From Trash to Treasure Fishing Rods

I find all kinds of things worth repairing in the waste bin, fishing rods and reels among a host of electronics and tools.

Fishing rods are not fishing poles; fishing rods have reels and line guides, a fishing pole is just a pole with fishing line tied to the end of the pole.

Whether you whip the whipping, wind the windings, or wrap the wrapping, it is all the same thing.

These are two fishing rods I salvaged from the waste bin; one with a like new reel however missing the rod tip, and the other fishing rod has no reel but the rod tip is broken in two places.

Normally if the tip was broken closer to the tip top guide, I would just remove the broken tip from the tip top guide and glue the tip top guide back on the tip at the break. If the other break was near a guide I would have spliced the break in the rod. But since the tip end of the rod had multiple breaks I decided to replace the whole tip blank. I have spliced fishing rods in the past so I will explain splicing rods.

Put together every thing you need before you start.

Line Guides, Homyl 7pcs Replacement Fishing Rod Guides Single Leg, I got these from Amazon.

Spool of black whipping, you can use thread however ordinary cotton thread will not do. If you use thread use Heavy Duty Silk or Nylon thread. Cotton thread is not very strong and fluffy to the point you can’t get a smooth finish on your epoxy coating.

Fine Files, to remove the round toe on the guides feet.

Fine sand paper.

Utility Knife, for cutting the whipping.

Epoxy Resin, I used 5 minute epoxy to coat the whipping.

Small Paint Brush, to spread the epoxy on the whipping.

Replacement rod tip blanks, I get these from rods in the waste bin also.

This is a fiberglass fly fishing rod that just snapped in two next to the whipping of one of the guides while I was fishing on a cold day. Since fly rods have double leg guides and the break was next to the guide, I spliced the rod and moved the guide above the repair to hide the splice. You can’t always do this so I will explain a guide less splint.

Splicing hollow rods is relatively easy, I use old solid fiberglass rods as splinting material.

Dress the ends of the break in the rod.

Push a solid fiberglass rod inside the hollow rod until it is tight.

Cut the end of the solid fiberglass shaft 2 inches from the dressed end of the break.

Take the fiberglass rod out of the hollow rod and cut it again 4 inches from the first cut.

Now you have a 4 inch splint for splicing.

Put the 4 inch splint in the end of the hollow rod with two inches sticking out and glue it in place.

When the glue is set, place the the other dressed end of the break over the splint and glue it in place.

You might need to sand the splint to get the splint to fit the second half of the rod.

This is also how to make a Spigot Ferrule, you don't glue on the other half or whip over the joint.

All the steps of whipping any part of a rod are the same, just where you start the whipping, and stop the whipping changes.

Once the glue is set you can start whipping the splice.

Cut off a 6 inch piece of the whipping and put it to aside.

1 inch from the spliced joint in the rod, lay a 1/4 inch of the end of the whipping along the rod pointing towards the splice.

Holding the 1/4 inch piece of whipping in place, wrap a couple turns of whipping around the rod and the end of the whipping tightly.

With a couple turns holding the end of the whipping in place wrap the whipping around the rod until you are 3/4 of an inch pass the spliced joint.

Pick up the 6 inch piece of the whipping you put to aside and fold it into a loop and lay it over the whipping on the rod.

Finish wrapping the last 1/4 inch of whipping over top of the loop.

Cut the whipping about an inch from the rod and pass the end of the whipping through the loop.

Pull on the two ends of the loop hard and fast pulling the end of the whipping under the wrapped whipping.

Cut off the excess whipping and coat with epoxy.

I have repaired a break by making a but over tip ferrule, most newer fishing rods have tip over but or but over tip ferrules, the whipping on the female ferrule is to keep the rod from splitting under stress. Whether you need to whip the ferrule for cosmetic reasons or for structural integrity this is how to whip a ferrule.

Cut off a 6 inch piece of the whipping and put it to aside.

Start at the dressed end of the rod. Lay a 1/4 inch of the end of the whipping along the shaft of the rod pointing away from the dressed end of the rod.

Holding the 1/4 inch piece of whipping in place, wrap a couple turns around the rod and the end of the whipping tightly.

With a couple turns holding the end of the whipping in place wrap the whipping around the rod until you are 3/4 of an inch from the dressed end of the rod.

Pick up the 6 inch piece of the whipping you put to aside and fold it into a loop and lay it over the whipping.

Finish wrapping the last 1/4 inch of whipping over top of the loop.

Cut the whipping about an inch from the shaft and put the end of the whipping through the loop.

