A Custom Facelift For Rods

Over the years your fishing gear, especially your rods, become a major part of your bank-side life, not just tools for a set purpose, but part of your fishing journey, like a favourite pair of old shoes or that old, holey jersey that blanket you in a warm sense of comfort and wellbeing as you pull them on, memories of a shared past. Shimano BeastMasters before their 'facelift'. On the bank, your rods are your connection to all your captures, the pulse of the fish through the carbon, breathing life down the taper into your hands, those special captures, losses and close scrapes, all woven into your own personal angling archives, but also form part of the expectation and excitement future trips hold, down to the physical action during the session as you place your baits. It’s this shared past and quiet confidence, which makes the choice of buying a new set of rods a very daunting affair, like saying goodbye to a family pet, you know it’s in the best interests of everyone, but it’s never easy. One solution though to revive a set of flagging or worse for wear looking rods is to refurbish them, and it was with this in mind that I wanted to breathe a little life into my old favourite Shimano BeastMasters that had seen better days and needed some TLC. The Shimano BeastMasters after the 'facelift'. So I approached fellow specimen angler and now also custom rod builder Shantan Naidoo, whom I’d known over the years from fishing the same waters and who shared a passion for bait-making, and enquired as to how he could update and bring these old warhorses back into service. Shantan got into the custom rod business about four years ago when he converted an old 7ft bass rod of sentimental value into a dedicated carp rod for fishing and stalking big carp in the margins. But took his time to learn the trade and practiced on broken rods, and only after a year when he fitted new guides and a reel seat did he achieve what he wanted, a custom-built 6ft margin rod. “At that time it was just a hobby,” he recalls. “I had also built myself a custom spod rod as there weren’t many options available in S.A. The hobby however has become something far more substantial. I’ve done rod repairs and guide replacements for friends over the past few years and can now look to offer my rod services to the specimen carp market”. He has broadened his scope, from simple rod refurbishing, replacing guides and tips to full-on custom-built rods using new blanks, guides, reel seats, handles and modern finishings. Currently the most popular custom changes - certainly in the UK – are the Harrison Aviator, Torrix or Free Spirit Hi-S blanks with Minima, Titanium SiC or Kigan guides, a 50mm butt ring down to a 16mm tip, with Alps Wave reel seats and a full Japanese heat shrink handle. I settled for a full Japanese heat-shrink handle upgrade to my BeastMasters, and with a couple of sessions already under the belt together, our honeymoon phase shows no sign of fading as I gaze lovingly out from my bivvy! Shantan Naidoo has been in the custom rod business for the past four years and he did an awesome job on my BeastMasters.