The flagship of the ESS (Egg Specific Steelhead) Series rod.  Built on a 10′ 2 PC moderate action blank, this rod is the true cross between the traditional noodle without the super slow action to tire you out.  There is no substitute between power and sensitivity when fishing eggs with this rod.  Sensitive enough to detect a strike when bottom bouncing the handle design lends itself enough power in the butt section to turn a fish around in a hurry.

Handle is natural Red block cork with Burnt Mix end caps, Forecast Spinning Seat and Fuji BYAG Alconite guides.  Thread is Gudebrod dark red with copper and red trim bands, decal by Decal Connection.

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These two Steelhead Spinning Rods will belong to a Father and Daughter pair looking to do some steelheading around Pennsylvania and elsewhere.  Custom built on Batson Enterprises blanks, the DSS1141-2 is a 9’6” 2 pc Moderate Action spinning rod perfectly suited for this area.  The handles are made from Burnt Burl Block and some composite and dark mix,  fighting butt has a reinforced cap, reel seats are size 17 Graphite Spin and Mudhole Green and Red GNRG’s.  The green rod is wrapped with metallic and black NCP, while the black and red is wrapped with Black NCP and Red Metallic.  Overall a great pair of rods for a variety of fishing styles for steelhead.  These make excellent egg sack and float rods as well.

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This rod is rather simple, and can hardly be considered a “true” custom job, however, I feel as if it is important to be able to fit all needs in a rod for someone, and any rod builder that is in it for customer satisfaction will do their fair share of simple assembly rods, rods that perform, however do not break the bank or give a misgiving feeling about getting it dirty.  This rod features a Rainshadow RX7 Salmon Steelhead spin rod blank, with a 12 inch natural rear cork handle, EVA butt cap, size 17 Spin Seat, and 3.5 inch natural cork foregrip.  Thread is Pro-Wrap Steel Forged with silver trim, guides are ALPS BYAG spin guides.  I crafted this rod after a special friend who is a delegate of the Pennsylvania Fish Commission, and with my assistance was able to catch his first steelhead in Erie.  His equipment was out-dated and not suited for the rigors of steelhead fishing, so I was employed to help him out with a simple piece of equipment simply meant to get the job done.  My favorite kind of rod.

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This rod might look very different from any spinning rod you have encountered, and there are many reasons for it’s particular design.  Fishing in Pennsylvania is a little unique in steelhead alley, you are usually fishing around a large amount of people, and the relatively small nature of some tributaries make it very burdensome to cast long distances for a long drift.  You will see more experienced anglers in a crowd of people underhand flipping egg sacks and single salmon eggs to steelhead, while maintaining a short drift in respect to proximity of other anglers.  This rod was developed around those parameters.  The short fighting butt and longer fore grip are reminiscent of the Michigan style handle design.

This particular rod utilized dalmatian rubberized cork on the rear grip, met by a Big Leaf Maple burl butt cap, inletted into the rear grip.  Reel seat hardware is the Fuji Cobra size 17 spinning seat, with matching Big Leaf maple burl insert.  Thread is Pro Wrap Banana Split NCP with Burgundy NCP to give a thread a flare, but retro look.  The guide wraps utilize an off-angle inlay.  Guides are Fuji YSG.

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