I've been building rods since 1983 and always set the guides up by test casting and stress test. I just used the new concept guide set up as described in the Rodmaker Mag and in the library. After setting up the rod I took it outside and did some test casts. It cast great. I was really pleased. My question is do you still need to test cast before wrapping or are the guides going to be exactly where they are supposed to be if you do it right?

I always test cast and still do a stress distribution. Sometimes things need to moved around and played with, but if you've been doing this that long, you'll be awfully close every time. I rarely move a guide more than an inch or so from my initial setup unless I am able to remove a guide or in the rare event I have to add one in.

They're going to be very, very close to as good as you can get. But, since test casting takes only a few minutes, do it just to make sure.

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