Steve Petri building me a custom spin rod for big plugs

Steve Petri is one of the best custom rod builders in the Northeast. I have known Steve for many years and in fact Tim Smith produced a great instructional rod building video with him a number of years ago. I have a 9 foot Lamiglas rod that I love and wanted another similar rod as a back up and actually as another great toy. I talked to Steve about it and he suggested a blank made by "Cousins" rod building in Hunting Beach California. I checked out two blanks and found that the Medium (M) was almost a perfect match to my Lamiglas. The Light (L) blank was too soft in the tip. I brought Steve my Lamiglas rod for comparison for the build as I wanted the exact butt length and butt construction. I fish from a boat and therefore a long butt is not well suited for this situation as it would be when fishing from the surf. 9 foot is long on a boat and the shorter butt makes it much easier to maneuver around the console and also gives me more forward section for greater casting distance. Cousins rod company worked with Steve to produce rods more suited for the East Coast as compared to the West Coast where ultra fast action blanks are favored. These blanks have heavy butt sections and very tapered and limber tip sections for the ultra fast action. East Coast anglers myself included prefer a more gradual taper and stiffer tip section for a moderate to fast rated action. Cousins is owned by the previous owner of Seeker rods and so there is a lot of experience at the helm of the company. 

Below are a few shots of Steve construction the butt section of the rod applying an under-wrap of cork tape and then covering it with shrink tubing, and securing the reel seat into position. The rod should be ready in a few days and I can't wait to get my hands on it. I will post a final report when the rod is complete and I have had a chance to put it through the paces.

​Captain Al Lorenzetti