July 22, 2025
By In-Fisherman Staff
Custom rod builder Ted Stardig of Toxic Rods sits down with Minnesota tournament angler Evan Blakley to talk the state of the industry, how the tournament world continues to bring drama to forefront and how the future of the sport looks. Both guys are heavily invested in the future of fishing and have a lot of interesting knowledge to share—with some laughs along the way.
Truncated transcript:
00:00:17.880 --> 00:01:15.600: Well, we're up and running. We've got an exciting show for you. And In-Fisherman Storyline is all about bringing you good stories. And we're going to do another after-hour session where we're going to dig into some state of the industry stuff, talk to a couple guys. I'll introduce them here shortly. But before we do that, let's do a little housekeeping. And I'm excited to do this because it means we've got friends, we've got partners in the industry that want to help us along. And I want to pass along some exciting news that LL Bean is the iconic brand that you know for quality. They make this super cool plaid shirt. They got a great hat. They got some good stuff going on. But their gear is deeply rooted in passion. They're made by outdoorsmen, for outdoorsmen. And not to mention, they have some great waders. We're going to talk about those later in the show. But if you're looking for waders, LL Bean's the way to go. This partnership will bring even more great stories, expert tips, and outdoor inspiration to anglers everywhere. LL Bean, we're glad you're here.
00:01:15.600 --> 00:01:36.600: And welcome to the palatial LL Bean Studios. We're perched atop the Twin Towers of In-Fisherman headquarters overlooking downtown Birmingham, which is not Birmingham but Brainerd. So yeah, there's another B town I used to live in that kind of stands out. But we got some cool guests in here. So let's get to that. LL Bean, thanks for being here. Thank you for listening.
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00:01:36.600 --> 00:02:02.000: Over here, we've got Evan Blakley, a face that you would like to forget, but you've probably seen before. He sat in one of these couches. And we've fixed the world problems. And local angler and future classic champ, I would have to say. And then on my right-hand side, the smiling face over there, is Ted Stardig. Ted is the owner operator, CEO, president, boss man of Toxic Rods, a custom rod builder.
00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:19.160: And we're going to talk a little bit about that today, too. But I kind of feel like, Ted, let's dig right in. In a world of you got to have the right gear, the custom rod world has really kind of become a big thing. And your rods are excellent. I have one, and I'm getting another one here in a little while.
00:02:19.160 --> 00:02:46.520: I appreciate that. They're beautiful. Why do it? Why? Why custom rods? Amongst all the companies of rods, there are so many out there. It's kind of to dial in that exact specific thing you want, that color you want, that logo you want for all that stuff. And that's just something we can do that the big boys can't do. And it's specialized. It's built for you. It's built for you.
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00:02:46.520 --> 00:03:14.640: Well, one of the things that I've been fascinated by-- I've worked closely in the industry with the gear side of the business. And I've been able to test a lot of different products. And something that's always just really captured my attention is the technique-specific way that the fishing industry is going. And I think there's a lot of people out there, and they're probably right to an extent. You might really only need-- you could get by with three or four rods. If that's all you had, could you do almost everything?...
