hookset
03-26-2010, 11:50 AM
Stubby rods simply better fishing tools
Created: 03/25/2010 09:20:01 PM PDT
Avid saltwater anglers know the stubby fish-fighting rods as Whopper Stoppers. They are short fishing tools, only 46 inches long, that make short work of albacore, yellowtail and tuna.
Novice anglers might snicker when they see someone with one of the stubby rods, but veterans know that they are simply better fishing tools.
"It's just physics," said Ed Robison, who makes the short rods. He has been building custom rods for 40 years and owns a small custom rod-making shop in Riverside he calls Whopper Stoppers. With a long rod, the fish is pulling on the long arm of the lever, giving him more leverage against the angler.
With a short rod, the fulcrum is placed closer to the angler's hands and the leverage advantage moves toward the fisher.
Robison would like to tell you he came up with the design because he wanted a better fish-fighting tool, but he's too honest for that. It was all an accident. A customer wanted Ed to build him a fishing net that matched his set of custom-wrapped rods, so Ed cut off the tip from a heavy saltwater rod blank to use for the net handle.
The tip of that blank sat around Ed's shop for a while before he just decided to make it up into a short rod as a novelty. Then, he went fishing with it.
"Everybody wanted to use it. That first rod wasn't perfect, but that's where the idea came from," Robison said. It was one of those hand-slapping-to-forehead moments: of course! Robison might not have
made that first short rod on purpose, but he immediately recognized its advantages. He went to his friends at Cal Star, a company specializing in fishing rod blanks, and asked them to make him a saltwater taper designed around that short 46-inch length.
Today, Cal Star makes two 46-inch blanks just for Robison. One is a lighter-tipped design for 15- to 30-pound class lines, and the second is a beefier rod for bigger tuna designed for 20- to 50-pound test lines.
The rods have a cult-like following in the saltwater community, and there have been a number of other makers who have tried to copy Robison's design. That flattery is proof of their value.
Robison today makes around 350 to 400 custom rods a year and at least half of those are the 46-inch stand-up fish-fighting rods for saltwater use. While most anglers think Whoppers Stoppers is the brand name for the 46-inch sticks, the name actually is on all Robison rods. He will make just about any kind of a freshwater or saltwater rod designed around an angler's needs and wants using a wide variety of blanks and components, adding specialty diamond wraps if the angler desires.
The diamond wraps are a dying art form with fewer and fewer rod wrappers doing the work, and today many don't even know the process. Robison said the simple reality is that many anglers won't pay for the extra effort it takes to make their rods both a piece of art and distinctive.
Robison still does diamond wraps, but they add to both the cost and value of the rod.
Robison got his start as a kid when he found out the owner of a local liquor store/market where he grew up in the Casa Blanca neighborhood of Riverside made fishing rods in his garage.
"I rode over to his house on my bicycle and he showed me how to wrap rods. Man I was proud of that rod, and I gave that first rod to my uncle," Robison said. "Now that particular rod is in the bottom of the Salton Sea, snatched out of a boat by a corvina.
"Back then, people didn't want to tell you stuff, like everything was a secret. So most of the basics I taught myself because people were reluctant to share."
Robison, 56, did the rod-wrapping and repair business as a sideline for a lot of years, wrapping rods and weaving the thread into diamond wraps in the evenings. But he was laid off last year after working as a safety manager for 30 years at the same company, and while things have been leaner, he's not complaining.
Today, the part-time custom rod business has blossomed into a full-time venture, and Robison loves it. He attends most of the sportsmen shows demonstrating and selling his rods and taking orders, scheduling in fishing trips in between.
"My prices are pretty competitive with the off-the-rack stuff, but you don't get the gravy on those other rods," said Robison. A basic 46-inch "trademark" Whopper Stoppers, without a lot of frills is about $160, and his custom rods can go up a lot more, depending on the blank, components, all the extra features and artistic thread work an angler wants, with most anglers paying from $200 to $300 for their freshwater or saltwater rods from Robison, including all the gravy.
http://www.dailybulletin.com/ci_14761110
Created: 03/25/2010 09:20:01 PM PDT
Avid saltwater anglers know the stubby fish-fighting rods as Whopper Stoppers. They are short fishing tools, only 46 inches long, that make short work of albacore, yellowtail and tuna.
