Louisiana State University (LSU) College Rod Decal

We’ll be adding military rod decals in the next few days so you can show your true colors and support our service members with pride. Be sure to stop back in and check ‘em out! Go Navy!

I went fishing on the St. John’s River this past weekend … just absolutely amazing to be on the water again … especially with a CCR custom fishing rod in hand. I worked a 4-inch Berkely Gulp root-beer colored shrimp on a 3/8 ounce jig for about 4 hours. The water was a chilly 55 degrees, but the sun was out with air temps hitting 65 degrees. Landed six Speckled Trout (all caught and released as February is a closed trout season in the Northeast Florida region) and three Redfish (all released to be caught another day). Wow! Talk about fun in the sun … especially with the frigid weather and howling north winds! Be sure to check out the CCR gallery for a few updated photos of a nice Speckled Trout and Redfish. Oh, the rod that I used for both the trout and redfish was a Cajun Custom Rod: 7 ft G. Loomis (P8400) rod blank, American Tackle solid titanium “Ring Lock” guides, Fuji casting reel seat, and a full handle of the finest quality 3A Portuguese cork.

BTW: Micro guide rod is laid up and turning … can’t wait for the “spin and dry cycle” to complete … stay posted because we’ll have a few pics to show ya’ once its done … and a field test comparison to follow.

Needless to say, we don’t live “idle” lives in the Yerger family. Shortly before I left, I finally got around to building a matched set of rods for myself. With all the business preparations and building of other folks rods, I just wasn’t able to piece together any time for “extra curricular” rod-building. That said, I finished the first of the pair shortly before deploying and have the second rod prepped and ready for final epoxy – which I’ll be doing tomorrow evening.

I did have a few minutes late this afternoon and tried out rod #1 on the water. All I can say is, “Wow! There’s nothing like a fine-tuned, custom-fit fishing rod … 100% matched for the individual. Talk about smooth and comfortable casting! I can’t wait to get the second rod finished and out on the water as well.” Once I finish the second rod, I’ll post pictures for all to see.

Both rods are built on 7 foot G Loomis P-8400 popping rod blanks and use American Tackle solid titanium “Ring-Lock” guides. The difference between the two rods is that rod #1 is built with double-foot guides and rod #2 has a combination of both double-foot and micro rod guides. I purposely built the two rods exactly the same except for the micro guides so that I could do some “in-house” comparison testing … I want to see for myself if the “hype” regarding micro guides is fact or fiction.

Do micro guides improve rod performance? They are smaller, lighter, and have a whole heap of performance claims backing them … but I’m going to put ‘em to the test. If they are as good as folks say they are, and the CCR tests prove it … well, you’ll be the first to know and we’ll get them on the “Build-A-Rod” page as a guide set option. But let’s not count our chickens just yet … Rod #2 will be finished in a day and cured … just in time to get out on the water this upcoming weekend. So stand by and we’ll pass the results of our “field tests” ASAP. Fish safe and have fun!