I am building a 6ft UL spinning rod and thought I'd pick your brains on guide sizes.
I jumped on the "micro/spiral" bandwagon and have started on my 5C70MHF... so far so good!
Is there a thoery, or standard formed yet for micro guides and spinning rods?

At the moment I am thinking:
BYAG - 20j - 12j - 8Lj - BLAG - 6 - 6 - 6 - TT ( I already have the 6's and the 6-4.0 TT for it... so I'm rolling with that on the top section. Does the 20, 12, 8Lj sound OK for a 6ft UL?

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
Tight wraps!
Brian

Put the first 6 (choker) at 27x the spool diameter from the reel. Now, run a string from the center of the reel to the choker. Next, check that the tops of the 20-12-8 touch the string, when those guides are placed where you want them. I would order extra guides in sizes 25, 16, 10, just to be sure that I had what I needed.

Thanks George!

You don't want to predetermine your guide sizes - let the line path show you what sizes to use and where to locate them. As George said, this will entail buying a few extra sizes to allow you to use what's required.

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

I've never used the method that George described, but I totally understand the logic behind it. I just want to make absolutey sure I understand the process.

George said to measure the diameter of my spool and multiply that by 27 (1.642 x 27=44.334) . Then place the first choker (blag 6) at 44.334... from the reel face or the butt of the rod? (assuming reel face)

So, at this point I'm not even looking at the 20, 16, and 10... just focusing on the 6?
Measuring from the blank to the line determines the sizes of the larger sized guides, and their placement - based on which size touches the line?
Do I place the larger guides on the blank where they contact the line - or does the static guide test kick in at this point?

Thanks ya's!
Brian

EDIT - typo's, misspelled words - I really wish my fingers were intelligent as I am.. lol



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 05/07/2009 08:38AM by Brian Morrow.

RodMaker Volume 10 #4 has the details and photos/illustrations. There is an earlier version in the library here.

There is only 1 choker guide - it will be the smallest guide used in the set-up (the runners are all the same size as the choker guide).

The distance you asked about is from the face of the reel spool to the choker guide location.

The line path is from the spool center to the choker guide. Guides are set so that the line path is straight and along the rings (you cannot make line pass through the center of a guide - gravity will pull it to the bottom of the ring).

This requires that you have enough guide sizes on hand so that you can accommodate the line path. You nearly always have a couple size options for the butt guide, but there is a general range which tends to work best and prevent line slap. So it is recommended to try both sizes as they will be located in different places.

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

Thank you Tom!
I greatly appreciated it :-)

I found the article in the library and fully grasp the process now.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/07/2009 09:07AM by Brian Morrow.

Brian,
This is unscientific, but I made a set of ultralights on G Loomis 6 ft blanks, extendeded to Tom's SJ 700 smallmouth rod specs. I used Tom's 6 lb line guide spec from the article and the 27X spec. I didn't notice a test casting performance difference with the limp 2 and 4 lb line I used, but the 6 lb line spec'd rod was lighter, especially in the tip, by quite a bit. They are both wrapped and fished at Tom's 6 lb spec now.

Spencer, ya sort of lost me because I'm not familiar with Tom's 6lb spec, or the SJ 700 smallmouth rod specs.
I'm sort of new around here and don't receive Rod Maker magazine... yet. I plan on subscribing as soon as I can afford to, and I plan to buy several back issues as well... so I can catch up on all this wisdom!

Many thanks!
Brian

Brian, he's referring to Tom's article in Rodmaker on Light Tackle smallmouth rods.
Now, I am sure I replied here, must have hit the wrong button. I use that transition setup on most of my light rods, matched to spools in the 35 to 41 mm diameter range, and they work great. With NGC spacing, you may need another BLAG6 on the tip.

As previously mentioned, a few extra sizes in guides will allow you more scope for experimentation and tweaking of the guide train. 16, 10, 8L, or even more extreme and just using the 16 or the 12 shooting straight into the 8L and the 6's. Line used plays an important part, and test casting will show that. You also need good distribution between the reel and choke.
All depends on the guide height you need in that 19-23 inch range (butt guide), and the spacing of the transitions to the choker (BLAG6 at 27X).

Also, higher framed guides like 'M' frames will allow you to keep height and distribution, but use an overall smaller sized guide train. If you are keen on trying smaller guides (3's,4's, 5's) then this may be another avenue to explore too.

Just finished a 3s60ulf, and it is set up for mono on a shimano sustain 1000. I used byag 20 - 12 - 8L - blag 4s to the tip with a batson 4mm tip. works great