i was making up a shopping list on mudhole and have gotten stuck here..

i am going to purchase a 2wt TFO Finesse Series 4-pc blank and was intending to get some Fuji titanium guides.. i was initially planning for a TFST4.5 tip and TLSG4.5 (6pc) and one TLNSG 8 & 10 each.. what i just realised is, i dont have 2wt line for comparison..

so my question is, can a 2wt flyline pass thru TLSG 4.5, or should i look to get a bigger guide size? payday is next week, so getting a reel and 2wt line is not an option at the moment.

my reel seat it going to be fuji skeletal seat with cork between the hoods... guide wraps will probably be in nylon, same color as the blank and uncoated (no CP)

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Give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day..
Teach a man to fish, he'll be broke!

I don't think Fuji makes a TLSG in 4.5. I think a 5 is the smallest. But even if they did, that rod would be a "noodle" with ceramics as running guides and worthless as a casting tool.
I am not a fan of ceramics on any fly rod - but on a 2wt rod?
And lose the ceramic tip top.

I would go with REC single foot runners in # 1 or 2. If you want a ceramic stripper use a single foot 10, if not an 8.

Also - go with an REC recoil tip- top with a small ring.

The TFO blanks are ultra slow in the first place. You don't want to slow it down even more.

Sorry for the bad news.

If you want a sweet(er) blank try a CTS.

Regards,
Herb

While not a fan of TFO blanks, I have built a number of 2wts on Batson RX6 and RX7 blanks, they are sweet! I second Herb's thoughts regarding using anything but very light single foot guides on that light of rod.

Herb/Phil,

thanks.. as i dont have experience with recoil guides, i cant really tell about the sizes.. that the reason i decided to do it with TLSG4 (mudhole is selling them), to cut down the weight in front and hopefully not slow it down by too much..

now that you have mentioned the sizes, i have added them to my order, including the recoil tip (small loop). By single foot RECs, you mean the single foots and not the snake guides right ?

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Give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day..
Teach a man to fish, he'll be broke!

Christopher Tan Wrote:
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Reason i decided to do it with TLSG4 (mudhole
> is selling them), to cut down the weight in front
> and hopefully not slow it down by too much..

THIS WOULD BE VALID IF THE ROD COULD HANDLE SOMETHING HEAVIER - BUT IT CAN'T AND YOU WOULD BE ADDING TOO MUCH WEIGHT WITH THE CERAMIC RINGS. THEY ARE GREAT GUIDES - JUST NOT FOR THIS APPLICATION.
>
>
By single foot RECs, you mean the
> single foots and not the snake guides right ?

YES - THE SINGLE FOOT (S/F). REC HAS S/F GUIDES IN HEAVY WIRE OR THIN WIRE. SINCE I ONLY BUILD SALTWATER RODS, I USE THE HEAVY WIRE AND I HAVE NO EXPERIANCE WITH THE THIN WIRE RECOILS. THEY WOULD BE LIGHTER AND PERHAPS YOU SHOULD CONSIDER THEM - IF ONLY FOR THE TOP 3 GUIDES.

GOOD LUCK

BTW - I STRONGLY SUPPORT PHIL'S COMMENT RE TFO BLANKS - I HAVE NEVER MET A "TFO" ROD THAT I LIKED. MY PREFERENCE - BY FAR - ARE THE "CTS" BLANKS FROM NEW ZEALAND. MORE PRICY THAN THE "TFO" BUT LESS PRICY THAN SAGE, WINSTON OR T&T OR OTHER BIG NAMES. AND THE "CTS" BLANKS ARE BETTER PERFORMERS BY FAR.

HERB



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/17/2012 07:52AM by Herb Ladenheim.

I would look at the REC single foots for your 2 weight. The guides you mention are much heavier and wouldn't be the best choice for what you are intending. Go with a small stripper like a #10 (Fuji CLNAG, PAc Bay NSG, Am TAck NIRLC) then maybe a #3 REC RSF, then a couple #2's then #1's the rest of the way ending with a RTTUL-S top. If you are open to other blank ideas, the ones mentioned above are all upgrades in terms of feel and performance but could be out of your targeted budget range. I have recently built up a few of the Beulah platinum series blanks and really like what I have seen so far. Good luck on your build!

Go with the light weight single foots, the ceramic's will add unneeded weight and dampen the blank. Ceramic's are fine on heavier blanks, but not a 2wt. REC makes a fine lightweight single foot. Several of the sponsors carry them. I'll also second Herb's vote on CTS, love them and I have a bunch of them in the 2 to 8 weight range. Somewhat expensive, but you get what you pay for and the models I have built on are pretty true to their line weight designations.

