I'm building my first rod I intend to use for drop-shotting bass, it's a 6'9" st. Croix scv. I have a micro guide set I purchased and I'm just wondering about spacing the micro guides. I've read articles on the new guide concept and the static method and I'm guessing the static method would be best in this case, but any input from someone who has put micro guides on a spinning rod, I believe my kit has a 16-10-7-5-and the rest 4s for a total of 11 eyes.

The ngc and the static method work fine together. Set the number 4 choker guide, and the number 16 stripper guide (this should approximately be 1/2 the spool diameter in millimeters.). Then place a number 4 guide 5 inches back from the tip. Next proceed to static test it. I followed the instructions for both procedures that are in the library. I recently built a steelhead rod on a st croix 8'-6 blank and I ended up with 10 guides total.

The reason I don't like buying sets is that the spacing and the size of the guides may not work out with my set up. I buy one of each size from the stripper on down and then use what works. I save the extras, and keep records so If I have a similar setup in the future, i use this one as a starting point for ordering. Good luck.

probably don't need the 5, 11 guides is more than you'll need for a 6'9".
Do the static test and use the NGC and 27x method to set your first #4 and then place your spinning guides accordingly. Hopefully you have match guides based on those sizes.

Regards,
-Justin

The 27x method puts my choker 51" from the reel face, which leaves me with about 17.5" to the tip, which puts about three eyes between my choker and the tip top, does this seem right? I guess I was thinking there would be more size 4 eyes on there since the kit came with 7 of them, I assumed ordering a micro guide set from a custom rod company like M.H. they would give you something closer to what you would need for a 6 to 7' rod since that's what the kit is for, I guess I'm going to have to order more guides and go from there.

It depends on how fast your rod is. All of mine have at least 4 guides in that 17.5 inche span.

Could it be you bought a kit for a baitcaster? I'd think eight guides would be enough, for that blank, used with a spinning reel.

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

No it's definetly the kit for a spinning rod, it's weird that if you work the math backward from the size 16 butt guide they give you inthe kit you'd have to have a reel with a spool face diameter of 1.260", the only reels I have with a spool that size are on my ice fishing rods, not 6'-7' rods. Must be they know something we don't? Lol!

Another question before I order more guides, when I intersect the centerline of my reel with the rod blank I find that intersection point to fall at about 39" ahead of my reel face, instead of the 51" as suggested by the 27x rule. Which should I use? I've read articles of doing it both ways.

Use whichever one works best. In other words, tape up some guides and try them.


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Zach,
7 or no more than 8 guides are all that is necessary for this blank.

Just because you use micros on a spinning rod doesn't mean that you use any more guides than you would do with a conventional set of guides.

I have built several of these rods and generally put the butt guide at 20 inches from the center of the reel seat.
I also generally put the first 3 guides on this blank about 3 1/2 inches apart and 3 1/2 inches from the tip . Then, from that point the spacing can quickly increase. This is because you have a very fast tip on this rod.

Good luck
Roger

Thanks for the info, it's been a long night of head scratching, taping, untaping and math but I think I have the guides ordered I need! Thanks!

I'm with Roger, Fast tip blank need shorter spacing at the tip.

I am going to give you more to think about. Does placing the choker guide to maximize casting distance maximize the usefullness of a freshwater bass drop shot rod? With light mono or braid can you be much more aggressive in choking down the line?

The beauty of custom rod building is you can design rods to maximize their usefullness for a given technique. Rod building is a series of trade offs. It is hard to maximize everything. You give up something to get something. I think it is great to have guidelines to compare things to and that produce acceptable results, however, a freshwater bass drop shot rod needs to do different things than a saltwater surf rod.

For my drop shot rods light weight and sensitiviy are much more important than casting distance. To lay out my guides I flex the rod and determine the point on the blank where the back bone starts to lock up. I put the choker there or even a little closer to the reel. Depending on the intended reel, this is often closer to the reel than the 27x or blank intersection method would dictate. Why do I do it this way? I don't like to put reduction guides in the area of greatest flex in the blank. This puts the light little guides where the rod flexes the most and need to be closest together and the bigger guides where the rod flexes the least and can be spaced out the most. In practice I end up with the running guides spaced closer together and closer to the tip on faster blanks.

I normally use only two reduction guides. If it is a rod I am going to cast a lot with, probably a #16 and a #8. For rods that are primarily used for vertical fishing, a #12 and a #6. In practice, even my drop shot rods with the 12 and 6 combo casts far enough for me. If my two reduction guides seem to be spaced too far apart, I normally add more running guides rather than a third reduction guide.

I am willing to give up some casting distance (as long as it casts far enough) to use as many running guides as practical. I think this minimizes weight and maximizes sensitivity.

I primarily use 10 lb braid with a fluorocarbon leader, somtimes straight 6 # fluorocarbon. My set up probably won't work as well for a rod that is going to be used with 10# or higher fluorocarbon. I don't know for sure, because I have not built a spinning drop shot rod that I want to use heavier line on.

The biggest thing is, this works best for me, it may not work the best for anybody else. I suggest thinking about what you want the guides to do rather than how it looks or if seems to match up to some guidelines.

I have built many spinning rod on fly blanks (9' and over)using micro guides SIC MATCH ,model "M" guides(long legs guides).Please take the Tom Kirkman advise. For on 10'4" spinning rod i was using just 6 guides, so if you use MATCH guides, model "M" you don't need 11 guides!!!! Because long legs guides keep the line far for the blank you don’t need so many guides. Just do the static test.

More, smaller running guides will increase sensitivity simply because they add "contact points" on the blank for transmission of vibration. Smaller guides sit lower to the blank so these signals with, say, a size 4 runner only have to go 4-5 mm to reach the blank. I would further agree that your two guide reduction train idea is valid due to the new information we have on the KR Concept which often moves the choke point 25% closer to the reel and actually IMPROVES performance with braid and light mono. The only thing I would do is spend a little more time positioning the stripper. If you'll place those two reduction guides with care you will have a drop shot rod that will also cast like a bullet. Add a split seat that uses graphite arbors rather than vibration dampening tape and you will "feel" things as well as we currently can.

Jeff,
When you use your two reduction guides, do you stick to the 1 for every foot +1 rule, or do you add more since you are using smaller ligter guides early on? I had a 16-7-4 combo taped on with a total of 9 guides when my maximum should be 8 following the rule. When I did my static test I couldn't get 8 guides to look good choking it down that fast. It seemed to cast well as far as distance was concerned, Initially on I would get line slap for the first second or so, but as soon as the line got into a its normal rythmic flow everthing looked good.