I am planning to build a fly rod for my brother who, recently moved to Alaska, he has taken up fly fishing for salmon and steelhead, what I know is he is using 9-10wt rods, I would like some input on guide sizes and types I have no clue about fly rods at all, and the last thing is should I use D sized thread.

No reason to use "D" , "A" works fine. Have you picked a blank yet?

Not really have it half way narrowed down to either a TFO or a rainshadow

Unless he is fishing for King Salmon, a 10 weight is a lot of rod. If he's fishing for Silvers, Sockeye and steelhead an 8 weight will do it.

The Rainshadow RX8 makes a great rod for Alaska conditions. It's got more power than your average 8wt-more like an 8.5 weight. I have also fished a TFO TiCro-X 8wt up there and its a decent rod, but I'd give the nod to the Batson Rainshadow, which feels crisper and lighter.

Some suggestions: The stripping guides should be roughly size 16 and 12, followed by snakes about size 2 or 3. 10 total guides. You can use either a wire top which is traditional, or I like the Fuji TFST for a fly top--size 7 or 8. It doesn't look traditional. but it performs better.

If you don't know how to set spacing on a fly rod, a very good place to start is the St Croix guide spacing table for heavy duty fresh water fly rods. Tape on the guides and static test from there. It won't need much adjustment.

You will need a reel seat and cork, and it is tough to go wrong with a handle "kit" from Batson or St Croix. I like both with a slight preference for the Batson HK4, which is a nice seat and a very decent cork for the $$. The St Croix kit is very good too.

Use size A thread.

Good luck

Drew

If you are going with any of the Batson blanks, their web site will provide a "building specs" sheet for each. It is a great starting point and you can deviate from it as you wish. I also highly recommend the Batson over the TFO both for performance and quality! The 10wt is overkill for most Alaska species.

I agree 100% that a 10 is overkill after visiting st croix's website and a few others and reading about fly rod wt and what they are used for most commonly,I will be taking drew's advice and going with an 8, and most manufactures say 7 or 8 for salmon, he is learning what he knows from my uncle and he has the 9 and 10's he has been using but thanks a ton for all the help you guys are great people.

Kevin,
Re thread. On all of my fly rods I use "A" thread for the two footed guides and "00" for the runners. It gives the wrap a lower profile and does not need as much finish to keep it as light as possible in the tip area. You will have some prob getting "00" in many colors. I get it in black (my fav), royal blue, maroone, garnet.

Re guides. On a #8, I would use REC recoils all the way and use larger running guides than recommended because they can/will ice-up when it gets cold enough. I would go with #5' single foot and #4 in snakes. Re blanks. Personally nothing can beat a CTS (New Zeland) - but also the best blank (again in my opinion) Dan Craft makes is his FT #7. It can easiliy be overlined to a #8 and even to a #9 if your brother needs to cast larger flys. Back to CTS - my fav for your use would be the CTS Affinity-MX in either #8 or #9. The #9 in that model is easy to load and not too much rod. If you were going with the CTS Affinity-X - do it in the #7. That would be a great rod for your brother. Can be overlined like the Dan Craft blank but has a crisper action.

Regards,
Herb

when you say single foot guides are you talking about the same kind one would use on a casting rod with single foot guides or something different, next question for you are you saying 5 as in qty. of guides or as in the size of the guides, if it is qty. what sizes would you use for a rod like this, as for the CTS rod i would love to build one of those for him ONE day if he decides to stay up there but as of right now and this being a gift from me i don't have that kinda money to throw at this rod at this time in a pinch to get it built and sent to make it by X-mas ,so it is kinda of a semi budget build , but they sure have some good reviews from what i have seen around on the net on other forums. Thanks a ton for your input Herb and everyone else

Kevin-I would recommend you use traditional double foot snake guides for this rod, here is why; Double foot snake guides are typically stronger(due to their double binding onto the rod) and they tend not to get hung up in brush as much. You are dealing with a new fly fisherman who's casting may be less than perfect and who will likely value robustness over an tenth of a gram of weight saving.

Wire fly guides both single and double foot(snake) are sized by a number system. 6 is about the biggest size and 2/0 is about the smallest. On an 8 weight rod manufactures use size 4 and smaller, with Sage using very small guides often 1/0 for the last two before the tip. In general, size 3 will always work, but size 2 is also about right.

