Let's build a Gudgeon rod!

[Aknib]

I've been here before to some extent, searching for the ultimate small stream Gudgeon rod to no avail so i'm now thinking of a Winter project being as i'm finally beginning to get a bit of time on my hands again.

For me this is a pure and unadulterated Gudgeon rod and if budget was irrelevant which way would you go?

A top end, cut down, ultra-light bomb rod or... A top end top two or three pole kit ringed and cork handled up?

How about the top two sections of a top end ultra-light float rod, cork handled on what was the middle section with a spliced in glass tip (if at all necessary) and re-ringed along the blank?

I'm undecided but mine would be around 7' in length including a nice cork handle and preferably with a permanent, very soft glass tip with no insurance built in for other species which I don't anticipate being there in the first place, this is for a tiny river which you could practically jump across in places and I know some hold bigger fish but the areas I will be targeting are very unlikely.


All rod and pole kit makes and model suggestions would be appreciated.

Remember there is, within reason, no budget... Flor grade cork along with the finest blank and finish so if I build (or modify) it i'll share it along with the results so what are your ideas?

 

[chrisjpainter]

I'd be tempted to start with a blank for a BFS rod (bait finesse system), but a fixed spool setup rather than baitcaster. The Kuying Teton Special SUL Casting Rod has a casting weight of 0.3g - 3g, so incredibly light and delicate. If you could find something like that blank, but designed/built to take a fixed spool reel, then you'd get the precision you'd need. BFS rods usually have ridiculous sensitivity and very fast actions, so that could help with spotting tiny bites.

 

[mikench]

I have a Browning 8’ picker rod with a quarter and a half oz tip which would be ideal. Mind you I catch a lot of them, and delight in doing so , on heavier gear. I have caught gudgeon on my 13’ foot Silverlite feeder and been amazed at the positivity of the bites on a 24g hybrid feeder. I wasn’t after gudgeon of course but that doesn’t hold them back. Delightful little fish. As I obtained a doctorate in the application of Murphy’ Laws, I am well aware that the unwanted and unexpected gate crasher will inevitably put in an appearance when fishing for gudgeon so one might as well be prepared.

 

[seth49]

I’d have a look at a 2 weight fly rod blank, it would be very soft and through actioned, with very light rings and a nice handle fitted it would be ideal, I would imagine.

 

[wetthrough]

If you want to make one all well and good but how about one of these https://www.bobcotackle.co.uk/shop/greys-toreon-tactical-8ft1-quivertip-rod I have one as does @mikench and would think it ideal for a short Gudgeon rod.

 

[flightliner]

I would use my thirteen foot Shimano Aero match that I converted some years ago when I came across the butt section of a Leeda blue diamond quiver tip rod stuck in a big willow tree after a flooded Trent was receding close to a well known weir.
I cut the the butt close to the cork by some three inches and fitted it to the mid section.
The end product I use on occasions as a bomb rod but with a float setup it will be ideal for the humble gudgeon.
So, not having thrown the Shimanos' original butt section away its easy to keep both "rods" in the original bag and use whichever I need at any one time.

 

[mikench]

If you want to make one all well and good but how about one of these https://www.bobcotackle.co.uk/shop/greys-toreon-tactical-8ft1-quivertip-rod I have one as does @mikench and would think it ideal for a short Gudgeon rod.

I concur with that. A lovely light little rod with light tips. Apart from gudgeon Steve it would deal with whatever else came along.

 

[theartist]

Where's the fun in buying one when you can make/mod one? I'm assuming this is for fun and not as a superior gudgeon catching method as they are a pretty obliging species on any rod. I'd dig out an old stiff match rod, I reckon we've all got one somewhere and if range isn't a problem tie the line to to rod tip and fish it like a whip. I used to do this for dace and gudgeon when a youngster and is total fun, plus really effective, I'd do it again in a heartbeat even if it was just to reminisce. With a tiny float, matchstick or no float at all everything is so crisp too, should work with a swan shot link leger too.

