I recently relocated to the NW and decided to start wrapping again. However, with so many rivers and fewer lakes, I've been bitten by fly fishing disease (Fly flu). I can't bring myself to buy another off-the-shelf rod, as I know what a huge difference a nice custom rod makes. So, I'm looking to build myself a 9" 5wt as my first fly project. Other than employing the new guide concept, any caveats I should consider? Even though it's far from being my first build, it will be my first rod. I'm considering a Rainshadow or Loomis GL3 blank to get started. The rod will be fished mainly on the Deschutes, Metolius, with a few trips out to the Snake, Yellowstone, and Boulder. Any suggestions for other blanks or guides?

Cheers!

Your blank choices are both good, given a choice I'd go with the Batson RX7 or RX8. Not sure what you mean by " new guide concept" on a fly rod?

I've built several fly rods on the RX-7 in 5 wt. It is a good choice and does make a for a nice casting rod. However my vote would go to the CTS Affinity One blank. They are a bit on the expensive side, but you cannot find a better casting rod. My second choice and a bit less expensive is the Dan Craft Sig V, they are a real close second to the CTS blanks. Fishsticks carries the CTS and Dan Craft has the Sig V. If money is an issue go with the RX-7. I don't have any experience with the Loomis blanks. For guides I like the single foot TiC's for running guides and a size 12 TiC frame with a SiC ring.

Those are big rivers and the Deschutes has steelhead. You might want to consider a 6 or 7 weight that will handle the steelhead and buck the wind better. I would also consider a switch rod. They are usually about 10' - 6" long and can be cast either with one hand or two for extra distance. Just a thought.

I already have a 9' 6wt for the wind and bigger fish. I figure I can knock out an 8wt for steelhead and salmon after I get the hang of fly rods. With the new guide concept, I was really looking at more of the guide spacing strategy and not so much the type of guides. I hope I'm not off base with that, as that's what I employ with spinning and casting rods.

As far as blank prices, money isn't a huge issue. However, I would hate to dump several hundred dollars on a blank and botch the build. I remember what my first spinning rod looked like ;) Luckily it fished well.

Thanks for the suggestions!

Anson,
The New Guide Concept is used for spinning rods. You need to use the static distribution test for determining the best means of reducng stress on the rod. It is important to locate the stripping guide first. In addition you ought to consider locating the first guide down from the tip top at about 4 to 5 inches. The rest of the guides should be placed as to minimize stress and to follow as closely as possible the the natural curve of the blank when flexed. Look in the library above for the section on Static Distribution test.

To locate the stripping guide many fly rod builders hold the rod in the casting hand with that arm bent at a 90 degree angle. To locate the stripping guide reach as far as your can with your other hand and touch the blank. Place the stripping guide at this point. Generally this will be about 30 inches from the reel.

Now tape all of the guides on the rod based on static distribution test and take the rod out and test cast. You can then move the stripping guide one or two inches towards the tip and recast. Then repeat moving the stripping guide from the original point two inches towards the butt and again recast. If you don't see any casting improvement when you tweak the stripping gude position in this way, move the stripping guide back to the original position. You can of course tweak other guides, but I have yet to see any improvement from such tweaking.

For a nine foot rod I would use10 guides, but you might get away with 9 guides. For the guides on the tip section, try to choose guides that will be as small as possible but still give you good casting without the knots hanging up as they move along the rod.

Many rod builders often add a tamer guide about 4-5 inches ahead of the stripping guide. This tamer guide is not part of the 9 or 10 guides. It is an extra guide usually the same size as the stripping guide ( I sometimes go one size smaller). It sole purpose is to control the line as it passes the stripping guide. Once you have set all of the other guides, just place another guide 4 to 5 inches ahead of the stripping guide and see if your casting distance increases a bit. if you don't see any improvement, just omit the tamer guide.

I hope my comments are helpful and those of other builders will also be helpful to you. If you have any questions, send me an e-mail. Good luck.

Mike Blomme

Thanks Mike. I forgot that static distribution was its own animal, as I lumped it in to the new concept guide method. So, the dynamics are obviously different with a fly rod. So, there really isn't such a thing as a choke guide, with line coming off a different type of reel and in a different fashion?

I appreciate the education

Anson,

Mike Blomme is a very knowledagable builder, but my .02 is going to differ greatly from his.

Here is what I would do; instead of doing a static tests and all, just use the guide spacing charts for Loomis and Batson both. With a 9 foot 5 wt, the static tests and all will hardly make any difference when fighting the fish or casting. I have used their guide charts for the spacing and have never been disappointed. Sure, some folks may have, but this cat hasn't.

Anyway, have fun and enjoy....

Paul

Building upon the previous posts, I start by temporarily putting the guides on with small sections of surgical tubing using the manufactures guide placement charts. I then do a static test and find that sometimes (not always) I will need to adjust one or more guides slightly. Unless you wanting to cast for distance records, the back and forth casting efforts is a lot of wasted effort IMO. Many manufactures (Batson & Loomis especially, have done a lot of research to arrive at their suggested guide spacing. Choice and size of guides is another matter entirely.