Specializing In Great Lakes Trolling Rods

If you either fished with us last year or sent me a photo of your fishing success using one of my rods, check out my new video by clicking the link below.  The video is in HD, so click the HD button so get a much better picture.  It is a large file so if you have a slower browser, you may want to let it get a pretty good head start loading before playing to allow smooth viewing.  See if your mugshot is in the video.  The video says alot about the number and variety of fish caugh with my rods.  Special thanks goes out to all the people that submitted photos.  It is my intention to create a video every year like this one.  For next season, I will make a much better attempt to get actual video footage of the rods in action, also don’t hesitate to send me your videos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XX3XD-B0H10

The 2010 Video is finished!!! Take a look and be sure to leave a comment.

It is that time of year again.  The Reese-Out-Of-Doors-Club is holding their annual fundraising banquet in April.   Last years response was over the top, and again I thank you for your generosity.  I will be getting tickets that I can sell for the club if anyone has an interest in attending, I highly recommend it.  If any of you attend events like Ducks Unlimitted, Pheasants Forever, Etc.., this event has a very similiar format.  Loads of prizes!  It is structured very much the same, auctions, ticket prizes, gun raffles, tackle raffles, etc…..  The difference is simply that as you sit in the room, you see the kids that the money goes towards.  The kids actually run the banquet and show their appreciation throughout the event.  This event directly effects introducing the outdoors to school age children.  If you have time I highly recommend attending this event.  At worst, you get a great meal. 

Just like last year, Eyefull Custom Rods will be putting together a package of things to go towards the fundraising raffles.  Anything you have sitting around from your winter tackle cleanup is great stuff to donate to this cause.  Lures, reels, line, flashers, plugs, etc… is all great stuff.  Last year we divided it all up and was able to put together 6 five gallon buckets loaded with tackle for the ticket auctions.  I can say that the ticket buckets were full in front of them!  Email me at tony@eyefullcustomrods.com if you need more information or an address to ship items to. 

To get things started, I will be donating a $400 MHX Custom Steelhead rod.  I am also going to be reaching out to some of the Great Lakes tackle companys for their support as well.  Any help with contacts of potential donating companys is appreciated.   I feel very strongly about this event as you can tell.  I support many of the other previously mentioned outdoors groups, but this event goes to the very heart of our outdoor sports.  Getting kids involved in the outdoors, at the school level is the only way our sports will survive and grow in the future.  Reese High School and the Out-Of-Doors club is at the forefront of this effort.

Having learned from last years tackle drive, I will be taking measures to formalize the whole process this year.  I will have a sign made for the banquet listing all of the donors and companys that donated.  Last year really caught me off guard with the response and I have to admit, I was a little overwhelmed.  Just like last year, the Out of Doors Club will provide a reciept for your donation for tax purposes if requested. 

Eyefull Custom Rods thanks you for your generosity.

Back in July, actually July 4th weekend, I caught a 20# Lake Trout fishing with Don Alofs aboard the Tangled Mess.  After a few phone calls, I was confident that I should put this great fish on the wall.  Obviously by Stannard Rock standards this fish is just a good fish.  But by Lake Michigan standards, it is a truly great fish.

I had an 11 pound walleye mounted by Larry Buckle of Acorn Ridge Taxidermy a couple years ago and was amazed by the quality of his work.  Larry is a lifelong Great Lakes Fishermen, and licensed charter captain, so he knows what the fish are supposed to look like.  I was suffering all fall, and through the Christmas Holidays with anticipation about how this fish would look.  I have to say that it completely surpassed even my wildest hopes.  The fish is beautiful as the photo below shows.

While I was at Larrys shop, I had the opportunity to see Bob Keitzmans 30# King that was caught aboard the Geteway in the Benzie Frenzy, winning it for him and his crew.  Just as stunning as my Laker.  With either of these mounts, a photo can’t reveal the beauty and detail work in these trophys. 

Acorn Ridge Taxidermy is listed in my discussion boards “friends of Eyefull Custom Rods” sticky post, and has contact information.  You can also email me at tony@eyefullcustomrods.com if you need to get in contact with Larry and Acorn Ridge Taxidermy.  Please be sure and let him know who sent you.

