First post:
I have a 7 ft. rod with 8 guides. Reduction guides are 25, 16, 10. Running guides are 6's. The butt guide is at 23.75 from the face of the reel. The reel is a Quantum Exceler with 12 lb. fluro. The reel spool suggests 8 lb.
Reel face is 48mm. Chocker is at 1296. I have the guides set up per the New Guide Concept.
The rod casts fine for me. The person I built it for says the line is bunching up at the Butt guide. He can feel it. I can’t see it when he casts though. Of course, he is trying to hit the other side of the lake.
Any suggestions.
Thanks

I think it's all in his head. You've got the butt guide out far enough (almost too far) and with that size line I doubt he's really having any trouble. But the mind is a powerful thing. He may not be used to seeing that type set up and it's messing with his perception of how the rod is actually performing.

You can try this - select a size 30 butt guide. That'll likely pull it back a couple inches. You'll have to redo the other reduction guides as well. Now have him cast that. I will bet that it won't cast any further nor any better, but in his mind it will seem better.

You want him to be happy so you may have to go this route, even though it may be totally unncessary from a pure function standpoint.

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He could also be using a badly coiled line. As his lure or weight reaches the maximum distance the line starts to relax causing the coils to stack up at the guide. Just a thought.

My thought would be the same as Ellis's as I have found the flora lines to have a lot more memory then most monos.

Tight wraps and lines,
Wylie

I suggest a 30 butt guiide for a 12 lb flourcarbon and 48mm is a large spool. The rod needs to be test casted and guides adjusted for best performance with the reel and line of choice. The 16 and 10 may work but a 16 and 12 may work better.
Because of the line of choice.
Your customer is probably right.
Tom's book shows an easy and good initial method for concept guides which is also in the above library.
Joe Kassuba

Remember, the customer is always right.

If I have a client that is interested in distance casting, and or line that is heavier than 6 lb test, I will typically go up to a size 30 guide for the first guide. Depending on the rod, I may also go up to a size 20 for the 2nd guide.

It shouldn't take long to swap out a couple of guides and recoat them.

The client will be happy that you spent the time to let the rod meet HIS expectations.

Roger

The suggestions here aren't going to make the rod cast better - as you say, it already casts fine. The customer has something going on in his head that he can't get past. Probably, as I've found, he can't reconcile the NGC system with his long held image of spinning rods with large ring guides all the way out.

I'd have him cast what he has now and record his best distances on each of say, 30 to 35 casts. Then swap out the guides and tape larger sizes on and have him cast again and record those distances (most likely they'll be less). That's the only way he's going to realize that the problem is only in his head and not with the rod.

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