I'm refurbing an eleven foot one piece fiberglass rod that will be used for sturgeon fishing from the bank on the Columbia River in Oregon. I don't know the make or model. They usually to cast eight to ten ounces of lead and distance is a premium. A Diawa casting reel will be used and I want to spiral. No shock leaders or knots will pass through guides.

I'm thinking this setup compares to East Coast surf casting, so my question is "What are the fundamental of guide placement?" Fewer guides and the butt guide will be farther from the reel seat? My rough placement thoughts are from the tip are 5", 11", 18", 26", 36", 48", 63". This places the butt guide 31" away from the reel seat. Does this seem like a reasonable starting point?

I hope to do my static test and test casting this weekend but want to find an intelligent starting point and make sure that I'm not missing something.

Thanks

Mike, I'm sure some of the more experienced will chime in, but I'll give it a shot.

First the butt guide is located where, when the rod is fully loaded, it keeps the line off the grip and your hand. It may be 31", it may be right off the grip. I would start close and move it out.

For the remainder, I would glue up the tip, place the first runner 4.5" back, and the stripper close to the grip. Then load with those guides only until your stripper location is established. Then locate the first 180 from the stripper and load until the line contacts the bottom and loads the guide. Then place the bumper or transitions. Then place the runners. The bumper and first 180 may end up being smaller than the runners. Just be sure to tighten the drag and really load it good. Then test cast and readjust if necessary. Also check how the line lays on the reel (levelwind?). If not you may want to spiral in the direction of the hand on the foregrip so you only need to push the line.

Good luck

Try this for starters: [www.rodbuilding.org]

Heed the notion that heavy duty surf rods need fewer guides.

25 to 30 inches from the reel is not out of the question.


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I would set the guides up about what you have.
With the spiral - starting at the butt guide I would set the guides at 20 , 60, 120, 180 and 180 to the tip.

Tape the guides in place and do some loading test with the blank not deflected, 20 % 50%, 80% and 100%.

If the line tracks nicely, stays off the blank like you want, and reels evenly back onto the reel correctly, tie up the guides.

Otherwise, tweak both the position, and or spiral orientation as needed to achieve the desired results.

Many folks start with the butt guide at 0 degrees, but I have found to have much better luck with the butt guide deflected about 20 degrees in the direction of the spiral. This rotation typically allows for a more even load on the reel, when reeling the line back in.

But, if it doesn't work with your particular setup and blank and reel, modify it as needed.

Every blank, style, reel is slightly different. So, adjust as needed to get the perfect effects that you want.

Take care
Roger

Thank you for all of your input. This man killer rod is way outside the parameters of all of my previous builds so I wanted to be sure I had all of my bases covered.

BTW, this rod is for a coworker/friend who said the rod was previously custom wrapped, I just didn't realize how custom! The grips were pipe insulation duct taped on. The reel seat is a good one. The guides were wrapped with what looked like 100lb Tuff Line. I have since sanded the blank down and took it to the auto body shop to have it painted a gun metal metallic gray. The rear grip is 30lb tarred seine cord and the fore grip is EVA. Now I'll work on the guides as time allows. I'm thinking the thread work will be a red, white and blue color theme and perhaps I'll do a couple of red, white, blue turkshead on the rear grip.

Thanks, again.

Mike

I always set the line up to have the straightest line path I can get

Bill - willierods.com

I mainly build surf rods here in the Northeast. Your original guide spacing looks excellent as a starting point