Many thanks to all the people that made 2011 a season to remember.  This is photos and video footage from this past season.  So, if you fish with me, or use my custom rods, make sure to get me your photos and video, so next year you can get in this tribute.  I’ll also have a launcher mount for my HD video camera for 2012.  That will make it much easier to get really good action shots.  Here is the link to the video:

http://youtu.be/Z_Vze5suo1k

A 1997 Thompson 240 Hardtop Fishermen will be in the Eyefull shop soon.  I am closing the deal this week, and if things go well, it should be able to come home late this week or next.  The boat is amazingly clean, having seen little usage and stored indoors its whole life.  There are exactly 150 original hours on its 5.7 Mercruiser (Chevy Vortec).  After a thorough cleaning, which will be fairly easy, I will remove the built in rodholders to make room for Traxstech equipment.  While there isn’t any issues with the wiring, I will probably reroute all the factory wiring in conduit, if for no other reason than to just clean it up a little and make things easier down the road.  It will be a good time to do that since it will be getting a new 900 series Hbird sonar/gps, and most likely an autopilot setup.  That will make it a good idea to clean up all the wiring while we are at it. 

Like I mentioned, it will spend some time at the Traxstech facility in Chesaning.  Tracks, holders, bird trees, and maybe even a pair of Vector downriggers if budget holds.  There are a pair of manual planer board reels mounted on the hardtop, that can be worked with possibly or relocated for ease of use.  A rocket launcher will also be installed on the hardtop.  I piece mealed the original Eyefull when it came to rigging.  I won’t make that mistake again.  It ends up costing you more over the long run, not to mention, more holes in the boat.   

I purchased the original Eyefull (1851 Striper Walkaround) brand new at the Cobo boat show.  I swore I would never purchase another boat new ever again.  The money you lose on new boats, makes them probably the worst investment money wise you can make.  Once I get this boat setup, I will have less than half of what I had in the Eyefull I, and it will be three times the vessel.  I am sure there will be issues with this used boat, but guess what, I had issues with a brand new one also LOL.

Here are a couple of photos of the Eyefull II.  Sorry, they were taken in almost dark conditions, and with a phone.  I’ll post some before and after photos when I get her home.

Sorry, the hardtop was covered up by the tarp.  It is sitting on a like new Shorelander roller trailer with disc breaks.

Other than being dusty from storage, this thing is mint.  It hasn’t even been run enough to wear the paint off the serpentine grooves on the pullys!

 Hydraulic trim tabs, hydraulic steering.  Has a decent trolling plate that will come off, so if anyone is looking for one…  I run bags, so no need for the trolling plate.  I will probably pull everything off and refill/Dow5000 all the holes and such for good measure.  Bob Keitzman came out and moisture checked the transem, floor, and stringers.  The highest we found was 12%, most areas were at 8-10%.  By comparison, the 60 year old interior barn timbers were 23%. The floor which was usually an issue with older Thompsons is dry and solid.  The only thing about the boat that I was a little surprised about was the way it deals with deck water.  Basically it just drains to the engine bildge and then is pumped out by bildge pump.  I’ll be installing a high capacity bildge pump as a backup and piece of mind.  Seems like the Thompson engineers got a little lazy in that area. 

Needless to say, I am excited!

Taking a couple weeks to relax and try to put the past year behind me.  Three surgerys in one year is too many!  Had a hernia repaired Thursday, which went well.  While that all seems like a horrible year, actually 2011 yielded some of the best fishing memories of my life, despite my health.  Too many great trips with great friends to list here, other than to say a collective thanks to all my great friends.  Also, a big year end thanks to all my customers who toughed out a bad year with my rodbuilding with me gratiously and understandingly.  Sporatic production is an understatement for 2011 rod building.  2010 saw some 130 rods leave the shop to customers.  For the 2011 year, maybe 50 if I get creative! 

I am excited about the 2012 season.  Taking the business in a slightly different direction.  I will be adding a full service, point, click, checkout type webstore utilizing Paypal.  Hopefully will be online by Late January.  The webstore will offer a range of high use items.  Reels, line, lures, and whatever is trending hot with Great Lakes fishing.  I will still special order any item, and have access to the same 350 brands as always, but will concentrate on bringing the best prices on the items that you use every day.  Input from customers will drive the items in the store.

The rod shop has several projects in the making for the new year.  A growing emphasis on river steelhead rods is in the works with personalized rod series projects are all in the making. Also looking at having a couple of my best selling rods mass produced.  I know that sounds risky, but understand that the factory produced rods will have identical components as my rods, and be built to my quality and design specs.  I won’t put my name on any rod that doesn’t meet my quality standards.  There are just a couple of rods that this is feasible.  Rigger rods and board rods are two of my best selling rods and are almost all built on the exact same design principle.  Having a reputable rod factory (American Tackle, Lamiglas, St. Croix) build me these rods to my specs makes sense.  It gets the price point down lower, making them available to more fishermens budgets, while at the same time not having any effect on quality.  Actually, I hate to say it, but todays high tech CNC rodbuilding machines do amazing finish work on rods, rivaling the best custom builders abilities.  The whole deal in rods is in the components chosen, the layout and perfection of the guide positions, and the bullet proof handle/seat/grips.  The custom rod shop will still be turning out rods, but concentrating on the higher end ones, and truly custom rods.  My customers always express a need for budget minded rods, so the off site manufactured rods will give my customers a more budget friendly option to purchase rods designed and spec’d by Eyefull Custom Rods.

