I am building a 6 foot med-lite freshwater spinning rod for my son and using the "Guides" CD from Rodmaker. I just can't seem to get the math to work out. It seems like the choker is too far from the reel and too close to the tip. The reel is the appropriate size for my purposes and looks reasonable on the rod.

It is a 6 foot rod, so I figure I need 7 guides plus a tip top. My reel face is 45 mm so I multiplied by 27 to identify the choker guide placement. This ends up being about 11 inches from the tip. The guidelines suggest 3-4 running guides no closer than 4 inches apart. Ok, I figure, I'll fudge a little and use 3 running guides a hair closer together than 4 inches.

This leaves four reduction guides. But the guidelines suggest that only on the heaviest rods will you need more than three.

My questions are:
1. Am I calculating something wrong, or is it just that this particular rod/reel combo requres deviating from the standard reduction/running numbers?
2. When placing my order for the reduction guides, is there any way to know in advance what size guides (height, ring size - other than the butt guide) I will need to line up on the straight edge. I undersand the idea of placing the guides where they look right and line up with the edge, but when it comes to ordering, I don't want to have to order all the sizes to see what fits, or place 4 orders for four guides.

Thanks,
Bob Scacheri

With the spool diameter you have given you should have come up with 1215 mm. (47.871").

here is a good site to convert any measurements Save It : [www.lambron.com]

Also check out the Library page for guide placement. There are several articles, maybe one will be more clearer.

Also with the reel on and I take the spool off and use the spindle check the straight edge.

On guides you will need extra - unless the sponsor has done this type of rod and knows exactly what guides to use. Ask he will help. Extra guides are a good thing this way with an extra set you check before you order.

Bill - willierods.com



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/13/2009 12:34PM by bill boettcher.

Okay, the choker doesn't care how close it is to the tip - you have to drop your concept of where it should be related to the tip. For the same reel and line, the choker will be the same distance from the reel regardless of rod length. So forget about the distance to the tip - it's immaterial. Good choker guide location has to do with the distance between the reel spool and the choker guide, not the distance between the choker guide and the rod tip.

If your reel spool diameter is 45mm you will want to start by placing your choker guide 1215mm (12.15cm or roughly 47-1/2 inches) from the reel face. The choker guide is the first of your running guides.

Because you have a large diameter spool on your reel, you may need to use 4 reduction guides to bridge the gap. But you may find that 3 will do the job. I just built a rod with the choker guide at 44 inches from the spool face and 3 reduction guides worked nicely. But 4 isn't out of the question. This is something you'll have to decide once you set it up and then take it out and do some casting and/or a static distribution test.

I can't tell you what sizes you'll need - that depends on the guide type and line path. I'd order one or two outside of what you think you'll need. They're not expensive and what you don't use on this rod you can use on the next, or start building a set of "layout guides" for future use.

..........

[www.rodbuilding.org]
As you look at the reel/rod compared to the new guide concept as shown above, see hoe the choker falls. Big reels, big distance. Ultralight reels, smaller distance. When placing the reduction guides, just make sure they fall in place as the line will feed. Direct drom the reel to the choker, alog the plane as shown.

Kyle Robinson

Here is the more up to date article but I suspect Bob already has it: [www.rodbuilding.org]

Note that in the rod shown in the article photos, for that particular reel the choker guide would be in the same place regardless of whether the rod was shorter, or longer.

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

Thanks for all the help. It is so nice to be able to bounce things off the experts. I like the idea of developing a library of "layout guides."

Bob