I recently built my first spining rod using the NCG method. I located the choker guide using the reel upsweep method. (I discovered the 27x concept to late.)

Is there a documented process that a builder can use to place guides on a casting rod? I'm guessing there wouldn't be any, or as much, line taming as with a spinning reel so how does one go about deciding the optimal placement of the stripper guide? Since line taming is minimal, would there even be such a thing as a choker guide? Would you just have a stripper guide with the necessary number of running guides? I imagine you'd use the static testing method to locate the running guides or is there more to it than that.

Your feedback is appreciated.

Thanks,
Chad Huderle

Huderle Custom Rods
Prior Lake, MN

No choker guide on a casting rod. The NGC as it applies to casting rods is just a matter of using smaller and lower guides than what most fishermen are accustomed to and getting right on down to a small size quickly, perhaps just within 1 or 2 guides past the butt guide.

The location of the butt guide is the same as always - close enough and high enough to prevent the line from getting down on your hand/foregrip under full load. Wider spool reels may require a larger ring. Most bass type reels can actually get by without resorting to very large butt guides, however.

The NGC for casting reels was also covered in a past issue of RodMaker.

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Casting rods really are much simpler, as long as you have enough guides to get good stress distribution you are good to go. The Fuji spacing charts are actually a pretty good start, I find that nearly every rod I build using starting at 10, 11, 13, 15, 19 cm from the tip works perfectly. After that it may vary depending on the rod, I have tested several different combinations and this one works great for me, but all of my rods are pretty similar relatively fast action bass rods, if I were building a heavy boat rod or surf rod I would rethink my spacing considerably.

Dale Clements book "Advanced Custom Rodbuilding"explains really how and why the improtance of placing butt guide. As is noted anywhere from 16" to 22" depend ing size of reel being used. Then from butt guide to tip top measure distance and space accordingly. Flex Coat's "Step by Step Rodbuilding Guide" also has good info on guide size and number of guides needed for the size if rod you are building.

The only thing to keep in mind is that Clements book was written when an Ambassador 5000 was the norm for a baitcasting reel. Today’s reels are much smaller, and the levelwind doesn’t traverse during casting. People are having very good success with downsizing the stripper guides to match the reels that we have today, I was looking at one of my older rods with a size 12 stripper guide and thought how weird it looks now that I have gotten used to the smaller guides.