All of this is just a long winded way of saying thanks for a great year, and I am looking forward to next year with all of you.  I tell my wife, that even if I don’t make a dime, in the end, I still feel rich being able to hang out with my friends in the fishing business.  Merry Christmas to everyone!

I added a new Steelhead River Fishing Forum to the discussion board.  Its in the Lets Talk Fishing section.  Get on and give it a go.  If you have any problems with registration, send me an email at tony@eyefullcustomrods.com.  Sometimes the auto registration kicks out some, suspecting them as spam.  I just have to go in and manually approve those that get singled out.

Well, its been quite a while since I have posted using this blog.  Mostly due to the discussion board picking up steam last spring.  Well, lots has gone on since then.  I had two surgeries last spring, one to remove a couple of neck discs and replace them with a titanium plate, and the other to move my ulnar nerve in my arm to a better location.  Needless to say, my summer was messed up.  I had a huge backlog of rod orders that never really got addressed until well into the season.  Sorry for all the delays.  Well, now it is December and I am down to only a few orders left to build on.  Speaking of the message board, it has kind of gone quiet, lets get that bangin again during the dog days of winter.

This summer, the tournament team that I sponsor (Team Verdict) had a spectacular summer, winning three events and ended up on top of the 333 Pro Division in points, only to fall off the top on the last tourny of the year.  What a season, I can’t say how proud I am to be even a small part of these guys success. 

One new thing I am working on for the new year is to have a more traditional point, click, checkout with Paypal type webstore.  I want to keep it fairly small scale, carrying the staple items you guys need.  Reels, line, retail rods, etc…  I am looking for input from all of you to decide what to include in the webstore.  It will be my goal to provide the highest value and best customer service in the industry.  You can’t get that in a big box store.  I no longer accept credit cards, which is why the webstore will be Paypal.  It just got to the point where the credit card companies were taking so much money in fees that it wasn’t worth keeping.

I am putting together my annual video as we speak, so if you have photos that you wish to have included, don’t wait, send them to tony@eyefullcustomrods.com.  Record amount of photos this year, and lots of HD video to fill in the cracks as well.

I won a trip to Ohio fishing with Jim Chamberlin at the Huron walleye tourny.  I don’t get a chance to do much stream fishing, so I was very excited to say the least.  I have always heard about the great Ohio steelhead fishery.  We chose December 8th as our day to fish.  I made plans to go down on the 7th, and stop in at Happy Days Boating to look at a 2000 Sportcraft 252, then on to Westlake to get a hotel room.  Ohio got 4 inches of rain the previos week, and Jim wasn’t even sure that any of the premier rivers would be fishable, so he advised me to call him from Pt. Clinton on the 7th, before coming any further.  So, after looking at the boat, I called him.  He said that the large rivers were unfishable, but several smaller feeder streams were beginning to look good.  With that me and my cousin Kyle were off to Westlake.  The following morning we met our guide Jim at Erie Outfitters.  Very cool store with lots of specialized equipment and great service.  We found Jim to be the kind of guy that you end up feeling like you have known him for years.  Very easy to talk to and fun to be around.  We piled in his car and headed to Metro Cleveland.  We fished right downtown most of the morning at various locations, hitting fish at every hole.  His knowedge of the area streams was amazing.  We stopped for lunch at a local deli and for $4.99 we got what can only be described as wastefull, huge footlong subs on bread from heaven.  Sorry, I don’t remember the name of that place.  While stuffing ourselves, Jim was on the phone talking with his contacts fishing other streams.  We decided to hit a rural feeder stream that he thought would be set up nicely.  He was right, we fished two different runs/holes, and about 150 yards of stream the rest of the day, pulling several nice steelies each. 

We kept Jim busy all day tying and retying our rigs after snagging.  I fealt guilty at one point and apologized and asked if this was normal.  He said if your not snagging, your not catching.  Jim also suggested that we learned centerpin fishing.  I was nervous and doubtful, but am very glad we agreed.  After about a half hour of instruction and demonstration, we were able to function.  It does take some getting used to with the casting and retrieve, but the unaltered drift that you can achieve is well worth the effort.  Not to mention, it is very cool when you are direct drive with a pissed steelhead, your the drag, not the reel.  I lost a few fish early on while learning the method of applying drag to the fish, and realizing how much power you can actually put on them with a 12′ rod and 6# line.  I was babying them way too much early on.

