Hello,
i´m planing to buildt a 9ft. casting rod for northern pike fishing here in europe. Now i didn´t know how many guides and which guide size I should use.
My plan is too use 10 guides from the following sizes 20/16/12/12/10/10/10/8/8/8. Does this fit?

I´m using a abu ambassadeur 6501 reel. Is the #20 butt guide too small for that reel?

thanks

You're going about this backwards, sort of. Never pre-select the guides and their sizes, instead, let the rod blank tell you what sizes you need and where to place them. Read the article in the online library here on static guide placement. You might consider a spiral wrap - it would be great on that rod.

Finally, there is no need to dance through all the various sizes. Most likely you can use a 16 or 20 butt guide, followed by a 12 and then move directly to #8's or #7's for as many as you need from there to the tip. Stepping down gradually is for the human eye only - it really doesn't offer anything as far as the line is concerned. The line only touches one very small area of the guide ring on those running guides and could care less if you use various sizes or just all one size, as small as possible. And, using smaller and lighter guides reduces weight (and cost).

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