I have a 13 ft , 2 pc G. Loomis ST 1562 Rod. It has a 16" cork handle.

The tip top diameter is .060" or 1.6mm.

Could anyone provide me a suggestion on Quantity and Size of guides to completely cover this rod build. Presently it has no guides on it at all. The primary use for this pole is Float Fishing Rainbows in and around tributaries on the Great Lakes. These fellows averaged 8 to 12 lb.

If you would like to offer a particular manufacturer and style type for these guides I am also open to suggestion with regards to favourites on this topic as well. I am always looking for quality against value in this area.

Thanks

Steve

Steve Lynas



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/14/2011 10:54AM by Steve Lynas.

Try pac bay m series. If you don't mind shipping costs, guidesnblanks.com in the UK has high frame small ring match guides. Contact Gregg Holloway of Hopkins & Holloway (e-mail address is on the website). Great customer service. I built a float rod on a 13' spey blank and I used H & H high frame match guides. The stripper is a 10mm ring and placed 32" from the reel stem at Gregg's suggestion. Casts like a charm.

Thanks but a 10mm seems like a small stripping guide compared to say the G.Loomis STR1562 GLXCP 13 that compares to the rod I am building and has a # 20 stripping guide.

I realize that we build rods because we want something different then the rack, but as a reference the 13 foot Loomis rod I mention above has 10 guides total, from butt to tip as follows, #20, #16, #12, #10 #8(qty 6) tip top 4.5-8.

I come to this site because I hope someone can provide an experience that says this configuration is flawed in some way and why?

So a #10 stripper guide is half the diameter of what is being used by Loomis. What guide sizes then follow your stripper?

What I have been considering is the Pac Bay Minima BSV3NG guides. Can anyone tell me these would be inappropriate and why?

Steve Lynas



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 11/15/2011 04:08PM by Steve Lynas.

The best thing to do is try different configurations and see how they cast maybe what was recommended will work better never know ??

You can also try a Google search on float rod spacing charts and see how other companies size there guides

Bill - willierods.com

I have gotten away from high frame guides on my float rod builds of late and like it much better.
For a 13' rod you are looking at 12 or 13 guides plus tip.
I run a 20, 12, 8 mid frame guide and then the rest I use matching single foot fly guides and matching tip.
It cuts down on guide breakage issues as well as weight on the tip of the rod.
I have just ordered up a set of ALPs (Batson) XYTLG's for my 20,12,8 and XPFLG fly guides as well as a XPPLT tip top for my latest build.

If the rod will be used for winter steelheading try and stay with a #7 or #8 for the tip and single foot fly guides if not I go as small as #6's.
You can substitute Flexilite guides for the running guides as well if you find the single foots affecting the action because of weight when using #8's on winter rods.

Regards
Dave

Fishing is Life the rest is just Details

I've used REC Recoil guides on winter use float rods with good results. They are light and tough and the ice is knocked off easily when need be. Batson has a few float rod recipes on their site. I can see a small stripper guide working well on a center pin rod since there are no large coils to tame at that point.