I'm buildind a 6' 1/2" Casting Rod Spirail wrapped.
How far from the middle of the reel seat to the Stripper guide? (in inches)
How many guides do I need?

Rule of thumb says that on the average you will need 1 guide
for every foot of blank length +1 and to round up to the nearest
foot. So, in your case John 6 1/2ft = 7ft and 7+1= 8 guides plus
the tip top. Your blank may require 1 more or 1 less depending
on guide type(s) and action of the blank. Only you can determine
the actual "correct" number and placement.

The distance from reel spool to stripper depends on
1) reel type & size
2) ring size & height of ring of the stripper
3) how far the blank flexes down to the grip.

A rough guess without knowing any perameters would be around 18 -20
inches.

Raymond Adams
Eventually, all things merge, and a river runs through it..

John,

Do a search here on "simple spiral" and see what turns up. I think it will help you greatly.

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

Hi John,

Here is a very simple way to design a roberts/spiral wrapped rod.

Do a normal static deflection for guide positioning of a conventional rod. When satisfied rotate all but the first and second guides up from the reel to 180* or under the blank. The first guide (stripper) I rotate to the left about 20* from top of the rod. The second guide I rotate to the left to about 170*. This is a starting point for these two guides.

Now I add the extra guide half way between the stripper guide and the second guide at aproximately 110*. This guide has many names. I call it the transition guide. It channels the line from the stripper guide, thru the second guide to the next guide up the blank.

String the line from the reel thru the guides and tip top. I add a 2 oz sinker to the end of the line .
The sinker adds some tension to the line but not so much as to move the guides. Now I pull down on the tip top and look at how the lines transitions from the reel to the bottom of the rod. THE LINE SHOULD NOT TOUCH THE ROD WHEN THE TIP IS PULLED DOWN. If necessary you can slightly move the stripper and second guide around the rod but you should not have to move them up or down. The Transition guide can be moved around the rod and also up and down.

This is the simplest way I know and it works just fine. have fun catching fun with your new rod!

Capt Neil Faulkner

I also would pay attention to the angle of the stripper to prevent line stacking. I have noticed on all that I have done it doesn't need much degree wise to keep the line from the guide to reel in line with the blank. Like Capt. Neil said about 20 degree or so but I have seen less and slighly more on stripper guides. It depends on the reel!

Hi,

John M brought up a valid point. If you rotate the stripper to the left it is possible to have the retrieved line stack up against the left side of the spool. This usually happens on wide spool reels.

Yes, it is okay to transition to the right as many FW bass fishermen prefer since they lay their rods on the deck and don't want to damage guides. Have they heard of rod hol;ders?

Capt Neil Faulkner

Neil... where are you going to put rod holders on a bass boat?

My bass boat has rod holders. A bungee cord comes out of each side and attaches to the hook on the deck. Rods lay down secured by the bungee. Holds rods just fine.

I'm not so sure I want my bass rods sticking straight up in the air at 70mph.

-----------------
AD

Hi Alex,

Obviously a bit of tongue in cheek and also a bit of lack of knowledge. Thank you for bringing me up to speed.

70 mph, wow!!! Most of the party boats I ran were 9 mph with a following sea and a tail wind, ha ha!!!

Capt Neil Faulkner

Alex is being a bit modest.
The majority of bass boats I've been in will run mid 70's to low 80's with a few running in the mid 90's

Capt, has a good point about rotating the first guide a bit.

On some of the first spiral wrapped rods that I did, I had the stripper guide (first guide) at 0 degrees with respect to the reel.
After using the rod a bit, I found that some of the time, the line tended to stack up a bit on one side of the reel.

In ensuing rods, I always make a test cast - so to speak - with a fair amount of line, and reel the line in under tension - as you would have if catching a fish.
I do a bit of final tweaking on the alignment of the guides based on these tests.
I typically find that I tend to align the first or stripper guide at about 5-15 degrees in the direction of guide rotation. Depending on guide size, blank style and type - it is a bit of a variable to get the best line lay with respect to the reel, and also to make sure that the line stays centered in the guides on average, as the line is reeled back on the spool.

Doing test reeling is important for spiral wrapped rods.

I will take 20 or 30 feet of line, and slowly reel the line in under tension. I will make slight tweaks in guide alignment, to insure that the guides are spaced and aligned so as to minimize line touching any guide during the extreme side to side action of the line as it is retreived on the reel. I find that after tweaking, I can generally get the guides all aligned, so that there is very little line ever touching any of the guides during line retreive.
To do a better job in this area, I will sometimes change the size of a particular guide - either larger or smaller to better achiveve this goal.
I find that if I can adjust the guide size, placement and rotation on a spiral wrapped rod - that I can typically get to the point where the line seldom touches a guide during retreive. My belief is that if the line doesn't touch the guides during retrrive, the casting action will be equally enhanced.
I have been requested by several of my clients who throw large and heavy lures, with many many retreives during a day with heavy braided line - that any thing that can be done to have the line not touch a guide during retrrive, makes their day go much better.

Take care
Roger

Steve Gardner Wrote:
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> Alex is being a bit modest.
> The majority of bass boats I've been in will run
> mid 70's to low 80's with a few running in the mid
> 90's

Steve-you have to remember Alex has a Skeeter

John, I'm certainly no expert but I've developed a different way to come up with a spiral wrap - it is probably closer to a Robert's wrap but uses less transition guides. I static test the upper section of the rod from the tip down to the first 180 guide. Then I put a deep flex in the rod - to simulate the fish fighting position - and locate two low profile double foot boat guides - spaced out in a normal guide spacing theme, and rotate these two wherever they need to be to keep both the line off the blank as well as the line riding as close to the bottom of the ring (nearest the blank) while the blank is in the fish fighting position. The butt guide is usually a bit closer than 18"-20" from the reel and is offset to whatever it needs to be and the same for the second guide. Although most will say loading the first 180 guide isn't necessary, I've found that using this system with the two low profile boat guides, all guides get loaded under a deep flex or a fish-on condition. And when loaded, I have a much straighter line coming off from the reel into the "meat" section of the rod guides. Works for me.

Thanks to all of you, a lot of good info !!!

John Woods

What an opportunity - If there is no blizzard and we can finally get Capt Neil on a plane this year! We could allow him to join Michael Joyce as one of the official judges at the ICRBE Rod Pull in the parking lot on Sunday at High Noon. We will then ask the winner to take Neil on a JOY RIDE in a real bass boat. When he puts on the motorcycle helmet with visor, strappped into a bucket seat and checked to insure that all the logo patches on his shirt are double sewn he will no longer ask about rod holders on a rocket sled! Two of the entrants will be "fast drawing spirals" so you can check out which ones are fastest on the draw without damage to guides! Neil this may be hard for a Noreaster Lugger skipper to understand but the only thing in the water at speed on a present day bass boat is the bottom half of the prop and a few square inches of pad!

Hi Bill,

Very good to see your post. I hope that means the hurricanes are leaving your area alone.

With a broken heart and crocodile tears flowing down my cheeks I humbly pass on the opportunity to be shot out of the water on a water craft @#$%& bent on meeting the devil himself! I may be called daft, crazy and nuts on occasion BUT I am not stupid! 50 years ago I might have been into that speed stuff. I have seen what happens to hydroplanes when they go air borne. These days I prefer to watch NASCAR and INDY races from the safety of my home. 40 mph on the water was fast enough for me.

Hey, we are already talking about our upcoming trip to THE SHOW!!! This Geriatric group does not give up easy. We might even arrive a day early. Maybe I can find a vendor who needs a mascot, ha ha!

Capt Neil Faulkner