I always love talking to people who have a passion for what they do. It doesn’t matter what their chosen trade is, it’s usually immediately obvious that they care deeply about their chosen domain, to a point where they speak about it with enthusiasm and excitement. These same individuals invariably take pride in their work, and care passionately about quality, as well as being very skilled in what they do. This is most definitely the case with Marty Mulcairn of Wye Valley Angling. Marty is the owner of WVA custom rods. He is a master rod builder who provides something very different… In these days of mass produced rods, Marty provides a bespoke service creating a rod customised to your own personal requirements.
Marty approached me, to ask if I could give him some general advice about the specifics of kayak fishing rods. I provided him with some general information about attributes and use, and this lead to us talking about fishing, and my preferences and favourite techniques for kayak fishing. Marty was able to put his skills to good use, and not only incorporate the general guidelines I had conveyed to him, but also design a blank to my own personal requirements – WOW! Now I was very excited.
I have a preference for fairly light lure fishing, and I also like a very short distance between the butt of the rod, and the reel seat. I wanted Fuji concept K anti tangle guides (single leg), and a simple leash point added to the blank. Marty was asking all of the right questions, and I was doing my best to answer them. I was hoping to come up with a rod which I would be able to use for light crankbait work, as well as for medium soft plastics. Marty was even asking about colour combinations for whippings, and the size of reel I was likely to use (in order to balance the whole outfit).
I have to tell you, when I received the rod in the post, I was like a little kid at Christmas… And when I took the rod out of the tube, I was not disappointed…
Even the rod bag looked cool – it was a camouflaged cloth with a velcro closure rather than the usual ties – with the WVA badge at the top – very smart.
I was itching to test the rod; it looked amazing, but looks aren’t everything, and this creation deserved to be tested properly. And so it was, that I sneaked out early one morning to fish the river. My usual kayak fishing accomplices were busy, so I would be on my own. The weather was good, a slight breeze, and warm. The river had a bit of colour from some rain showers from previous days. According to the local tackle shop, the river was not fishing. This didn’t bother me one bit. If I had a pound for every time I had caught a big fish when the locals told me the river was not fishing, then I would be a very rich man indeed.
The launch was uneventful, the occasional fish was topping but not much activity to speak of. The first swim accounted for a small perch, and whilst I was unhooking it, an almighty splash in the adjoining swim. I was on it quicker than you could say “Houseboat”, but to no avail – it may have been a big pike or chub (both of which I have seen in that swim) – but it mattered not, the fish was gone. Time to make my way up to the next swim, where I had caught some decent perch in the past. But the light was good, and I couldn’t resist taking some pictures of the rod…
Marty had used a 6 foot 4 inch 1 piece blank from New Zealand specialists CTS. The lightweight blue blank was rated to cast 4-14g. As you can see from the picture above, the Alconite Fuji Concept K ring spacing is spot-on. The leash loop at the end of the rod was simple and effective – it allowed free movement of the rod, without the leash interfering with the reel. It also allowed the rod to be placed into rod tubes/flush mounts without any problems.
The reel winch was a ALPS Tri seat I had clamped a Quantum specialist Smoke PT reel on to the rod – it was the right size, and balanced the light rod perfectly.
The rod came with adjustable Fuji hook keepers which worked well with the lures I was using (custom crankbaits and soft plastics)…
The attention to detail with the cosmetics of the rod was breath taking. The whippings were midnight black with metallic blue and holographic gold with a diamond finish (the magic dust was “lucky” as you will read later!)…
After the pictures, it was back to the perch swim, and first cast with the Savage Gear 3D bleak produced a nice perch. It was a decent fish, never likely to trouble the blank, but more importantly with perch, if the rod is too harsh in the tip, then the hook will pull. I was pleasantly surprised that there was still a good amount of bend in the rod, despite it obviously being quite powerful.
The rod was perfect for fishing the 7 and 10g jig heads I was using, especially when vertically jigging – there was just the right amount of stiffness in the tip to avoid bounce.
Now to try something different. I clipped on a soft plastic crayfish which a lighter jig head (6g weedless) to see if the rod was sensitive enough to use with lures at the lower end of its rating.
I was hoping for a chub, but instead, a steady stream of perch nailed the crayfish, and then one quite decent fish gulped the lure with a big “clonk”…
A couple of suicidal pike joined the party – one of which cartwheeled out of the water, doing a double flip in the air.
The chub were proving elusive, and as is the way, I really wanted a chub! I had switched to crankbaits, and two of my usual banker swims had both produced a blank. A bit further up the river
I cast into a jungle of branches, and something had a go at the crankbait – twice in quick succession. Then the phone went. It was my good kayak fishing buddy David. So I picked up. At that very moment, a decent chub ambled up to the (now stationary) crankbait, eyed it up for a second, then turned away and disappeared. Oh bugger (or words to that effect)!!!
At least I knew they were switched on to that particular style and colour of lure. So I stuc with it for a couple of hours. Then I spotted some chub against a sandy bank. So I swapped to my ultralight rod and sight cast a 2g Zman Grubz to the fish. It grabbed it, and soon it was in the kayak. But I still wanted to catch one on the custom rod.
Another few hours passed by, and I had switched back to the custom rod and crankbait. I was casting into likely looking spots. A sunken tree with branches sticking out everywhere looked like a good haunt, but also a high chance of losing my custom suspending crankbait 
Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I made my cast – it landed right in the middle of the tangled branches. A foot too far. It was not looking good for the lure. Then, almost immediately, a fish smashed it. I had only just engaged the reel. I could feel the line grating on the tree. This was a good fish. I was so glad that this rod had a decent amount of power. I was able to bully the fish out from the branches and into the open flow of the river, where it ran downstream and across the current. As it passed the kayak, I got a glimpse of it. It was big, one of the biggest chub I had ever seen in this stretch of the river. I took it easy, and the rod absorbed all of the fish’s lunges and head shakes. Eventually it was in the net, and I just sat there staring at the size and beauty of it. It had to be 5lbs. I started to take some pictures…
The fish weighed 5lbs 6ozs and was 56cms long – a new personal best for me. I also aged the fish at 11-13 years old (from a scale) – which is pretty amazing when you think about it.
So as you can imagine, I was pretty happy with the new rod. Its no exaggeration to say that some of my lighter, softer rods probably would not have had the power to extract that fish from the snags. Either way, it was a great way to test the rod…
If you want a rod specific for kayak fishing, using top materials, or you would like something different from the norm, customised to your own specification, then please speak to Marty. His rods really are special and unique, and the care, craftmanship and passion that he posseses, is clearly visible in the rods he produces.
Marty can be reached using the details below…
Email : marty@wyevalleyangling.com
Facebook : http://www.facebook.com/wvacustomrods
Website : www.wyevalleyangling.com