Going to build my first spiral wrap on RDR76L Rainshadow. I would like to know what should be the distance of the first two guides from reel seat intend to have second guide first rotation. Thank you

The placement of the first stripper would be the same as a conventional wrapped rod. With the reel mounted to the reel seat, the first guide (stripper) should be about 21" to 22" from the very front of the reel. The guide spacing of the following guides will depend on the amount of guides you will be using. I use two guides to get the line to the bottom of the blank so the 4th guide from the reel is at 180. This would be a Forhan Revolver style and not a Simple Spiral. The 4th guide should also be behind the major bend of the rod (that's how I do it) so the amount of guides will make a difference.

You may want a larger butt guide, and/or higher frame.
I would use 2 foot for the first 4 guides, butt and next 3 up, turning in 2 guides.
Tape them all on and then mount the reel, run line thru, and put a load to the rod.
The blank will bend almost to the handle under load,
so you need the butt guide high enough to help keep line off the front grip (or hand).
We like 2 ft. sz 16 butt, going to 3 sz 6 2 ft., then size 6 (or smaller) 1 ft on the 180 side.
That seems to be a dependable set-up and works well.
We have done several rods with not only the RDR-"L" series, but also longer UL in "casting" style.
To help keep the line off the front grip,
you may need to get closer to the reel, maybe 16-18" up on the butt guide.
Hope this helps,

Best wishes,
Ron Schneider
Schneider's Rod Shop
Mountain Home, Arkansas
[www.schneidersrods.com]
mtnron40@yahoo.com
870-424-3381

I do believe that Batson has a recipe for that rod in the spiral wrap- just look for this on Batsons website their link is on the lefthand side of the page


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