Building a 9' St. Croix Sc4/Sc2 fly rod for a trip to Montana next month. This rod will see a mixture of conditions over its life, occational western cold water, some trout fishing from a boat on tail water in Arkanasa, bass, and on rare occation maybe some saltwater fishing.

I usually build lighter weight rods 2wt - 5wt and only use on stripper guide. I've got my guide spacing worked out and a size 16 stripper will go at 30 inches from the butt. On my lighter weight rods I only use one stripper and on heavy weight I use two. My typical thought process is less is more, so my tendecy would be to only use one stripper. I've got an extra 12 stripper I could use in place of one of the recoil singel foot guides. Any reason I shoud use a second stripper instead of sticking with my typical use of one?

Thank you.

Try it and see if you like it If it performs and better or not

Bill - willierods.com

With no real good reason, I'd use 2 stripping guides either 16-12 or 16-10. With the boat fishing in the equation, you could have a fish that goes deep where you will appreciate a bit more strength down in the power section of the rod.

A 6wt is one of those in between rods, where you might find yourself fishing for fairly strong fish, and so 2 stripping guides is not a bad idea.

I would like to hear your impressions of this rod when done, as the SC4/SC2 (along with Batson RX8 and Quickline) is on my short list for a 6 wt I'll be building for next year's shad run.

Drew

Ed, I usually use two stripper guides on 9ft rods. I've built a bunch of 6wt's and I go with a size 12 then a 10 for the first two guides, then the same size snake or single foots all the rest of the way out. Size your running guides with respect to the knots and loops that you will have to pass thru them.
You can go with a 16 for the first guide, won't hurt anything and I doubt you'll notice any difference between it vs a 12. I've done both and I have never felt a difference. I have only had experience with the Quickline, nice blank and the price is very good. My favorites are the CTS blanks, they are bit more expensive but equal to anything that the US manufacturers are doing with their high end stuff.

Think I'll go with two strippers. They will be 16 and 12 AT nanolight, black with gold insert with Recoil SF 2s all they way to the end.

Thanks.

Drew,

I'll let you know how i like the sc4/sc2 in the 6 wt. I have an sc4/sc2 in a 6' 2 wt and 6'6" 3 wt and I'd put them up against any sage or winston blank. However, my understanding is St. Croix changes their blanks thoughout the weights of a line. So, not sure I'll like the 6 wt but it does feel very stiff in the butt with a very sensitive tip.

Ed,
Out of curiosity, what part of Montana will you be fishing.
I assume that you will be trout fishing. As a result, I am curious as to which fishery you will be fishing and what size fish you plan to catch with that rod.

Thanks for your thoughts.
Roger

Ed,
Out of curiosity, what part of Montana will you be fishing.
I assume that you will be trout fishing. As a result, I am curious as to which fishery you will be fishing and what size fish you plan to catch with that rod.

Thanks for your thoughts.
Roger

I am not really a less is more thinker. I use a stripper, a tamer about 4 inches up, and generally 1 or 2 ceramic guids past that on the fly rods I am going to fish. So it is fine with me if you do 2 strippers. No, I do not think it lengthens casting distance. I am the limiter there! But it makes the rod handle line smoother on short casts, adding line to mend, and feeding line on short back casts. Or maybe it does not and it is all in my head.

We'll be around Craig montana. Will have a 5 wt rod. The 6 if it gets windy or want to try some streamers. I'll borrow a 4wt from the Trout Shop if its not windy. The 6 is more or less a backup for rough conditions. But I want to take it and catch a trout on it. It is looking real sharp with the burl cherry seat insert and inlay into the grip.