I'm working on building a few popping rods w/ guides on top. These are 7' AS-BAST843P IM10 blanks. I'm at the static deflection testing stage, and wanted to ck. and see if I'm close to what might be normal. I'm using ATC GCSF-6 guides for the most tip-ward. I'm finding in order to keep the line off the blank under load and have it conform to the flexed rod, that I'm using a total of 10 guides, the last 6 being size 6. I'd guess Gerald McCasland, Bill Stevens, and many others have built on this blank and would like to know if this sounds about right. This site is great, and my largest source of info, followed by the mag. and all the books. Thanks for any replies. Jerry

Jerry,

I can normally get by with 8 or 9 guides when wrapped on top, however with that being said trust your satic distribution and if it takes 10, so be it. You might want to fool around with it some more to see if you can get down to 8/9.

Good luck with the rod. The 843's and 844's are my two favorites with the All Star blanks. I like the 843's for Trout and the 844's for Red Fish.

Later,
Gerald Mc

I had to go to the rod rack to check mine and they have 9 guides on top.
Cheers, Ellis

I lost all the sixes somewhere in the shop - if I had them I probably could not see them to wrap anything that small. I can not argue with a well done test but the most I have on an med/lt blank is 8. For guides on top most of my rods have used V frame single foots which carry the line a little higher. I can see if you were using the fly sixes on top 10 may certainly be the case. When I have a customer that is concerned enouth about line drag I end up spiral.

Gerald - Tornados here yesterday - flattened boat sheds two stalls down from my honey!

Gon Fishn

Jerry,
10 guides on a 7 foot rod sounds like a lot to me. More guides than necessary is just adding weight that will reduce the rods performance. When you do a static test, using enough guides to insure that under no load condition will the line touch the rod is over kill in my judgement. When using a rod, normally when it is at the maximum deflection the line is not moving so friction between the line and the rod is not really a problem. the line does not start to move until the rod starts to straighten. With too few guides you can end up with excessive stress on the rod but with that blank I think that 9 or even 8 guides may be enough.