Texas Pro Joe Graves
Reprinted from Honey Hole Magazine - January 1996

Some guys might take offense being related to something as crooked sounding as a Texas Sidewinder, but not Joe Graves.
Graves, a 50-year-old custom rod builder and native Texan, takes ex­treme pride in being connected with the name. In the same light, he can't help but chuckle every time he recalls the fate of a beautiful stick he hand­crafted for a client a few years back.

The rod, a G. Loomis IMX, was a true masterpiece if ever there was one. It had a polished oak reel seat, gold metallic wraps, and several other extras. Valued at $240, it was, and still is the most expensive piece of work Graves has cranked out to date.
Here's what happened. The rod's owner, Jo Burch, even­tually developed some internal problems with his reel and carried it to his local repair shop to have it fixed. Instead of removing the reel from the seat, however, he elected to leave his rod behind as well.
A few days later the shop con­tacted Burch to let him know his reel was ready for action. But much to his dismay, the angler also learned his custom fishing rod had undergone a facelift in the process.

"I went ahead and straightened the eyes up on your rod, too," the repairman told Burch as he handed him his gear. "They were all mounted crooked for some reason or another."

Little did the repairman know, he'd just destroyed the anatomy of a Texas Sidewinder.

The Texas Sidewinder, so named because of the erratic manner in which the eyes are mounted to the rod, is constructed based on a concept Graves says has been around for nearly a century. During that period, rods with similar characteristics have been made and sold by other custom rod makers around the country.

"The actual concept has been around since 1909," says Graves, who recently moved from Nacogdoches and set up shop in nearby Jasper. "It was originally patented by a man in Illinois and was later picked up by a rod maker in Missouri. I learned it nine years ago when I lived in Georgetown from John Grady in Austin, who built custom rods for 33 years before calling it quits. I've been doing it ever since, but I'm not alone. Other custom rod makers use the concept as well."

As described in the rod repair fi­asco mentioned earlier, what sepa­rates the Texas Sidewinder from con­ventional casting rods is the way the eyes are mounted to the blank. Plain and simple, they're crooked. The first eye mounted nearest the reel is the only one centered. The rest are mounted in a clockwise fashion.

Graves calls the feature a "spiral wrap" and says when performed cor­rectly, it allows the line to peel off the reel and pass through the eyes in a smoother manner, thus resulting in longer, easier casting and increased sensitivity.

So how does it all work?
"That's a good question," says Graves, a personable soul. "I'm not an engineer, so I really can't explain how it all works. What I do know is that you can cast a lure a country mile on one of my rods, plus the sensitiv­ity is tremendously better than with conventional rods."
I can vouch for at least part of his claim. I've fished with Graves on numerous occasions since our initial meeting 10 years ago on Lake Mur­vaul. But on our most recent venture to 2,200­acre Lake Nacogdoches, I made a distinct point to compare the difference between the two.

The oddball wrap does indeed promote a smoother, longer cast than you'll get with in­line factory wraps. In­creased sensitivity was tough to detect, though. Hard south winds ripped a path down the middle of the east Texas honey hole the day we shared the boat, so it was pretty tough keeping in touch with our lures.
Unless specified oth­erwise by a customer, Graves uses 96 percent graphite ARK blanks on all of his Texas Side­winders. He hand wraps medium-, medium/ heavy-, and heavy-action casting and flipping rods in all the standard lengths.

He'll also convert conventional rods to Texas Sidewinder style and he builds custom spinning rods to boot. Once started, most custom jobs take two to four days to complete.

As expected, prices on rods vary according to lengths, styles, and how many extras the client desires. Hav­ing your name and serial number put on the rod is standard. Prices nor­mally range from $60 to $110.

"People also like the concept be­cause it is different from everything else," Graves adds. "Fishermen are always experimenting with different lures and other tackle, so why not try a different style of rod?

"It's not a novelty, I'll guarantee you that," he added. "I let my rods sell themselves - performance is my selling point. I've made rods for people all over the country and I don't mind supplying folks with ref­erences if they want them. Try one and I can just about guarantee you'll like it."

That's a pretty bold statement to put in front of a tightly woven bass fishing clan as critical as Texas', but considering the source, there's bound to be some merit to it.

Graves is as straight a shooter and as nice a guy as you'll ever meet, a personality trait that becomes evident the very second you shake his hand.

Born and raised in Mesquite, Graves' knowledge of bass fishing becomes evident pretty quick, too. But, not near as fast as his love for the sport and all the long-lasting friend­ships he's acquired because of fishing in general.

"When you enter the world of bass fishing, you meet some really neat people," said Graves. "I meet lots and lots of people from all over the country. In this business, I think it's very unique how everyone, not just one or two, has become so conservation minded towards the largemouth bass and our fisheries.

"I just love to fish in general," Graves added. "I've fished lakes in several states, but Texas has really been blessed. We've really done well with our lakes, and they appear to be getting bet­ter."

Graves got a bit tongue-tied when asked to depict his favorite im­poundment of all.

"I like any lake that's got bass in it," he chuck­led. "I like central Texas lakes because they've got smallmouth and beauti­ful scenery, but I also like east Texas lakes because they tend to hold bigger fish.

"It's hard to pick a special lake out of all of them," he added. "I just like to fish, period," he added. "But the fishing isn't all I enjoy. I love the camaraderie between the individuals that you meet around restaurants and marinas. It's kind of hard to explain. We've just got a great thing going here. We've definitely been blessed."