Jim Crowley Outdoors: Why More Serious Anglers Are Building Their Own Fishing Rods

In this episode of the Mastering Rod Building Podcast, Bill Falconer talks with longtime angler, outdoor media personality, and rod builder Jim Crowley about how decades of tournament fishing, television, writing, lure building, and product development have shaped the way he approaches custom fishing rods. Crowley shares how his fishing career evolved from competitive angling into outdoor television and radio before eventually leading him into rod building. Jim explains how his early work with St. Croix and rod designer Mike Thorson taught him to think closely about rod length, power, action, and matching a rod to a specific fishing technique. Years later, encouragement from Don Morse helped push him into building his own rods when he realized he wanted combinations of actions and lengths that he was not finding in off-the-shelf equipment. The conversation explores why Jim believes building his own rods has actually made him a better angler. He explains that designing a rod around a particular lure forces him to pay closer attention to every part of the fishing system, including the rod, reel, line, lure presentation, retrieve speed, and what the bait is doing throughout every cast. Bill and Jim also dive into the development of Jim’s technique-specific rod kits with Mud Hole, including rods designed specifically for bladed jigs, hair jigs, jerkbaits, and Ned rigs. Jim breaks down the years of experimentation behind his bladed-jig setup, from testing different lines and rod actions to eventually settling on a composite blank that provides enough sensitivity to detect a bite while still allowing the rod to load deeply and keep fish pinned. Jim also shares the story behind his hair-jig rod and why a 1/16-ounce hair jig can be such an effective tool for smallmouth bass and other species. He explains the importance of long casts, slow retrieves, light line, and a rod with enough parabolic action to serve as a shock absorber when fishing tiny hooks and light tackle. The conversation includes examples from recent trips where the hair jig produced quality smallmouth when other techniques struggled. Bill and Jim finish by discussing downsized bladed jigs, matching lure size to young-of-the-year forage, building rods around highly specialized fishing techniques, and the satisfaction that comes from catching fish on equipment you designed and built yourself. Jim emphasizes that custom rod building is not simply about creating a fishing rod—it can help anglers understand their equipment, presentation, and fishing techniques at a much deeper level. Mastering Rod Building is brought to you by Anglers Resource — your source for genuine Fuji Tackle components. Where to buy genuine FUJI®️ rod components (Area Distributors) Japan: FIRST Corporation — https://first-fuji.co.jp/ • mail@first-fuji.co.jp American Continent (North & South America): Anglers Resource — https://anglersresource.net/ • info@anglersresource.net Oceania: Frogleys Offshore — https://fujitackle.com.au • enquiries@frogleysoffshore.com.au Spain/Czech/Finland/Sweden/Estonia/Latvia/Poland/Denmark/Belgium/Germany/Netherlands/Ireland/Luxembourg/France/Portugal/UK/Norway/Belarus/Ukraine/Russia:: CALICO S.A. (Kalikunnan) — https://kalikunnan.com/ • fuji@calico.es Europe: MAJORA Intelligent Fishing (FUJI Tackle Italy) — https://www.fujitackle.it • info@fujitackle.it Asia: KOWA Company, Ltd. — fujitackle@kowa.co.jp