Just got back into rod making and am only doing fly rods. Have several blanks and components and have been using the spacing found on flyfisherman.com. providedby Bob Widgren- a rod maker out of New mexico. Any advise on what is correct? You cannot do it more than once. Thanks, Bill gaude
P.S 7.00 to 8.6 rods for trout on Hiwassee and Tellico in Tennessee- my use.

Check out the static guide placement method in the library above. It is ok to start with a generic spacing but if you want to do it right also use the static method. Temporarily attach the guides with tape, rubber bands , or whatever works for you, I warp them with elastic thread, and then test cast the rod out in the yard and make any adjustments that are necessary. It takes a little extra time but imho is well worth it.

Bob

Bill... If you identify the blanks you're going to build on (maker, line weight, number of sections, etc.) you'll usually find someone on this forum that can tell you what they used (size and spacing) on the same or similar blank. As far as general starting points go, there are a half dozen charts out there for you to consider. You have the Widgren spacing already. The St. Croix folks publish a guide sizing chart that has a strong following. Hook and Hackle has a chart in their print catalog and on their website. Shoff Tackle, Schneiders Rods, and others have charts in their respective websites. Be careful, however. Some of these charts do not take number of rod sections into consideration. Run a search on this forum and refer to the FAQ and you'll be overwhelmed (temporarily) with the amount of information that's available. I use the collection of charts I've found as a start point, though I've studied the Clemens theory, Cliff Hall's contributions to this forum, Jim Mick's paper, etc. Theory and mathematics aside, there are many proponents of the "LGTM" approach, as in "looks good to me." Regards, Vance