I'm building a 3 pc g loomis 6 weight, 9 feet long for bass fishing. I ordered a size 12 stripper, but I also ordered a size 10 stripper because I am contemplating putting on a tamer guide. What are your suggestions as far as a tamer guide is concerned? Advantages and disadvantages? I also read somewhere that the proper place to put one is 4" in front of the stripping guide- that is - do a normal layout with the stripper and the single foot wire guides then just insert the tamer 4" in front of the stripping guide. Is this an urban myth or truth? Any input is appreciated.

brandon

Since the rest of your guide layout is unaffected by a "tamer" guide, set it up as normal and then test cast it with and without the tamer. The spacing for the rest of guides does not change if you add it, or leave it out, so why not give it a try?

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exactly my thoughts Tom. Is 4" in front of the stripper correct?

According to the G.Loomis chart, 10.67".

Paul

thanks for the heads up paul- I wasn't aware they had a chart. I did a google search and got it. It recommends size 3 guides and larger. I had planned to use size 1 for the top three guides under the tip top- will that work?

Sorry Tom and Brandon,

The question was directed at you and not me; my apologies. I just thought I could help Brandon out cause I had the info readily at hand.

Paul

The tamer should be about 1 size smaller than the stripping guide and about 3.5 to 4 inches beyond it.

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Brandon,

I will have to leave that one for the more qualifyed than I. I haven't built that many fly rods to give the "best" answer. My gut feeling tells me no, but I will wait and hear what others say Brandon.

Paul

what about the guide sizes? Size 1 single foot wires are too light aren't they?

Educate me....

What is the "tamer" guide? I think I may have a misunderstanding....

Help...

I've only had one rod I've built where it made a difference, an older 9 ft 6in, 3 piece, 7 wt IMX.

Tom,

That's funny- I checked the chart on g loomis that paul is speaking of and it does show a tamer on this rod about 10-11 inches in front of the stripper. what is the difference?

Spencer- that's funny- this is a 9' 6# IMX 3 pc



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/08/2009 09:59PM by brandon edwards.

Any guide that far beyond the stripping guide is going to be the standard 2nd guide, not a line tamer guide.

How well a tamer guide works depends on the line, not the rod. Softer more supple lines benefit more than stiffer lines, which don't tend to overshoot the 2nd guide.

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Well it shows the following layout- tip top -3 -3 -3 -3 -4 -4 -4 -5 -10 -12. There isn't a size 10 light wire guide is there? It's confusing to me.

First of all, you don't need more than 3 sizes of guides on a rod. What you have there is superfluous. Not needed. If 3's are used in that line up then you can omit the 4's and the 5. They 're not needed and do nothing but add additional weight. Use 3's in those positions instead.

If you want to add a tamer guide, put a size 10 about 4 inches beyond the 12, leaving the rest in the standard positions.

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Brandon, no, the size 10 is not a light wire guide, it will have the same frame as the size 12 guide, which is your stripper guide. Some fly rod manufacturers use two of these heavy frame guides for the ones closest to the butt section of the rod, especially in the heavier line weights with the 5 and 6 wt rods going either way, some only use one,just depends on the brand of rod from what I have seen. I personally use 2 of these type on 5wt and heavier fly rods. The Tamer guide that Tom Kirkman is talking about is not going to show up on a manufacturers guide size and spacing chart. It is an additional guide that is the same frame as the stripper but one size smaller and is positioned 4 inches or so up from the stripper towards the tip. It is solely there to aid in keeping the fly line nice and straight as line is powered out of the rod during your casting stroke. Like Tom said it may or may not have any improvement on the casting quality of the rod. I would build the rod using the Loomis chart and cast the rod with a few different 6wt lines, then add the tamer guide in by tapping it to the blank and try the casting again. Some rods work better, some no different. My own personal experience showed no real improvement in the rods I tapped one to and played around with. One thing I would do is use single foot TiC guides for my running guides and a good quality SiC ring with a TiC frame for the size 10 and 12 guides. They will look really sharp against the matte finish of your blank and the TiC guides have less friction than a chrome guide and they will add another 10 to 20 feet to your casting distance if that is necessary. Hope this helps and good luck.

There is very little friction between the line and the guide rings on the cast. Using TiC guides will not add 10 to 20 feet to your cast. Only way to do that is to greatly reduce guide weight which does have a huge effect on casting distance or take a casting lesson.

Any guide maker than can come up with a guide that will add 10 to 20 to your cast over another type guide will own the market.

A good way to test this is to watch someone cast the rod with and without a tamer guide installed.

I did this demo for a customer when I built a 7wt. I had the guides set up in normal fashion and he cast the rod including shooting some line as he would in a normal presentation. I did notice a pretty large belly between the first and second guide. I pointed this out to him and demoed while I was casting and of course, he saw the same thing. I told him we could add a guide (the tamer guide) about 4" in front of the 1st stripper that would fix this so I put one on and repeated the demo. Of course the belly was removed and while I don't know if it improved his distance a lot, he was confident that it did so it made him extra happy.

Try it and see if you like it.

Terry