I just read on another board that single foot guides should only be used on 5wt and under fly rods. Something about stress due to heavier loads. Is there any truth to this? Is it still okay for me to use the Forecast FL single foot guides on my 8wt?

Ben

I use them on 12-20# conventional boat rods, and they work just fine. They don't like being banged around in transport, but tehy are WAY STRONGER than any load you can possibly put on them with a fly rod.

Ask on teh othe rboard what is going to happen if they use a 6wt, the guides are going to melt, pop off, fall apart, groove, deform, etc.

What's the most load you will put on an 8wt rod? I do not fly fish, but I will guess 15 pounds of drag. If you use 10 guides, that is 1/5#'s of drag per guide, on average - more towards teh butt, less on teh tip.

I have single foot guides on a spinning rod for 30# line used for ocean fishing. No probles with a 28 lb. fish.

You have to watch what you read on some of the other internet web forums. There is a lot of personnal opinion bavcked by very little experience.


Dan Hogan

The only way to have a friend, is to be one.

I use them on my surf rods and I'm very hard on my equipment.

Dan - that phenomenon isn't limited to other sites, same thing happens here as well. It happens in real life, on boats, at work - take everythign with a grain of salt, until you see reason to believe otherwise.

Thanks guys. I needed that reassurance.

Ben, I have to disagree a little. The difference in this site and most other rod building forums is that when truly bad information gets posted here it gets shot down pretty quickly. It gets shot down in a nice way of course but it does get shot down and replaced with better info.

I have used single footed guides on fly rods up to #10's and have used them on saltwater casting and spinning rods used on fish that weigh more than 100 pounds and never come close to having a problem. You would break the blank before you hurt one of these guides. Use them with confidence.

I think that when people say single foot guides for light fly rods, I'm pretty sure that most are refering to single foot wire guides, with no insert of any kind, just wire like a snake guide. Those are what many builders put on light fly rods. Guides with inserts can go on any type & weight rod, as writers here have attested.

Tim

Tim is probably right, even so, the single foot wire guides would work fine on any fly rod you'd ever build. You can only put so much load on a guide - the blank flexes at which point the pressure on the guide is just not very much. You would have a hard time putting even a few pounds of actual load on a 12-weight fly rod with a pretty stout tippet/leader.

I'm sure the person who answered you on another forum had only the best of intentions, but they were incorrect. If you want to use the single foot style guides on your 8-weight rod, go right ahead. Ceramic or wire, you'll have absolutely no problem.

...................

Also do a search of this board for the Forhan locking wrap. I use it on all my single foot guides

i've used single foot guides-ceramic and wire types-on 10 wts for years on false albacore etc-without problems.perhaps the advice to use them on lighter rods has some valid benefits in the slight weight reduction the provide on such rods, and i would definately use the wire types on longer length light line rods.