Hi,

I'm new to the forums here and am building my first fly rod. I have chosen a nine foot 6 wt 2 piece Cabela's brand SLi blank, a Pacific Bay walnut downlocking reel seat, and a flor grade cork Western shaped handle.

I'm having some problems with the guides as I've heard different things. L.A. Garcia in his book says large guides reduce friction and allow for longer casts, but the forum FAQ's here say smaller ones help because they reduce weight.

Also, I've heard somewhere that 2 stripper guides is a good idea, but I don't know why that would be. Is there some reason behind this?

Here's my guide selection; they are all Pacific Bay TiCH:

1 size 2
2 size 3
2 size 4
2 size 5
1 size 6
1 size 10 Hopkins and Holloway Titanium Stripper guide

Is this a good selection for a 9 ft. moderate/fast action rod?

I haven't selected a tip top yet; are the tip top sizes the same as the snake guide sizes; are the stripper guide sizes the same as the snake guide sizes?

I've done a complete turn around on guide sizing thanks to Rodmaker and this site. I'm satisfied with the results. Here's what I would do if I were you.

1 size 12 Hopkins and Holloway Titanium Stripper guide
1 size 10 Hopkins and Holloway Titanium Stripper guide
1 size 5
6 size 2

That's all you need!

I'd go smaller. 12 & 8 Hopkins & Holloways, Size #2 singlefoot wire, and #1 singlefoot wires to the tip. No need to go with an oversized tip.

Alright, I'll follow the advice on the sizes, but I think I'll stick to snakes and not singlefoot ones. My uncle did those and he said it was really annoying.

Nothing wrong with snakes, but I"ve never found the single foot guides, particularly the ceramics, to be anything other than very pleasant.

Ken is right - you don't need all the different sizes. Just drop down quickly to the smallest size you're able to use. 3 different guide sizes is all you need on about any rod.

...........

I'm a newbie also, having built around seven fly rods to date. I just finished a nice Sage SLT with snake guides. All my other rods have had single foot guides. The single foot guides are, in my opinion much easier to do (half the work). I use the small rubber bands to secure them on the blank before winding. I'm not sure what problem your uncle might have had with single foots.