This fish is very representative of the size and quality of our trip.  Next is the first fish of the day, caught, like I said, right downtown Cleveland by my cousin Kyle.

Our guide Jim really only fished about 10 casts the whole day, mostly because I made an MHX spinning rod that actually worked out nicely as a Centerpin rod.  After Kyle and I caught a few fish from a particular hole, he wanted to demonstrate how to get the drift to move farther to the other shoreline.  Sure enough, he hooked the largest fish of the day.

Most of the fish in these streams are planted lake run steelhead.  I did manage to catch a natural stream rainbow, which is fairly rare for that area.

Needless to say I am hooked.  Just what I need, another expensive obsession!  I was skeptical about the centerpin method and didn’t buy into the fact that they are a better presentation than a good spinning rod.  After seeing and doing it, I am convinced there isn’t any doubt that you will catch more fish with a centerpin presentation fishing floats.  The drift is nearly perfect.  You can run a perfect float for as long as you can see the bobber.  Oh yeah, don’t take your eye off the bobber.  I looked down at the reel for just one second, my cousing was yelling that my float was down!  Fish on!

Can’t wait to work with Jim on a custom centerpin series of rods for his customers.  We did a lot of talking, and it seems that there are some niche requirements that the retail offerings don’t address, so we have work to do.  I would highly recommend Jim as a river guide and will be adding him to my “friends” list on the forum.  To contact Jim and book a trip, go to www.fishwithjimoutfitters.com.

Lots of things happening recently as well as in the near future.  I just got settled down from a weekend of very cool activities.  First was the Reese Out-Of-Doors Club’s first annual fund raiser dinner.  I was able to pull together a pretty nice grab bag/box/boxes of things from board members and buddys donations.  These items were raffled, bucket prizes, auctioned and made money for the club in a number of ways.  Matt Leffler and the other leaders hit a serious home run on this event.  My daughter and I arrived a full half hour early and had to park in the overflow area!  For those of you that don’t know, the Reese Out-Of-Doors Club is the States largest youth outdoors organization.  Getting kids involved in the outdoors is what this Club is all about.

This weekend was also the Birch Run Boating and Fishing Show put on by the Flint Steelheaders.  I was helping Chip in the Wolverine Tackle (Silver Streak) booth on Saturday.  At times the crowds were big, but mostly just a steady, easy to manage stream.  Mother nature had something to do with that.  I left home at 5:00 Saturday morning to meet CJ at his place in Ypsilanti before he left for Cabelas.  I had to drop off a few blanks, and pick up some stuff he painted up for me.  CJ was doing seminars and manning a booth at Cabelas for thier Outfitter Weekend deal.  The drive down there wasn’t too bad, mostly just rain and slushy surface.  My return trip home was a little more interesting, cars off the road everywhere.

Now I have to basically cram to get things done for the Grand Rapids Show that begins Thursday the 17th.  That gives me two weeks to get appx. 8 rods done.  That doesn’t sound like a lot of work, but when you factor in my day job, kids events, school functions, lazyness, and other unforseen things, it will be a miracle of it all gets done.  Still have to get out my tired old booth setup and make sure it is current and usable.  The Grand Rapids Ultimate Sportfishing show is in my opinion the Mecca for us lake fishermen.  If you can’t find it there, chances are you either missed it, or they don’t make it.

After the Grand Rapids Show, it is just a matter of getting as many rods built for people with orders in, before my neck surgery on April 13th.  That may have me laid up for up to 6 weeks.  Oh, I forgot, heading to Florida for some pre-op R&R the first week of April, and maybe a fishing trip for Reds.

So, lots going on in the near future.  I should be back in full production by the first part of May after surgery.  I am hoping to be able to do light work around the shop after three or four weeks, depending on progress.  If your not busy, stop in and see me at the Grand Rapids Ultimate Sportfishing Show March 17-20th.  I’ll have my stuff in the Silver Streak booth.  I will also have my rods in a couple of other booths promoting the new “Blood Run” series of Copper and Wire rods.

With the new discussion board up and running and most of the bugs worked out, I decided that it was time to get serious about making this board the place to go for Great Lakes Fishing discussion.  I have started a contest to award a custom rod to the membrer that recruits the most new members.  Simply register to become a member and your all set.  Get as many of your friends and fishing buddies to register as you can.  Have them post in the Introduce Yourself thread and mention your name as their recruiter.  The crazy part of this whole contest is that each new member is also eligible for this contest once they sign up, so be quick with your recruiting efforts or one of your recruits will steal them out from under you themself.  This could get real interesting and fun, almost like a good game of cut throat LOL!  I will be running this contest until the end of the month.  I will post up to date results as often as I sign on in the Contest thread.