I still struggle in knowing the exact placement where to put my guides. I've used Equal Angle, Progressive Angle, and Static guide placement and am never sure which is the best. If it isn't perfect and I can't be sure, then I'm just not happy.

My main problem is actually determining the general statement "make sure the line angles at the guides are smooth and not sharp" - I don't know what's smooth and what's sharp. Everybody's perception is different - I might think a certain woman is attractive, others might think she's not - so I get lost when someone says make sure the angle aren't sharp.

If there are no pictures availalble of what a good relationship of a line to the blank blank is when it's loaded, how about giving a range in degrees? One could make a cardboard templates of accepatable line angles. Knowing that 180 degrees is a straight line, would 170 degrees be considered ok or too sharp? If it is (or whatever it should be), then a template with let's say 5" sides of a 170 degree angle could be held up against against the loaded line at the apex to determine if the line angle at the guide is suitable or not. This way even a dummy like me could tell whether my guides were too far or too close.

Get the back issue of Rodmaker that has the artical. It has a picture

Tim,

I was plagued with the same dilemma that you are experiencing, for years. The only problem with a unified formula is that the line will form different angles of departure from the guides for different casting strokes, loads, and other real-world factors. For instance, if (while using the same rod) you are casting one given line on a particular stream 30 ft. consistently, then step into a large river that required 60 ft. casts using the same line, your load will have increased, causing more flex in the blank resulting in different angles in the lines path. Given this, you may want to determine the most commonly occurring flex/posture that the blank will exhibit during your typical outing and place your guides accordingly. Once you have determined this you can develop a formulaic model/template for ideal guide placement.

What I typically do is as follows:
Once you have determined the flex/posture the blank takes most often during your typical outing, put the blank into this bend. With the tip top, stripping guide and first guide in from the tip top temporarily installed using the common methods outlined both on this board and in various publications, draw a large triangle with legs that form at the apex of each of the three guides (I use flyline backing). Once you have done this, the resultant angle formed between the leg from the stripper to the tip top and the leg from the tip top to the first guide will determine guide positioning. This is done by taking this angle and dividing it by the number of remaining guides to be installed, PLUS ONE. With these equal angles determined, plot them by drawing a line from the tip through the leg of each angle. Let these legs extend to the point where they intersect the blank, and place your guides according to where these legs intersect the blank.

With the guides placed in this method, you will likely experience your line's angles of departures to be equal throughout your typical casting experience. However, ultimately, no formula can determine proper guide spacing for your rod once you've hooked a fish.

Hope this helps somewhat.

P.S. I have use trigonemetry (law of cosines) to determine the angle(s) of the large triangle.

Torin.