I agree that the fuji are overkill on a 2 wt. but not becasue of the weight thing

a standard single foot guide on my scale weighs
0/2 .08g
0/1 .09g
1 .1g

a fuji tlsg 5.5 weighs only .11 on my scale I would think that was impossible to feel

Now if you want to go light then the recoils are the way to go

size 1 weighs .38 on my scale

for tops on my scale

light fly top .29g
fuji Ti 5.5 top.22g
and recoil top small loop .22g the same as the fuji.

That being said there really is no difference from a regular sf fly guide and a small fuji guide but on a 2wt the recoils would be nice.

I also reccomend a cts but they are expensive and can take a while to get. Also do a search on the web for "blem TL Johnson blanks" I just finished a 9'4wt with recoil and it is my favorite rod already.

Bob

Not built a 2 wt finesse. However, I have built a 2 wt St. Croix sc4/sc2 in a 6'. If the 6' length works for you I would really recomend this blank in a two weight if you are casting short distances. Like others I would not put ceramics on this rod they are not necessary as you will likely never were out a cheap chrome guide on a 2 wt so it will only add excessive weight which will be very noticable on such a light rod.

Back to the sc4/sc2. Mine has size one single foot recoils with a size 8 like wire stripper. I love this rod and is one of the finest casting rods I've ever used...I haven't cased that many rods in my life...maybe 20-30 but this one is supperior to most and egual if not better to a Orvis trout bum or Sage. This setup casts so well one other person in our fly fishing club buildt the same blank except with recoil snake guides. His case great as well and we are both using different lines. I have a DT and he is using a WF.

Several others, including me, are building 3wt 6'6" rods as well because the 2 wt is so great. I'm putting the final coat of thread finish on today. When test casting the 3 wt it has as great of a feel as the 2 wt.

If you dicide to go with the St Croix, sc4/sc2 I will send you the guide spacing I used if you want. I'm only 5'8" tall so my stripper guide is set at around 24". Which if you have long arms or are tall you might not like my spacing of the stripper.

thanks for the input guys.. i would be open to CTS, if Mudhole was stocking it.. as i am located in south east asia, it can be quite a pain ordering parts from various sites... so i am trying to get as much things from one single supplier..

while i have built a number of spinning and casting rods for myself.. this would be the first fly rod i am building..i will be trying to target mullets with the 2wts.

just one question.. the FW and SW single foots from REC seems to be the same material, and probably the same size.. is there any actual difference? i will be using the rod in saltwater, but i am wondering if the light duty/FW guide is thinner gauge or something?

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Give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day..
Teach a man to fish, he'll be broke!

The freshwater or light #3 measures .54mm in diameter while the #3 in the saltwater or heavy measures .64mm so just a thickness difference in the wire used. Think your mullet plan would be fine with the light duty version. Just wouldn't wrap a tarpon rod with the smaller guides.

Since you are looking to buy as much through muhole, look at their St. Croix SCV blowout (2010 model). Think there is a 6' 2wt in there and would save you some $$$.

todd. thanks for the confirmation .. i've decided to go with the light duty SF REC guides.. i figured, if i take care of my guides ( and i do) everytime i go fishing, i should be quite safe, since the material is the same anyway.. the tarpons we get here , if any , is the ox-eye tarpon .. pretty small compared to what you guys have..

couldnt find a 6' 2wt in the St Croix blowout, unless you mean to use the spinning version (5S60MLF-G-10)

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Give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day..
Teach a man to fish, he'll be broke!

i've finally received all the parts i ordered from mudhole (TFO Finesse 2Wt blank and stuff) and have almost finished building it up already..

RTTUL-S tip
5 x RSF 1
2 x RSF 2
1 x RSF 3
1 x CLNSG 10

total of 9 guides excluding the tip.( i checked out TFO's recommended spacing and noticed 8 guide spacing excluding the tip top..) i did static testing and noticed that i have a very nice curve to the blank with my placement.. I figure, with the extra 1 guide, i should not have 'killed/slowed/dampened' any action in the rod, due to the fact I am using single foot guides ( the TFO component kits uses double foot snake guides). Assuming i used the double foot and followed their placement (excl the tip top), i would have wrapped 6 guide wraps on the first section of the blank. On my current placement, my first section has (excl the tip top) 4 x RSF 1 , resulting in 4 guide wraps only..

The reel seat is a Struble U3 with Cocobolo insert, and the reel to match it is a Redington Drift 2/3. Can't wait to get my 2 wt line and bring it out for a test!

-
Give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day..
Teach a man to fish, he'll be broke!