Why you should blow some bucks on a custom rod from Erik Kunz....

Hey guys,

Erik only makes a few rods each winter these days, being a busy young dad. I think he's making at least one for a NCKA-er now, but has a slot or two left this winter. You might think about jumping on that opportunity while you can.

I hit him up for a rod last winter.



yeah, it's exactly what I wanted, he made it perfectly and added touches that combined to make a super rod that gives me the comfort I need to have confidence in my fishing.

It's primarily a rockfishing kayak rod, but has some versatility.

I really only started fishing in earnest in 2004, but by fall of 2006 I knew what I wanted in a kayak fishing rod and it really wasn't available off the shelf. I had bought 4 or 5 cheap rods and shortened butts etc to figure out what worked for me.

I have always loved custom one-of-a-kind type of things. In today's cookie cutter globalized world, it's a special thing to have something a little different.

I have a great custom paddle from patrick onno and when the waves are big I surf a semi-gun hand made by Jeff Clark, the discoverer of mavericks. My reels have a lot of carbon fiber drag washers courtesy of advice from alan tani and other custom parts.

Somehow I had convinced myself that if I had the hubris to post a review before the season was over, I'd lose the rod somehow. But I made it through a whole saltwater season with this rod, starting with a bunch of fishing early season in santa cruz, then north county and into san mateo county (da bean) and even boated my first salmon ever (albeit a shaker). Didn't catch any really big fish, but did catch a lot and go fishing more than ever before. I kind of blame the size thing on using a sonar unit, which finds schools of small fish pretty well, but that's another story.

I have found that if I get a piece of equipment through the first year, I often can go a decade with it. I hope that is true with this rod!

Anyway, I know some guys are saying 'how much?' Well I went no-holds barred on the guides, titanium framed silicon carbide guides, super light, non-corroding. I think that jacked the price quite a bit, but I didn't care. No regrets there. So I paid around $300. Which is what you'd pay for a top of the line off the shelf rod anyways.

For all my other rods I balked at anything north of $40, so it was a stretch but your fishing experience is dictated in many ways by the rod. Sure reels are important, and my reel is  a customized thing too, but in a cheap way cause salt water eats reels more than rods.

I knew Erik was a guy with integrity and a super fisherman, but also generally caught fish twice as big as I do and if you haven't noticed, he's not a flyweight,  . So I asked for a rod a bit lighter than he would build for himself and was pretty particular about a few things, but otherwise left the details to him. That worked well.

So short story is I'm just as happy with my custom fishing rod after a season as I was waiting for the season to start, maybe more because a few details on the rod combined to make it work better than expected when trolling, bottom bouncing or trooching, namely the long foregrip and spiral guides which made it very stable and comfortable no matter where I placed it on the boat.

The one catch is that you really have to have some idea of what you like in a rod, cause everybody likes something a little different. It's worth taking a rod close to what you want and self customizing with a hacksaw to test dimensions in the field,  Kind of a prototype. my prototype was a $40 Shakespeare Catera 8'6" 10-30 lb graphite rod with cheapie guides but a sensitive 2 piece graphite blank. action was a little fast on that thing for spectra jigging which erik fixed in the real version.

I wanted a stowable 2-piece rod a little longer than 8 feet but with a rear grip like a 7' rod for sitting in a kayak. I wanted super high quality non-corroding guides. I wanted a sensitive graphite rod. I wanted it to float if I dropped it overboard. I wanted it to look good in a functional stealth kind of way.

So that might not be the rod for you, it's clear that although I got a rod made because I am a kayaker, other folks might benefit from a different configuration cause they fish from shorter kayaks, have longer arms, are bigger guys, put the butt under their arms or whatever.

But if you know what you want and are tired of off-the-shelf cookie cutter compromises, hit EK up for a custom rod, I think you will be very happy with the experience.

Best,
John

John, what a great testimonial! 

Hmmmm, I might need a custom perch rod for the winter.....



Allen

Wow John... Thanks for the great review!  It is very pleasing to create rods that are really appreciated by the owner. 

John epitomizes the kind of customer that I like to work with because he knows what he wants and what he doesn't want.  He has preferences about nearly every aspect of the project and was engaged throughout the process in dialogue about the minute details of the project. 

I'm glad the rod met your needs and has treated you well thus far.

I do have probably one or two more slots for custom rods this winter, and then that'll be it until next November.  We're expecting baby #2 to come along toward the end of May... so come April I need to be wrapping up my projects. 

Gaff builds will continue because they are far less time intensive.

Erik

Congrats on #2 EK! Boy or girl?

Congrats on #2 EK! Boy or girl?

Thanks!  Not sure... won't be able to tell for another month or so.  Healthy is all that matters to us anyway. ~EK

Ditto to what J said.  I absolutely love my Kunz, and it has been SUPER lucky...first yak dono and first yak but!  I was talking to PAL after the Islander trip and he said he was blown away by the Kunz rods that were on board.

Can't beat a custom stick.  I started making my own for that reason.  Plus that first fish on one you built is just too cool.  I'm not at the level that I could sell them, but they are still all one of a kind, and my custom reflective colors are what helped the dive master find my home-built Graphite USA in 105 feet of water on the Islander trip.

That's beautiful work, and it's great to know there is such skill handing out here...  amazing.

So John, what's the lightest weight you can effectively cast with that rod?  Looks like it'd make a decent surf/striper rod too.

It is rated down to 3/4 of an oz. Erik remarked that it would handle some light trolling and could do some moonlighting plugging as well when he made it. 

 

What do you use for writing on & signing the rods when you are done?  Use a power wrapper or by hand?

Got me itching to wrap so went by my "source".  Got a great deal on a 1 piece 7' Shikari blank rated 10-17# test.  Stopping by on the way home to put together the components.  Wife won't like the time I spend in the garage, but oh well.  Could be hanging oout in worse places!

Still consider myself a novice, but been tinkering with it for a decade.  Satisfying spinoff hobby!

Pa... I have an ALPS printer and I make waterslide decals for my inscriptions.  My handwriting looks like a third grader, especially when I try to write on a rod blank... so I stick with the decals. 

I have a power wrapper... pretty much need one to be efficient enough to build as a business.

By the way... I've now filled up my winter build schedule so I won't be taking further quotes at this time.  I had a couple more trickle in this week. 

I will, however, continue offering gaffs... and stay tuned for some other exiting new additions to my product offerings around the January time frame.

EK