This is a short but sturdy Japanese style jigging rod that the customer will try on some trophy size buri (Japanese Yellowtail). This rod is also good for pitching swimbaits for seabass from a boat in the harbors here in Japan. At low tide, we often fish under the big container ship berths, and a long rod will just not cut it.

I am really please the way the '鎖飾り’(Chain Wrap) came out. Five coats of heavy two part coating give it 'depth'.

I put X-rubber on the two lower grips, and tried to shrink it down around the edge of the grip, which is something that I need to get better at. The Japanese consumer is very picky about the edge of the X-rubber being perfectly straight, and the edges of the coating straight, as well as anything coated (even chain!) be level.
I try to follow Doc Ski's "Think progress, not perfection". I try to make each rod a little better than the last, which I often fail to do.

This foregrip is a new concept I have been playing with. Some builders wrap cord over EVA then shrink X-rubber, or shrink tube down over the cord to give better 'grip' to the handle.

I took EVA, but instead of wrapping cord , I heated up a metal rod, and melted an 'X' shaped pattern into the eva. I then took some X-rubber with out the 'X' pattern, and placed over the handle, and shrank it down.
Although hard to see in my pics, there is a definite textured feel to the grip. The shrink material is textured on the surface, and is much less slip resistant than X-rubber.

About five years ago, I started extending the last guide endcap all the way to the tip (in Red HT here), which has become a 'little' signature of my custom spinning rods. No real reason, other than I had never seen it done here in Japan, and I though it would make my rods noticeable from a distance. Now several other rod builders do the same thing. What a surprise.

Just wanted to share some new rod materials and a rod with a different 'look'.




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:P