Pull on the two ends of the loop hard and fast pulling the end of the whipping under the wrapped whipping.

Cut off the excess whipping and coat with epoxy.

On the one fishing rod I am salvaging all the original guides, this will save me from whipping the but guide, and all the guides will look the same. On the other fishing rod that was missing the tip I am removing the but guide.

Since I will not be stripping the reel seat and handle grips I will just have to live with the spine wherever it is in the rod but.

To salvage the tip top guide heat the metal ferrule of the guide and pull the tip top guide off the tip. Be sure not to over heat the guide or you can melt the plastic holding the ceramic or aluminum oxide eye.

To salvage the other guides, cut the whipping above the foot of the guide. It is good practice cutting the whipping above the foot of the guide as a habit. This prevents cutting the blank of the rod and you never know when you might need a piece of rod blank.

I have one tip blank I salvaged the line guides for another project and another rod tip with double leg guides that fit the rod but of the two rods I am repairing.

Just like salvaging the line guides heat the metal ferrule of the tip top guide and pull the tip top guide off the shaft. Be sure not to burn or over heat the rod tip.

To strip the other guides off the rod tip, cut the whipping above the foot of the guide.

Cutting the whipping above the foot of the guide helps prevent cutting the rod blank.

Scrape any globs of epoxy off the rod blank and sand with fine sandpaper and paint if necessary. Now I have two rod tip blanks to whip.

With salvaged guides the toe of the foot of the guide is usually ground to a nice slope to the foot.

New guides fresh out of the package the toe on the feet are round. If you try to whip the guide without filing a slope in the toe of the foot, the whipping can stack up, cross over, or bunch up before going up the foot to the heel. This can be rather unsightly. (Red Arrow)

If you file the toe of the guides foot to a nice slope, the whipping rides up the slope to the foot without bunching up. (Green Arrow)

Before attaching the tip top guide to the tip blank find the spine of the tip blank.

Place the tip of the tip blank on the toe of your boot and press strait down lightly on the ferrule end of the tip blank.

The tip blank should bend in the direction of the spine, (The outside of the bend).

Bate casting rods and spin casting rods have the guides on the spine.

Spinning rods and fly rods have the guides on the opposite side of the rod blank as the spine, (Inside the bend).

Mark the spine with tape or a marker.

Make sure the ferrule of the tip top guide fits the tip of the tip blank snugly.

If the tip top guides ferrule is loose select a tip top with a smaller ferrule, or cut the tip back to where the tip shaft is thicker and tighter to the ferrule.

Since these are spinning rods I want the tip top guide on the opposite side of the tip blank as the spine, (Inside the bend).

Mix up some epoxy resin glue and attach the tip top guide.

Whipping behind the tip top guide is not necessary other than cosmetic reasons.

Affix a guide to the tip blank of the rod with tape making sure it aligns with the tip top guide. Do not use glue or you won’t be able to make small adjustments to the alignment before applying epoxy.

Cut off a 6 inch piece of the whipping and put it to aside.

On the opposite side of the tip blank as the line guide, about 1/4 to 1/2 inch from the toe of the line guides foot, lay a 1/4 inch of the end of the whipping along the tip blank.

Holding the 1/4 inch piece of whipping in place, wrap a couple turns around the tip blank and the end of the whipping tightly.

With a couple turns holding the end of the whipping in place wrap the whipping around the tip blank and up the foot of the guide until you are 1/4 of an inch from the heel of the guides foot.

Pick up the 6 inch piece of the whipping you put aside, fold it into a loop and lay it over the whipping on the opposite side of the tip blank as the line guide.

YOU DO NOT WANT THE END OF THE WHIPPING NEAR THE FOOT. There is a small gap between the whipping and the tip blank at the side of the foot. If the end of the whipping is in that gap, it's hold may be loose and the whipping may not hold long enough to epoxy the whipping.

Finish whipping to the heel of the line guides foot over top of the loop.

Cut the whipping about an inch from the tip blank and put the end of the whipping through the loop.

Pull on the two ends of the loop hard and fast pulling the end of the whipping under the wrapped whipping.

Cut off the excess whipping.

On a double leg line guide repeat the process on the second leg.

Once you have all the line guides attached to the rod blanks put the rod but and tip together.

Look down the rod from the reel seat to the tip top.

If the line guides are aligned you should be able to see through all the eyelets.

Now is the time to make any adjustments to the line guides as necessary and coat the whipping with epoxy.

Wait at least 24 hours before you use the rods and go fishing.

And there you have it two fishing rods taken from the trash and turned into treasure.