Is there any photographic or other empirical evidence which indicates that the use of GSP braid instead of monofilament should change guide placement , or guide diameter, or guide height? I am particularly curious about the first and second guides - the "gathering" or "stripping" guides.

Oops! How about the distance between the reel spool face and the first guide?

Certainly not empirical evidence but sure is a lot of work being done at present -

Join the fray!

[rodbuilding.org]

Any line, braid or mono, that is very supple (and all braid is) generally means that the butt guide size can be reduced and the placement to the reel can be closer. How small and how close is something you'll have to play with.

Never rely on photographs or videos - they mean nothing. Go with actual results. Where the lure lands is what counts, not what something looks like.

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Build it for both and roll on. Hard to tell what wil be on the reel and rod line wise in 10 years!

DR

That's a good point, too. If it works well with mono, it will work well with braid. But not necessarily the other way around.

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Phil,
If you send me an email, I'll send you some info on braid-only guide set-up.

I've been using a 10 fly guide for the 1st guide and my "micro guide" rods. The line hits the blank quite often but it casts like a rifle.