 

[nottskev]

I'm with Rob (for once ) on this one. Nothing is lighter in the hand than a short whip, so why the rod and reel? And nothing crisper than a flick tip to flick out the tiniest of floats and hit bites in a flash. There's a section in an old book by Kevin Ashurst where he details how he caught up to 20lbs of Trent gudgeon: short whip, float made from a tiny scrap of peacock with a needle in the base, soil-based groundbait.

If the idea is a miniature combo, I'd say you need one of those 1000 size reels.

 

[Peter Jacobs]

I’d be tempted to start looking at an 8’ 2# fly rod blank but with a course rod type cork handle. I’m unsure as to the type of rings or their spacing though.

Alternatively I’ve caught thousands of small bleak, dace, roach and gudgeon on short line to hand whips.

I’m racking my brains to try to remember what type of rods both Chris and Bob used in the P4A gudgeon match in that little boat.

 

[markcw]

A friend of mine had a canal wand rod . He plugged the top of the butt and drilled a hole to take a quiver tip.
It was both ideal as a parrot cage bomb rod and a short rod for down the side on canals for gudgeon and Tommy Ruffe. Total length of the rod was around 4'
He could still use it as a canal wand if required .

 

[Philip]

My first thought was one of those very light 2m telescopic whips. If it has to be a rod then whip some eyes to it and put on a handle and reel seat. Match with a tiny FS and away you go. Plus being telescopic you could literally carry it in a large coat pocket.

 

[flightliner]

I'm with Rob (for once ) on this one. Nothing is lighter in the hand than a short whip, so why the rod and reel? And nothing crisper than a flick tip to flick out the tiniest of floats and hit bites in a flash. There's a section in an old book by Kevin Ashurst where he details how he caught up to 20lbs of Trent gudgeon: short whip, float made from a tiny scrap of peacock with a needle in the base, soil-based groundbait.

If the idea is a miniature combo, I'd say you need one of those 1000 size reels.

Kev,I can just about remember the last gudgeon I caught in the Trent, it was a big little devil.
Tbh right now they are a bigger challenge than any Barbel to catch in the river whose bed was black with them in years gone by.
This afternoon I had a walk around my local commercial where I saw an angler actually catch one, the first in years.
It's nice to know they are still around!

 

[seth49]

There’s plenty in lancashire yet.

 

[Ray Roberts]

The river I fished last week was bank to bank with them. I hadn’t caught so many for years. I would say a light bfs blank would be ideal, there are loads of light blanks and full rods on Ali Express.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[nottskev]

We all seem to have a soft spot for them. Compared to most small fish, they look so .... specialised and beautifully coloured. A haul of 5 gudgeon kickstarted my angling life. Self-taught ( means didn't catch a fish for a year) I kept failing to get a bite on the canal. My tactics were to cast into the middle at a random depth and the canal, racing back and to as locks were opened, washed my float all over the place. One day I plumbed the depth, kept my float still at the rod end and threw a couple of maggots on it now and then. Bingo. Thank you, gudgeon.

 

[theartist]

Gudgeon are easier to catch on small rivers, canals and the odd lake especially if its adjacent or fed by a stream, I think they are still there on the larger rivers in numbers as you often see them when wading below your feet, maybe we fish too far out at times and could that be a reason for our childhood memories of their abundance when they were within our range and also a welcome target before we started chasing monsters? Just a thought

 

[rob48]

Lock overflow outfalls on canals always used to be solid with gudgeon. I doubt there are as many now as in the past but that would be one place I'd try to target them.
There's been a few showing on the Avon around Stratford this year but only odd ones from the upper Trent.

 

[rayner]

I bought a set of jeweller's scales with the idea of fishing solely for Gudgeon. There is a small pond that is full of them. They can be a pain when they are not wanted. I can't help but think of how big they actually go. My thoughts were to use a 2 meter whip. I may well have a go this year.

 

[riverman]

years back in the early 80's i used to fish the leeds to liverpool canal at rodley.puddle chucker float 3lb line and size 20 hook for the gudgeon.single maggot did the trick.that stretch in the woods was littered with gudgeon and i had dozens of them.pleasant memories.