Novice anglers might snicker when they see someone with one of the stubby rods, but veterans know that they are simply better fishing tools.
"It's just physics," said Ed Robison, who makes the short rods. He has been building custom rods for 40 years and owns a small custom rod-making shop in Riverside he calls Whopper Stoppers. With a long rod, the fish is pulling on the long arm of the lever, giving him more leverage against the angler.
With a short rod, the fulcrum is placed closer to the angler's hands and the leverage advantage moves toward the fisher.
Robison would like to tell you he came up with the design because he wanted a better fish-fighting tool, but he's too honest for that. It was all an accident. A customer wanted Ed to build him a fishing net that matched his set of custom-wrapped rods, so Ed cut off the tip from a heavy saltwater rod blank to use for the net handle.
The tip of that blank sat around Ed's shop for a while before he just decided to make it up into a short rod as a novelty. Then, he went fishing with it.
"Everybody wanted to use it. That first rod wasn't perfect, but that's where the idea came from," Robison said. It was one of those hand-slapping-to-forehead moments: of course! Robison might not have
made that first short rod on purpose, but he immediately recognized its advantages. He went to his friends at Cal Star, a company specializing in fishing rod blanks, and asked them to make him a saltwater taper designed around that short 46-inch length.
Today, Cal Star makes two 46-inch blanks just for Robison. One is a lighter-tipped design for 15- to 30-pound class lines, and the second is a beefier rod for bigger tuna designed for 20- to 50-pound test lines.
The rods have a cult-like following in the saltwater community, and there have been a number of other makers who have tried to copy Robison's design. That flattery is proof of their value.
Robison today makes around 350 to 400 custom rods a year and at least half of those are the 46-inch stand-up fish-fighting rods for saltwater use. While most anglers think Whoppers Stoppers is the brand name for the 46-inch sticks, the name actually is on all Robison rods. He will make just about any kind of a freshwater or saltwater rod designed around an angler's needs and wants using a wide variety of blanks and components, adding specialty diamond wraps if the angler desires.
The diamond wraps are a dying art form with fewer and fewer rod wrappers doing the work, and today many don't even know the process. Robison said the simple reality is that many anglers won't pay for the extra effort it takes to make their rods both a piece of art and distinctive.
Robison still does diamond wraps, but they add to both the cost and value of the rod.
Robison got his start as a kid when he found out the owner of a local liquor store/market where he grew up in the Casa Blanca neighborhood of Riverside made fishing rods in his garage.
"I rode over to his house on my bicycle and he showed me how to wrap rods. Man I was proud of that rod, and I gave that first rod to my uncle," Robison said. "Now that particular rod is in the bottom of the Salton Sea, snatched out of a boat by a corvina.
"Back then, people didn't want to tell you stuff, like everything was a secret. So most of the basics I taught myself because people were reluctant to share."
Robison, 56, did the rod-wrapping and repair business as a sideline for a lot of years, wrapping rods and weaving the thread into diamond wraps in the evenings. But he was laid off last year after working as a safety manager for 30 years at the same company, and while things have been leaner, he's not complaining.
Today, the part-time custom rod business has blossomed into a full-time venture, and Robison loves it. He attends most of the sportsmen shows demonstrating and selling his rods and taking orders, scheduling in fishing trips in between.
"My prices are pretty competitive with the off-the-rack stuff, but you don't get the gravy on those other rods," said Robison. A basic 46-inch "trademark" Whopper Stoppers, without a lot of frills is about $160, and his custom rods can go up a lot more, depending on the blank, components, all the extra features and artistic thread work an angler wants, with most anglers paying from $200 to $300 for their freshwater or saltwater rods from Robison, including all the gravy.
http://www.dailybulletin.com/ci_14761110