6'6" fast action casting rod. In order to keep the line off of the rod it appears I'm going to set a record for the greatest number of guides. Constructive comments invited and welcomed.
Taking this a little further, I've not seen charts for guides that take the action of the rod into account. Just one of those experience things, right ?
Thanks all!

how many guides???????????

It looks like 10 or 12 . Sorry about the double post. Not sure what happened.

Wow, Richard! That's a bunch!! Have you considered doing a "Bumper" spiral wrap?? Amazingly easy to set up and very effective and a joy to fish.

Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!

Richard; Have you read the articles in the library here on guide placement? I made a post on this in the above double but 10 or 12 does seem a bit excessive. What kind of rod and guides are you using?

The old school pre-concept guide trend axiom; was one guide per foot of rod not including the tip minimum , so a 7' foot blank would have 7 guides plus a tip. Now there is also something to be said for casting vrs. spinning as there will not be any possibility that the line touches the blank on a spinning rod so the one guide pre foot of rod min. certainly could pertain to spinning rods.

Casting rods on the other hand you might wish add a guide or two to the minimum especially, when the rods is rated for light line. It was also once said that better rods have more than this guide per foot of blank minimum. Taken with another old addage that the most common novice mistake in rod building is to over guide. One must find "Daiwa" or a "Great Harmony" between the rod building proverbs.

I'd try to run nine guides max, the 1st guide up the blank keep 21-23" from the front of the reel seat. The 1st guide from the tip, keep 4.5 to 5 inches away from the tip. Adjust the middle 7 guides with a static test, trying for equal angles as the line enters the guide from each side as it relates to the blank. When its right it will just look right, harmonious with a fluid building of angles (line coming in and going out) guide to guide; when you stand off to the side and look at the loaded blank in full arch. Don't load the rod past a 90 degree angle, that might be why your getting so many guides and the line touching the blank. You might me "high sticking" (beyond 90) in your static test.

Richard,
10 or 12 guides is too many even if you are using very light weight low profile guides and the blank has a fast action. 7 or possibly maybe 8 is plenty. I know that some guide set up schemes recommend that with the blank at maximum deflection you use enough guides that the line does not touch the blank so as to aviod friction between the line and the guide. If you think about it this makes no sense because under any casting or fishing condition when the rod is at maximum deflection the line is not moving so there cannot be any friction between the line and the rod. For example when casting the line is not moving when the rod is at max. deflection and the lines highest velocity is when the rod is essentially straight.

Charts never have taken into account rod action. Neither has any rule of thumb. This is why they should only be used as starting points for your final static stress distribution tests.

A 6'6" casting rod with 12 guides is a rod with a lot of guides for sure. But if you're using low frame guides, I can see that you might need that many. With higher frame guides, you can get by with far less, but the higher frame will only exacerbate the tendendy of the rod to twist under load.

I'm not going to tell you that 12 is too many for that particular rod. I will tell you that if you use 12 guides they need to be small and light so as not to undermine rod efficiency to any great extent.

And if you will try a spiral wrap and give it a fair test out on the water, I don't think you'll ever wrap your casting rods any other way.

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