Well, it is that time of year again. The Holidays are upon us. I know there can be mixed feelings with the stresses of shopping or seeing family but deep down, we all know it is a wonderful and joyous time.
For us at Mud Hole we always try to alleviate some of your Holiday shopping stress with our annual gift guide. This year is no different, and we have some excellent suggestions when shopping for that angler who has everything. Notice I said angler and not just rod builder. This is a great time to give the gift of rod building and here are some excellent ideas to get you through this Holiday season.
Let’s Start with an easy layup.
All-In-One-Kit
We spend countless hours here at Mud Hole designing kits to ensure rod building is a fun and rewarding experience no matter your age or level of experience.
To succeed in rod building, having the right equipment is essential, and this all-in-one kit is expertly curated by rod-building professionals. It includes everything a new rod builder needs, from the CRB Core Hand Wrapper to glue, rod finish, reamers, rod dryers, and essential accessories—guaranteeing a smooth start for any first-time rod builder.
You might think there is only one All-In-One-Kit, but no, we have several options whether you fish fresh, salt, fly or ever ice!
Anchoring the AIO kits is the Core Hand wrapper. A great gift alone and used by all ages whether they are a professional or hobbyist. Plus, traveling anglers rejoice, as it allows them to make repairs on the road and the portability of the Core wrapper allows it to be broken down quickly and has a small footprint for the mobile rod building studio.
Kits and More Kits
Speaking of kits, they also make excellent gifts. When buying for a rod builder, you can never go wrong with a rod kit. From every technique to price point, Mud Hole has a rod kit that any rod builder would be thrilled to have.
I might be a little biased, but the Signature Kits are a great option for anglers. Each part that goes into the Signature kit has been picked for its performance and tested time and again.
From Terry’s Flippin Stick to Jake’s Drain Rod, these kits were modeled after their personal favorite rod builds.
Bonus points if you add in a personalized text decal! Just choose your size, color and font, input the text and we will print a custom high quality rod decal to make that gift even more special.
Custom Apparel and Accessories
Nothing shows a business owner your care about them more than supporting their brand. Since Mud Hole is full of cool custom rod building components, it is only fitting we can do custom apparel and accessories.
We have shirts, hoodies and even koozies that can be designed and printed with a business name, contact info and even their business slogan. Why not buy them some koozies as promotional items or order a shirt featuring their business. Get one for their gift and keep one for yourself to help represent their brand. Spread the word and help grow their business, it will be a gift that keeps on giving!
Rod Building Classes
Speaking of a gift that is more than just a tangible item, Mud Hole rod building classes are a huge hit for the Holidays. Most people just buy one as a gift or purchase one for themselves but why not make it a bonding experience.
More and more we see are seeing groups joining in n the classes. It can be a wonderful team building exercise that can extend beyond the rod building classes room. Forget ropes courses and trust falls, Book a rod building class for an outing that you can take fishing once you are done!
A growing demographic is family members and even spouses joining the rod building classes. We recently had a class with seven separate parent/child duos in the class. From a father daughter to a mother and son it brings families closer together. Do not let the family fun stop once the class is done, spend some quality time fishing your new custom rod.
Can rod building be the new date night or romantic get-a-way? It sure appears to have caught on with spouses and significant others! In-person classes are held all over the US and in some great cities like, Houston, Charlotte, Phoenix and many more. Book a long weekend, join the rod building class and experience a new city while building a custom fishing rod alongside your significant other. Remember, those that build custom rods together, stay together!
Custom Painted Rod Blanks
Let’s end this with something really special. Yes, having a custom rod built to their exact specifications is an incredible gift, but what if we took it a step farther? You can have the blank and even the reel seat painted whatever your imagination can come up with!
I know what you are thinking. How are you going to paint the blank? We have just the guy. Our great friend Dan Shafar and his wife Konnie run Backbone Custom Rod Company. They are a family who loves to fish and love working with the Rod Building Community. Don started rod building in 2013. He is an active member of the Custom Rod Builders Guild and a contributing author for their Rod Crafters Journal. In 2023 Don was honored to be inducted into the Custom Rod Builders Guild "Legacy Legends Hall of Fame".
So, we have the components, Don can paint them but how does it all work? Well, we have that figured out too. Mud Hole and Don work together to make sure this unique service runs as seamless as possible.
You buy the blank and reel seat from Mud Hole and simply put “Leave for Don Shafar” in the order comments. Each week his wife Konnie comes to Mud Hole and collects all the rod blanks and reel seats for our customers. From there Don and Konnie will contact you to setup the custom painting and Backbone Custom Rod Company will issue you an invoice to be paid directly to them. Once the parts are painted, Konnie will return them to Mud Hole where we will ship them out to you using the shipping from your initial order with us.
It is by far the best custom painting service in the industry. No additional shipping to your Mud Hole order and you get a one-of-kind painted rod blank sure to make a memorable gift!
