Hey Folks. I just received an email from a friend in Australia for whom I’ve built a few rods lately. He is curious about the differences in guide count and placement between a St. Croix SC IV 2-piece, 6-wt. that I just recently sent him and a couple of his older rods. I use a cheat sheet for initial guide placement and adjust to the flex of the blank. I’ve had virtually no exposure to either Hardy or Sage factory rods. The guide count sounds a bit light to me and I have no explanation to offer for the placement. The significant paragraphs of the email are included, unedited, below. Any help with an explanation out there?

Thanks in advance,
Jim Kirby

email follows:
John and I are going for a couple of days winter fishing in nearby lake eucumbene.about three hours away next weekend. I pulled out the ST CROIX and a couple of old rods…….a hardy 6/7 9ft 1979 and an original sage 8wt 9 ft circa 1985??.There are some interesting differences in guide placement. The latter two have only 9 rings the st croix has ten …but the stripping guide is in about the same spot on each rod ….it appears that the extra ring is allowed for by pulling back the ring after the stripping guide which places the extra ring very near the rod join. Whereas in the older rods the rings straddle the ferrule equidistant.

However at the tip end of the rod the older pattern of guides means there are more guides which finish closer to the tip….I can think up of all sorts of reasons why this was done but in the end I think that you will know the logic ….I am curious but trained as a biologist not a physicist…anything more advanced than f=ma will draw a very” blank” look.

Jim,

About the only thing you can tell him is that you spent a lot more time on guide placement, number and sizing than either Sage or Hardy. Tell him their placement is fine and works well, but as a custom builder you have the luxury of tweaking these things to get an even better performing rod. You may also want to tell him that while it is not necessary to have a guide on or near the ferrule, doing so does remove some stress from that area.

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I don't think 9 guides is enough on any 9 foot rod. 10 and even 11 would be better I think. I would keep them small and light with that many though.