Tom, your recent comment about fast fly rods being easier to cast was just enough to push me to ask a question that has plauged me for a long time. I have built a few dozen fly rods in the past few years for experienced fly casters. They all want "fast or extra fast" blanks. Why are the fast blanks harder to find and more expensive?

The second part of my question is fly line guides. If "ringed" guides vs wire becomes a weight issue why not buiuld a blank that will be a given weight after guides are on the rod? In my mind I can not equate the two types of guides, it seems to me to a no contest, that ringed guides are superior in every way except for weight savings. Why don't the blank manufacturers make a blank designed for ringed guides that when finished will be fast or extra fast?

Many of those people may not have any clue what the term "fast" means. Action is where the rod initially flexes. I suspect many are actually referring to speed (reaction and recovery speed) and custom rod builders need to ferret out this information in order to make sure the customer gets what he's after.

Ringed guides are not necessarily heavier than snake guides. Depends on the particular type of ringed guide. The type guide you use won't affect the action of the rod. It will affect the speed of reaction and recovery (which is what I think you're asking) if they're unusually heavier than what the manufacturer considered the norm. I asked Steve Rajeff some years ago if he designed his fly blanks (G.Loomis, Inc.) to allow for a chance in rated line size after the guides and wraps had been applied. He said no, that within reason they won't change the rod by enough to make that much difference. I'd agree with him to a point - take the CCS measurements before and after you build the rod and you'll find the AA is unchanged while the ERN drops only very slightly. This is assuming you're using guides that not overly large or heavy, of course.

However, it's easy to change the speed of a rod with the addition of guides. You can take the CCS frequency measurements to prove this although it's something you can easily feel by hand. I've always preferred ceramics for a host of reasons. Their slightly greater weight didn't overly affect the rod but I've searched for something lighter than them and yet a little more refined than a snake guide for a long time. I believe I recently found the answer in the Pacific Bay Minima 4 guides.

One last thing - the idea that fast action rods are hard to load stems from the fact that most modern fly rods in the longer lengths and medium to heavy line weights are design for long distance casting. The average fly fisherman often has trouble loading the rod because he's using the rated line which isn't going to load the rod at short to medium distances. Because few fly fishermen understand the relationship between line weight and line length, they automatically assume that fast action rods are hard to load. They're not. You just need to line them correctly for the distance you're going to be using them.

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