Custom doesn't always mean custom-built. More like "embroidered in the USA".
The spiral wrap rod is made using a 20-40# graphite blank. It has a moderate/fast tip. This rod is also knows as an "acid wrap" or Robert's Rod.
Spiral wrapping isn't new. The first patent was issued in 1909. This concept is 100+ years old! The purpose of wrapping a rod with the guides spiraling to the bottom of the rod is twofold.
First, there is no torsion or twisting force on the blank when the rod is under a load. Second, the rod is more stable under a load and the angler does not have to make an effort to keep the rod up with the guides facing up.
Spiral wrapped rods are more stable fish rods. With guides on the bottom, there is no twisting force from the line seeking the lowest point. The fisherman doesn't have to pull to keep the rod upright. If the fisherman can't keep the guides perfectly in line on a conventional rod while fighting a fish, the line and guides will create torsion as the line tries to go under the rod toward the pull of the fish.
Another misconception about spiral wrapped rods is that they don't cast very well. A correctly built spiral wrapped rod casts as well as a conventional rod with the guides on top. Every Local Hooker Rod is hand spined and has a guide deflection test to make sure your rod is built with precision.
Each guide is individually underwrapped, then twice overwrapped using Gudebrod thread. Two coats of UV epoxy are used to help keep the harmful rays of the sun from breaking down both the epoxy and the threads below.
There are faster less-expensive ways to build rods. You deserve the best and should get what you pay for.
Enjoy fishing, and GET BENT!
MS560F5080ACG:
Offshore Tuna Rod
Acid Wrap
Length: 5' 6"
All Zirconia (Turbo Halide) Guides & Top
Batson Solid E-Glass
Line Weight: 50 - 80#
Action: Fast, Extra Heavy
ATX UB2
MS560F5080ACR:
Offshore Tuna Rod
Acid Wrap
Length: 5' 6"
Stripper Roller & Roller Tip
Batson Solid E-Glass
Line Weight: 50 - 80#
Action: Fast, Extra Heavy
ATX UB2
ATX Stripper & Top Rollers
Turbo Halide Guides
MS660F3050WLR:
In-Shore Wire Line Rod w/ Roller Tip
Batson Solid Glass Blank
Length: 6' 6"
Line Weight: 30 - 50#
Action: Slow/Heavy
Carbide Guides
Large Roller Top
EVA Butt w/ Nylon Gimbal
HD Graphite Reel Seat
8" EVA Foregrip
MS700E2040JIGC:
In-Shore Jigging/Fluke Rod
E-Glass w/ Solid Glass Tip - Casting
Batson E-Glass Toughstick
Length: 7'
Line Weight: 20 - 40#
Lure Weight: 4 - 10 oz.
Action: Mod/Fast
Power: Med/Heavy
14" EVA Rear Grip w/ Nylon Gimbal
Graphite Reel Seat
10" Foregrip
Alps Ringlock Guides & Top
MS700E3050JIGC:
In-Shore Jigging/Fluke Rod
E-Glass w/ Solid Glass Tip - Casting
Batson E-Glass Toughstick
Length: 7'
Line Weight: 30 - 50#
Lure Weight: 4 - 12 oz.
Action: Mod/Fast
Power: Heavy
14" EVA Rear Grip w/ Nylon Gimbal
Graphite Reel Seat
10" Foregrip
Alps Ringlock Guides & Top
MS700G1530SR:
In-Shore Composite Spinning Rod
Batson Rainshadow Blank
Length: 7'
Line Weight: 15 - 30#
Lure Weight: 1 - 3 oz.
Action: Fast, Med/Heavy
12" Cork Rear Grip
Graphite Reel Seat w/ 3.5" Cork Foregrip
Batson Alps Halide Ringlock Guides & Top
MS700G2040AC:
In-Shore Spiral "Acid Wrap" Graphite Casting Rod
ATX Graphite
Length: 7'
Line Weight: 20 - 40#
Lure Weight: 1 - 4 oz.
Action: Mod/Fast
Power: Med/Heavy
12" Cork Handle
Graphite Reel Seat
3.5" Cork Foregrip
Alps Ringlock Casting Halide Guides w/ Ringlock Top
The right rod is the key component, literally the backbone, to success in all fishing situations!
Built in the USA, Local Hooker Rods is located on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Their goal is to build you the finest rods, without compromise. They stand behind your rod with a Limited-Lifetime Warranty. They live and breathe fishing. Bob's boat, "The Local Hooker", is moored in Chatham. They not only build the finest saltwater rods on the market, they fish them as well!
After fishing Chatham, Cape Cod for most of his life, Bob Jenkins decided it was time he started a serious saltwater rod company. From day one he made the decision to build the greatest rods available. He did it by using some of the best components on the market. Second-to-none!
Additionally, each rod is hand built by a master rod craftsman. Every rod blank has a slightly stiffer and a slightly softer side along its length when flexed. The stiffer side is known as the rod's backbone or "spine". Most mass-produced rods are assembled without consideration for the placement of the spine in relation to the guides. In less expensive rods this is deliberately done to decrease assembly time, and lower production costs.
All their rods are built with the guides placed precisely along the effective spine of the blank. The effective spine is located using the entire parabolic curve in the blank, under full load, not just at the tip. This configuration allows the softer side of the rod to flex toward the direction of pull (your fish), significantly reducing torque, and keeps the rod from wanting to "flip over" in your hands when under the load of a fighting fish. The benefit to you is now you're fighting your fish, and not your rod too. All of this equals better action and less fatigue on your arms and the rod, making a better fishing experience altogether!
Local Hooker Rods will never be cheap! Remember the saying: "Life's Too Short to Drink Cheap Wine."
Local Hooker Rods: Superior quality saltwater fishing rods that deliver a truly unique fishing experience.
Online shopping is available for shipments to United States and Canada. For international orders, please call the Retail Store.
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