The first two guides up from the reel are the "stripping guides" and traditionally are double foot casting guides. From there to the tip is the domain of the running guides where I recommend you use the snake guides. So starting at the reel your guides might look like this:

16(casting type guide), 12(casting type guide), 3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3, tip, with all of the 3s being size 3 double foot snake guides. There is lots of leeway here but this will work very well. Some advocate graduating the sizes of the running guides but it is not necessary.

How budget a build? The Batson RX6 two piece rod blanks are inexpensive and work fine, especially for a new fly fisherman. I built one for my brother as a back up rod and it's casts decently for under $50 Then use ss wire guides ($1 each) and some inexpensive strippers. If you are on a Batson kick, their LXN or MXN guides work great for stripping guides and are not expensive. A money saving tip I got here on RBO was to use a Fuji size 16 graphite reel seat. For $5 or so it will hold your reel as well as anything. I don't like the look that much, but from a utilitarian point of view, it's fine.

Anyway, I'm rambling a bit, but good luck.

Drew

Kevin,
I was referring to the size of the guide. On a 9' rod you will use a total of 10 guides. On an 8wt you could use two (2) double-footed guides at the butt sections and 8 running guides. I feel more comfortable using larger running guides directly after the double footed guide - as in one #6, one #5 and six #4 if going with snakes. If you decide to go with single foot (s/f) guides as runners I would do one #6 and the rest #5.
But as Drew says - some go with all the same size runners. Matter of opinion.

I also would agree with Drew that the snakes make sense - especially with iced-up guides in AK. But I like - and only use - REC Recoil guides and I find that the snakes MAY be more prone to "sing" then the s/f running guides.
If you go with s/f runners I would use #5 guides only for the ice situation. I would usually use #4's in "normal" fishing situations. Some might use #3 guides and I would not argue vs that either.

Herb

I looked at the rx6 I would have to go with the 4 piece as he has to pack it up and to haul on a ATV and often hike to the streams they fish, Oh I did not say earlier but he is in Kodika, for those that don't know it's an island with really nothing there but a coast guard base and wilderness, and drew ramble all u want to I am learning tons from you and herb both.

Kevin,
Assuming an 8 or 9 weight with possible icing conditions
Large loop tip top
Recoil #3 light wire snakes for the top 4 guides.
Followed by (2) #4 hard chrome snakes
Followed by (2) #5 hard chrome snakes
Then a #12 double foot alox
Then a #16 double foot alox

Spacing from tip for 10 guides assuming a short fighting butt

4.3 ; 9.1 ; 14.5 ; 20.4 ; 27.1 ; 34.5 ; 42.7 ; 51.9 ; 62.1 ; 73.5


Eugene Moore

Dump the additional sizes and you'll save weight and provide a straighter line path. If you're going to use #3 guides, then go right on to the #'3s from the 16 stripper, or add in a #10 intermediate, but by all means, skip the 4's and 5's. They're not necessary and rob you of some small amount of performance.

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

I think a rainshadow RX6 is very different from the rainshadow RX8 drew suggested. perhaps you should ask which rod he is currently using and offer his take on that rod's performance. hopefully others there can let him borrow other rods to compare. then match what works best for him to the closest rainshadow model (RX6, 7, 8, 8+, etc). from what i hear/read, the rainshadow RX8 is a nice blank.

also keep in mind if he happens to have 10 wt lines/reels and you move him to an 8wt rod, he might have to buy a new line.

eric
fresno, ca.

Eric is right. An RX8 and an RX6 are about as different as you can get. The RX6s advantage is that it's cheap and still fishable. The RX8 is more fun to fish, but then it's twice the price and deserving of better components.

I personally love the RX8 8 wt blank. I've built 3 since July, all for fishing in Alaska (1 for me, 2 for friends). It compares favorably to my Z-Axis when throwing a weighted line and a streamer pattern. It is slightly heavier than the Z Axis by 0.2 oz or so, but it has better power in the midsection. You never notice the added weight when actually fishing, but the extra power is immediately useful in current or wind.

If you go with an RX6 while he learns to fly fish, it can become his back up when he gets more accomplished. In the end, it isn't about the rod, it's about the fishing.

Kodiak has a strong Silver run in late August Early September. I think they have a good sockeye run earlier in the summer. Your brother is going to have lots of fun regardless of what rod you make for him. He'll need a spinning rod too-Just sayin'.

If you go with the RX8, I can send measurements if you like of the guide spacing I came up with that works for me.


Drew