very good John..that,s the way they have been building fly rods for the lasy one hundred years..lol..

I just recently built a rod based off this blank that I picked up from Herb. I ended up building it very similar to what Norman Miller's plans are for his. Alps BARA701L2 seat, Fuji Torzite 16 and 12 strippers followed by a 5 then size 3 Recoil heavy snakes with a Recoil tip top.

I chose snakes because after using nothing but single foots on my earlier rods I have come to appreciate the increased opening of snakes for passing knots. Also, as I have only used either Recoil or Snake Brand running guides, I found the Recoil single legs were very long and since the legs were doubled up there was no saving in material weight from a snake guide only the savings in finish and thread with the downside of the smaller opening. Personal choice here, there is no wrong.

As far as ceramics, I have only used them on one rod I have built so my experience is very limited. I put American Tackle single foot titanium fly guides on a St. Croix SCIV 6 weight. I found them heavier and noticeably dampened the blanks recovery. It was to the point that I did not really like the rod and used it sparingly. Eventually, one of the ceramic inserts popped out and I used it as an excuse to strip the blank and I ended up putting snakes on it and now I find myself reaching for this rod far more often and it is much more enjoyable to fish. As I live in the midwest, this rod was and is not used for saltwater fish going on long runs. It is my designated carp rod for the lake near me and also used to chase Wipers. Does not shoot line like it used to though.

Once again, personal choice, there is no wrong.

Jamie

Rod builders unacquainted with fly casting and fly fishing may be willing to sacrifice performance for appearance and build fly rods with ceramic guides. The difference in coefficient of friction between a ceramic and ni-ti alloy is minute, and the considerably greater surface area of a ceramic guide - compared to a snake guide - creates more line friction than a snake guide. I have never seen any type of fly-rod guide grooved by a FLY LNE, but if you use a fly rod for something besides fly fishing ceramic guides could be a good choice?

Hi Jamie,
I'm surprised that your experience is that the #6 shoots less line with wire guides than with ceramics.
I would have thought it would be the opposite and that you would gain line speed and more distance.
I assume you used the same line for the comparison.
Try overlining the rod with more grains than you used with the ceramics.
Regards
Herb
Herb

Herb,

Honestly, I'm not sure if it shoots more per se, I can cast a whole line either way but it sure seemed to flow smoother with ringed guides but I couldn't abide the extra sloppiness in the tip.

As to overlining, I like long carries so I tend to purposefully search out fly lines that are true to their AFTMA ratings or underline. Most of my fishing is done in still water casting to structure or spots from the bank or wading. The ability to cast longer allows me to cover more water and the ability to carry a long line allows me to cast accurately into the trees or other structure at 60 - 80 feet while just shooting line ends up with being snagged more often. If this means that my six weight doesn't cast a 7 inch bass bug all that well then I grab the 8 as opposed to overlining the 6. Just what works for me.

BTW, the CTS is a beast. I have yet to really put it through it's paces as everything is still ice around here but it casts effortlessly. Thank you.

Jamie

Jamie
Obviously you are very accomplished.
The sloppy upper areas of the rod is also my objection to certain ceramics.
And I think you would agree that ceramics limit line choices.
Yes - the Affinity-X #8 can be a "beast" as you say.
But it handles legitimate #8 lines but can handle a 400 gr line which we use on the outer Cape Cod beaches to cast large Gurglers.
I apologize if this is considered piracy of this post - but I think it clarifies the issue
Regards
Herb
U.S. Distributor CTS rod Blanks



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/11/2019 01:59PM by Herb Ladenheim.

I am also doing 2 8wt builds, an SCIV/II and a SCV/FRS, would you guys use the same guide setups? What size running snakes/running guides would you use?