I am new to rod building... just a couple of fly rods down & they were done using the supplies that came with the kit. But I feel like branching out now...

I remember reading (but not where I read it) something about using larger than standard butt guides or even tips. the jist of the post was that the larger size would allow the line to flow through the guides better & cast more freely.

I don't remember where I read this or even the details of the article. I may have even gotten wrong the details above. I'm basically looking for any insight on guide sizing & how it affects casting, especially but not limited to fly rods.

thanks for any help!

Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he may never be home in time for dinner again!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/24/2011 12:04PM by Patrick Marecic.

Once a guide is larger than it needs to be, all you're doing is adding additional weight which robs you of some amount of performance. As component weight increases, rod speed (how quickly it reacts and recovers) begins to suffer.

The proper guide size is the smallest size that will easily pass your line and any connections and will hold up to the task at hand under the conditions where you'll be using it.

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I have yet to see any objective measurement of the degree to which smaller guides increase fly casting distance. I have endured more than once [ to my shame] how smaller guides create obstructions in a guide train, causing me aggravation and lost fish.
Those who make decisions based upon opinion polls and preponderance of hearsay are welcome to enjoy whatever benefits they reap from their gullibility. I'll stick to empirical evidence which I can verify.

Based on my experience
Smaller guides reduce shooting performance
Lighter guides improve rod response increasing casting performance.
Unless you have a fly line that will lay in a straight line after being unspooled the line tends to lay in loose coils.
While shooting line these coils are hampered from flowing through small guides.
Large but light guides can be achieved through the use of light wire single foot titanium guides.
Especially though the tip of the rod where inertia and velocity are the highest.

Eugene Moore

Smaller than what? Larger than what? Smaller guides do not reduce performance any more than larger guides increase it. The key is always and again - use the proper size guides, neither too large nor too small.

The proper size is the smallest size that will easily pass your line and any connections and will hold up to the task at hand under the conditions where you'll be using it.

Using the proper size ensures that you are not adding any more weight than absolutely necessary to the rod and that your line and any connections will easily pass and shoot well through them.

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Patrick, some people (like me) like to use a larger stripping guide, often called a "tamer" guide. The theory is that it helps corral all of that slack line while you are shooting. I think Lefty Krey promoted this idea, but I may be wrong, although my TFO does have a honking shooting guide. Most other commercial manufacturers don't do this largely because is "looks funny." I like to use single foot guides to hold the line off of the rod and because I'm basically lazy and it gives me half the wraps. (I can't tell if the additional weight of the guide balances out the loss of the thread weight.) I'm not aware of any empirical evidence on either of these theories, but Lefty can cast farther than me, and competition casting rods I've seen recently use this pattern, (although none of the trout I've surveyed really seem to care.) so I'm okay with that.
I logged into this thread because I also had questions about tip sizes. It seems the trend is for relatively large tips and I was wondering the theories behind that versus older smaller tips I've seen. So far, I haven't really seen anybody answering your questions.

Forming your reel-hand thumb and index finger into an "OK" loop with your line shooting through it will eliminate any need for a #40 stripping guide.

There are times, especially with shooting heads, when I need both. Have somebody take some photos of you casting and see if you ever get a reversed 'S' in the line pre-guides. Besides if you have the answer, why did you ask the question?

Not for nothing --- If you want to go thought it try different sizes of guides on your rod

The only way to really tell how it will perform

Bill - willierods.com