I'm building a 6'6" Rainshadow (imb784m) rod. The rod will be used to fish for stripers (20"to30")on the Chesapeake Bay, Va. with 12# to 15# line with a casting reel. I was wanting to use single foot guides on the last 4 to5 guides on the tip side to shave off some weight. Will the guides hold up to this and if so how much will they take?

Brad,
I'd prefer to use double foot guides on this particular idea, but you should be okay with good single foot guides.
More of interest for you next time is to consider doing this type of rod with a spiral wrap for stability and less torquing against your tip guides.

Rich
Richard's Rod & Reel

I just built a Perigee PW84L in a spiral wrap with the 6 guides nearest the tip single footers (Fuji's GLVSG #8). It fished great drifting live eels for stripers at the Outer Banks two weeks ago. It handled fall size stripers (4-6 lbs) with ease with 14-17 lb braid.

I also built a Calstar GX7, a bit stouter blank, the same way and it also performed very well with the single foot guides.

If you're going to build the rod for a conventional reel the spiral wrap is the only way to go, IMHO.

E-mail me if you want to discuss this further.

Hugh Miller
Miller Custom Rods
www.millercustomrods.com

I agree. Although not quite as heavy I have built a few GLoomis C723s with the spiral wrap. I only used double foots for the turn. Singles all the way out from there. This customer fishes many tournaments here (large mouth bass) hoisting 6-8 lb fish into the boat without difficulty. I actually went by his house the other day to specifically see how the rods are holding up. No evidence of problems. Using 10-14 lb line. Dick French correct me if I am wrong, but in a spiral wrap design, isn't most of the stress on the top few guides under load? (excluding the spiral portion) and specifically the tiptop?

Single foot guides are much stronger than people are willing to give them credit for. You are almost guaranteed that the guides will stand up to whatever you can dish out - it is your wraps that get the abuse.

I am a fan of the spiral wrap. But whether you do it that way or not try to use guides with very low frames. This will help reduce the leverage of the guide on the wrap.

Do use the security wrap. This means carrying the wrap two or three turns past the guide ring leg to sort of "lock" the guide in place. In the next issue of RodMaker we will have a photo article on the "Forhan Locking Wrap" for single foot guides. It involves encircling the guide ring leg with thread in such a way as to make it impossible for the guide to come loose, unless you actually break the thread. Too hard to describe in words - thus the photos. But even the standard security wrap seems to keep those guides in place under even heavy duty use.

For the record, under heavy load, the guides on the tip area carry almost no load - the load is on the mid and butt section.

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Absolutely go with the single leg/foot guides. I'm sitting here right now
looking at the rod that I use more than all the others(50)+. It's built on an old J Kennedy Fisher fiberglass blank. It was originally built for casting and shallow trolling for Rockfish(Stripers) in the Ches.Bay from Tangier Island to the mouth of the Susquahanna. It turned out that it worked beautifully for that as well as jigging,bucktailing in creek holes,and bottom fishing. The rod was cut down at the butt to 6' 95/8".
The reel of choice is an old ABU UM 2 XLT with 2 spools 1.with 12 lb mono and the other with 10lb. The guides of choice were BNLG's for the 1st 4 guides and BLVLG's(4) out to the tip top. This rod was built about 1982-83. The guides are still just fine as is the finish(Perma Gloss). I'm getting ready to strip it to bare blank and then rebuild it with in a spiral wrap with a combination of NLG's and BLG's applying the New Guide Concept. After so many years with heavy usage and nary a problem I don't hesitater to go with Single braced/foot guides. Oh by the way the Hardaloys are in fine condition, In fact I'll touch up the black finish and reuse them sometime in the future. The largest fish on these guides was about 5 years ago in the fall,a 531/2" Red Drum in the shoals at the "Foxes"
on a large (1oz) gold Johnson Minnow. Good Luck, Warren

Using a St.Croix 7 1/2' blank spinning rod, I used the
new concept Fuji single foot guides. That rod hauled in
over 40 13 pound bluefish off of a jetty and still is
running strong. I cringed watching the guy pull them up,
but the rod went through an ultimate test. After
using only two footed guides in the past, I may change to
using the first two guides starting at the butt end
and the rest one foot. No torque either. Try it!
That has been my experience.