Billy, I had some questions about the results of your test casting that you put up on Stripersonline. in the results it showed that the Concept setup was the shortest casting setup and the lowrider setup was the longest casting setup for spinning rods. I was wondering if I was actually reading the results correctly and if so, how is the low rider setup done? is it the same type of concept setup just with the stripper pushed out a little further and with a smaller ring? if so, what about going up one size to have it closer to the reel? I'm assuming there was no line slap (my primary concern with the low riders) with the smaller guide ring being placed farther from the reel but I can't seem to figure out how that would work?

Teh results were accurate, based on teh rods that were built. TEh same person built the Dual Purpose/Low Rider rod, and the Concept rod which had Single frame Fuji Y guides. The Dual Purpose set up had a size 25 Fuji MN which was pretty far from teh reel, I honestly cannot tell you how the Concept set up was built, unfortuantely I didn't keep good notes.

Teh reults of something like this will always be skewed, as based on how each rod is built if somethign is not done properly, it wont' cast very well. I'm not saying that is the case here, but part of the reason I am re-doing this Test Casting event this Spring using Lamiglas GBS 1201M or the Super Surf of teh same model - is so I can accurately record every piece of data so teh comparisons are more useful to those who look at it.

Ther is no doubt the smaller guides cast extremely well, if placed properly....but I also feel that if the guide is not placed in the correct spot teh smaller guide set ups will not cast very well at all. I think that's an obvious statement though, lol. The best thing you can do is test cast several set ups, and watch how teh line reacts as it comes off teh spool and passes through the guides, and make adjustments based on that.

Something to keep in mind any time anyone does such casting tests - the same individual blank must be used for all guide set-ups and tests, otherwise you aren't comparing apples to apples. There is enough variance in blanks, even of the exact same model, that you could have one that was better loaded by the casting weight than the others and in such close differences, could in fact be the thing that made the difference.

This may or may not have anything to do with the results Billy posted, but it is something to keep in mind if you want to eliminate as many outside influences as possible and keep the testing results based solely on the differences in the guide set ups themselves.


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

ok, thanks for the additional info Billy and the level setting Tom. i will get guides to try out both setups to see which way works best for the rod I've got and my casting style (re. lack of technique). should be a fun day (or two) test casting all the different setups.

Never hesitate to use smaller than normal guides in any set up you use on a surf rod. Spinning or conventional. I was there for that particular test casing event. We didnt have a test casting robot, we didnt have tridentical blanks (tridentical is six of the same with a minus 2 factor)...but I'd venture to guess that 99% of those in attendence for this event, no longer use the giant guides currently availble on the market. Experiment, test cast, and find what works best for you....Its a sight and sound thing.