SUNDAY STORY:The lure of custom rods

Last November, Tom Kelleher was fishing 500 miles off the coast of San Diego when the big one got away.

As the 240-pound tuna on the end of his line surged away from the boat, his store-bought fishing rod snapped at the tip. The fish got a lucky break and Kelleher went home with a broken rod.

When he returned home from the trip, he vowed the loss wouldn’t be repeated.

For almost a year, Kelleher has been hand-crafting sturdy and beautiful fishing rods. Each one of his TK Kustomized Rods is made to order.

And they won’t break.

“You can pull it as hard as you can,” Kelleher said.

The rods vary in size, with the strongest made to hold up to 300 pounds. With every customer, Kelleher designs the rod based on their needs. Everything from size to strength to color depends on what the fisherman is looking for, Kelleher said.

“Some of them are savvy fishermen and they know what they’re looking for and they’ll specify colors,” Kelleher said. “Others don’t have a foggy idea.”

The rods start at $65 and go up to $325.

Kelleher, 64, a retired accountant, sells the fishing rods out of the Corona del Mar bungalow he shares with his wife Karon. He got his business license, put a fish-shaped sign on the palm tree-lined parking strip and now displays his wares on his brick patio.

The location, on the corner of Marguerite Avenue and Second Street, is a prime spot to grab people’s attention. Cars come to a rest at the four-way stop and the sign out in front of the Kelleher’s cottage is hard to pass by.

A fisherman for 60 of his 64 years, Kelleher doesn’t have any formal training in rod-crafting. His products are the result of imagination and plenty of trial and error, he said.

When Kelleher took up the hobby-turned-business, he consulted friends in the fishing industry. Newport Beach resident Arthur Green, also an accountant and consultant for sportfishing businesses in San Diego, suggested the rod-building idea to Kelleher.

Green also makes his own fishing rods, but not for sale. He took Kelleher to a fishing show in Long Beach and introduced him to industry contacts ? a connection Kelleher worked to his advantage.

“He’s a very organized individual,” said Green, who met Kelleher on a fishing trip. Kelleher collected business cards, wrote down names and followed through.

Now Kelleher’s making quality products ? the Rolls Royces of fishing rods, Green said.

The process to build the rods is an intricate one. It takes Kelleher about two full days to complete a rod. For now, his workshop is a corner in the garage in the back of the remodeled cottage where he and Karon have lived for eight years.

Balanced on a card table and a sawhorse, Kelleher works meticulously on each “kustomized rod.” The rod parts, like the reel seat and gimbal, are store-bought ? in different colors and specifications, depending on the customer.

The rod is made of a combination of fiberglass and graphite. For decoration, Kelleher tightly wraps different colored nylon thread around the rod ? then coats it with resin. On a recent morning, he worked on his newest commissioned piece ? a fishing rod for a Notre Dame graduate nicknamed “Irish.” The reel seat and gimbal are green and the fiberglass rod is decorated with blue and gold school colors, laced with a little bit of Irish green.

In Kelleher’s new venture, he’s sold about 20 rods and made some as gifts for friends and family, including one as a present to his grandson for his graduation from the third grade.

Kelleher’s neighbor, Jean-Jacques Sarfati, just received one of Kelleher’s creations as a surprise birthday gift from his wife. Kelleher made the rod especially to reflect Sarfati’s French-American heritage. The black and green rod is topped with an American flag and the red, white and blue stripes of the French flag.

Sarfati hasn’t had an opportunity to fish with the rod yet, but he said the finish is “superb” and the parts are quality.

“There’s nothing worse than going fishing, you’ve got a big one on and you’ve got a problem with your rod,” Sarfati said.

The rods are more than a hobby. Customers said they look great and stand up to the challenge of some big fish.

Chris Bullock recently purchased one of Kelleher’s rods and has used it about five times to catch 100-pound Mako sharks.

Bullock’s customized rod ? his is black, green and chrome ? really works, he said.

“The rod’s actually really heavy-duty and strong,” Bullock said.

With his business getting off the ground, Kelleher holds on to a reminder of why he started making rods in the first place. The store-bought rod broken by the giant tuna last November is now the centerpiece of a make-shift trophy Kelleher keeps in the house. dpt.16-sunday-2-B.1PhotoInfoHJ1SVVUE20060716j2f55qncCredit: DON LEACH / DAILY PILOT Caption: (LA)One of Tom Kelleher’s custom hand-made fishing rods ? note the exquisite finish. dpt.16-sunday-1-B.1PhotoInfoHJ1SVVRT20060716j2f550ncCaption: (LA) A fisherman for 60 of his 64 years, Tom Kelleher handcrafts customized rods from fiberglass and graphite in his Corona Del Mar garage.