Hello there Rod builders

I am just about to get started on a couple of builds, March the 3rd is the start of the brownie season here in the UK and im looking forwards to catching afew little uns on my Homemade rods.... There always something im not prepared for come the better weather and this time round its having a couple sticks to fish with... Dozens of little dries but no wand to fling em with? Huh?

I have a 9ft #3-4 weight 3 piece fly blank , I have the guide spacing from the maker, That’s all good, but, I am not too sure about the size of the guides I should use... My initial prep was to go with the sage guide spacing for a rod of the same length/ 9ft, and in the same line weight give or take either the sp 3 weight or slt 4 weight for comparisons and opted to go with the 4 weight guide size's on the slt model that read: 1/0, 1/0, 1/0, 1/0, 1, 1, 1, 2, 4 , & a 12 stripper... Its a probably a decent enough scale for me to work from no doubt but the sp nor the slt is my blank, maybe not yours either, and that I suppose the only real way to check things out is during a static guide placement....
When I took a look at the 3 sp I noticed that the first guides stated to use are 1,1,1,1,2,2,2,3,4 & a 12 stripper... That’s kinda weird that a lighter weight rod has bigger guides up front compared to the heavier 4 weight.... Of course, this has to do with the taper no doubt and different action of these two rods.... Its just a little confusing, I automatically think lighter line , smaller guides, especially towards the tip for tracking etc , No?

I have a bunch of Guides from Hopkins & Holloway, Double foot snakes , that’s my preference ....
I’m purely after some recommendations as to what people prefer to use for the 9ft #3/4 guide sizes... Even the Sage stripper sizes for these lighter line weights seem to be quite big at #12 for a 3 or 4 line... I was thinking more along the lines of a 10... Again, when I do static placement I can mess about, this is just about gathering some good info until I get the time I need to get things done, see how my thoughts vary from other peoples and all that...


The other little project of mine is to restore a little 7ft 6pc Hardy Graphite Smuggler... Compared to today’s fly rods, this little stick is quite heavy, quite a cannon if I may say so, but I do like it very much, it has loads of feel.... I really want to give it an all new makeover if I can, trying my best to leave the Original writing and decal on the blank.... I know there are probably many who would cuss at me totally changing this little stick, but, in its original form it would have been great, to have Hardy restore it would cost a fair bit, especially as the cork had deteriorated real bad.... I wouldn’t mind restoring it to look how a smuggler should be, but, I have other ideas, different colour whippings (thread wraps) and a Goldenwitch traditional cap and ring would go well on this little wand... I did fish it quite some one some little streams so ive had a nice feel of its former originality and feel…
Anyway, my main reason for posting about this rod also is because of the guide sizes... They are small, no doubts that a silk line would have been used with this wand as it has the British pattern low guides and they are tight... I don’t have a problem with putting new English pattern snakes back on the rod, but, the sizes are hard to relate to when you have a pocket full of the "new" American style snakes that are common on mostly all fly rods made in this day and age, well, factory rods anyhow..

Anyone a fanatic of Hardy smugglers here who wants to tell me off for even contemplating stripping this rod? Ha ha ha ...... I’m half and half really, Id like to restore it, but then, it’s a nice older rod to make new and match the new quiver so to say>>

If anyone has any thoughts on the sizes etc, t’would be really appreciated..
Gosh, I don’t ask aloyt do I ha ha ha ha

Anyway, thanks for reading people, your thoughts and recommendations well and truly appreciated

Matt

You should always use the smallest and lightest guides that will get the job done and there is no need to gradually step things down. If the #1 is the smallest you can use, then just go right from your second stripper to the #1's and use them all the way out. You'll have less weight on the rod, and that will equate to a more effiicient rod.

As long as your guides will pass any required knots or leader connections, you're fine. No reason to use larger guides than neccessary.

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