You will like the bumper spiral system for use on surf sticks. I've done two with it and they're great. Do read up on it all you can. Contrary to what SOME would have you believe, this is NOT just another spiral or Roberts wrap method. Yes it is a spiral wrap method but not one that has been around like most others. Nearly all others use any guide not on the 0 or 180 degree axis to transition the line or aim it or direct it to the bottom of the rod. This one isn't like that.

Because it doesn't use any real transition guides and just lets the line from the top to the bottom on its own, I think this is the reason why it works so well when used on surf rods. I had tried the Revolver style spiral wrap on a surf rod once but didn't like it. I don't think you can take the line around the blank through the guides and not have shock leaders catch on something. But because the Bumper or Simple Spiral gets rid of those transition guides the shock leader and knot don't have to go around any corners. I may be off, but I think this is the KEY to why it works on surf rods.

If you have tried all the other spiral wrap methods on your surf rods without success you need to try again but this time try the Bumper Simple Spiral method. It worked for me!

Where does one read about this method??

V8 #2 Rodmaker issue.

I have been a fan of spiral wraps for many years. I've used the Forhan type, Roberts, O'Quinn and some others I don't have names for. All work good but some are better than others in certain areas. All have their pros and cons.

A couple years back I had visited Tom Kirkman's shop and seen some spiral wrapped rods there unlike any others I had ever seen or read about. He just said he didn't like using transition guides on his rods so he didn't. The line went straight from reel to one top guide and then to the bottom guide. It was a pretty straight path and he had one extra guide thrown onto the side of the rod that didn't seem to even need to be there. He told me it was just there to keep the line from rubbing the blank. He said he had even built some rods and just left that guide off entirely.

I was intrigued and when I got home I built a rod this same way. Too easy, too simple, can't work, I thought. But boy was I wrong! It had been very easy to set up and cast great. I built two more for customers and told them to keep me informed. They loved them. Since then I've built about 40 or 50 of them and everybody loves them. I can't find any downside to this system no matter what type fishing you do with them. I called Tom last summer and asked about him doing an article on them in the magazine and he told me that if I wanted to see such an article that I should write it! So I did and it appeared in the Rodmaker issue that Shawn mentions. My e-mail box has been overflowing ever since.

I haven't tried it on a surf rod but I'm sure it would work. It's one of those things that is so easy and so obvious that it escaped everybody for the past 100 years while we were doing all sorts of elaborate things to get the line to the bottom of the rod. Like I said, they're all good and all work, but this one is the only one I'll use from now on. Get the back issue and set it up just like the article says. It will work great!

IF the line rubs on the blank, I guess the use of SIC or other hard ring materials is completely useless??

The point of the bumper guide is to prevent the line from rubbing against the blank. Although I do not think it would hurt much if it did, since it is not a downward pressure or under great load like that on the regular guides would be. It just brushes to one side. But I would still use the bumper guide.

Perhaps someone will come up with a thin stainless steel plate, similar to those used on bicycles that keep the chain from rubbing on the frame. Or better yet, maybe just a small piece of super slick Teflon like material. A small piece about 1/2 inch by 2 inches could be stuck to the side of the rod, eliminating the bumper guide entirely.

The possibilities are endless.

After reading Mr Colbys article in the recent Rodmaker issue I went ahead and wrapped a 9 ft Surf rod using the "bumper method". It casts a 3oz plug well over the street and DEEP into my neighbors backyard without any strange line reactions. (20, 12, 16, 12, 10's...12 tip).

Its just too simple...set a rod up as you would a "traditional conventional", put all but the stripper on the bottom of the blank, and add a little "bumper guide" to keep the line off the blank. No rocket science, no degrees, and no offset this way or that way (though I did put the bumper at about 106 degrees... :) Very simple.

Hardly a day goes by when I don't get a call or email from someone asking me to tell them how to set up a spiral wrapped rod. Part of the simplicity of the Bumper Wrap Spiral is due to the fact that I got tired of spending so much time trying to cover various systems with everybody that called and asked. That's why I had it set up just like a conventional rod and then had them flip everything to the bottom. It doesn't require anyone to learn anything new about guide placement - if you can set up a guides on top rod, you can set up this one.

It's worth mentioning that anyone who wishes to re-set the spacing on the 180 degree guides and has a good understanding of static guide placement, is certainly encouraged to do so. Again, this system probably ends up with a guide or two more than you need, as the line isn't going to touch the blank once the guides are moved to the bottom. But it was done that way in an effort to make the system easy to explain and easy to set up. It works fine as is, but I have no doubt that some enterprising builder could make it even better.

One of the guys I had sent the instructions to a bit before the article came out, told me that he liked the system and thought we should come up with a name for it that would identify it as something different than other spiral wrap systems. Bill gets credit for the name - "Bumper." I had never called it anything other than just an easy and effective way to make a spiral wrap. I remember Ralph O'Quinn seeing it for the first time and remarked something to the effect of, "Well I'll be darned. That's really all we needed to do."

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I just field tested a cod jigging rod wrapped bumper guide style. The 60# leader is knotted with a double-Uni knot to 100# braid. The big knot slips through a #8 guide with no problem at all when casting a 14 oz jig. Now if big ol' Mr. Wisker's would just realize how pretty the rod is, he'd bite that jig more often, but large codfish are pretty dumb. Just the small ones appreciate a good rod. ;D
Scott