What guides in which sizes and what spacing do championship fly casters, or spin casters, or revolving-spool casters use - or is it a secret?

Hello Phil.

What does "ROADBUILDING" have to do with rod building?


Tight Wraps & Tighter Lines.

Bob,

New Bern, NC.

It's not a secret although most will tell you that the guides, sizings and spacings used by tournament casters are not necessarily the best for fishing. When you are building a rod that has to do several things - cast, fight a fish and come home in the same number of pieces you started with, you're apt to use something different than what a rod built for a single priority would use.

............

Just about any blank with a proper drag setting will not break, even when subject to the antics of WAY too big a fish. The line will break first - high sticking excepted - with ANY rod. If there are any guides, and guide sizes, and guide spacing conducive to better casting it seems any rod builder and angler would value this information?

For starters - most tournament casters use far fewer guides than most would use on a rod meant to be fished. A rod built that way won't withstand much anything even close to "high sticking." Adequate static stress distribution is not a consideration for most tournament casters.

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Phil Ewanicki Wrote:
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> Just about any blank with a proper drag setting
> will not break, even when subject to the antics of
> WAY too big a fish. The line will break first -
> high sticking excepted - with ANY rod. If there
> are any guides, and guide sizes, and guide spacing
> conducive to better casting it seems any rod
> builder and angler would value this information?



The reel type , features and specs determine the guide layout , without knowing the reel it's impossible to say .

Tom Kirkman Wrote:
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> For starters - most tournament casters use far
> fewer guides than most would use on a rod meant to
> be fished. A rod built that way won't withstand
> much anything even close to "high sticking."
> Adequate static stress distribution is not a
> consideration for most tournament casters.
>
> ..............


That's interesting , i would love to see the differences in distance two identical blanks would reveal with one setup the way traditional tournament casters set it up and one with say a handful of small runners added to the upper portion of the blank . Fuji claims more guides increase distance within reason and others say the opposite .

How much impact would 5 or 6 titanium runners in size 5 show in regards to distance , i don't know that answer but i can't see it being much .

I have often that it would be interesting to build a rod with a stripper guide, a single rod in the middle of the rod and a tip top on the rod and check it for casting distance against the same rod with a full complement of rods.

When a rod is cast, after the initial whip of the blank the blank is essentially nearly straight. As a result, I would think that the line is simply shooting down the blank. Fewer guides should minimize drag, unless the line is out of control and gets hung up on the belly guide - which might happen. But, it would be interesting to try.

Remember, this setup would be worthless for fishing since there would be no guides to support the line when the rod would be loaded when fighting a fish. But, casting works with an essentially straight blank, so it would seem countra intuitive that one would need more than a couple of guides to get the line from the reel to the tip top of the rod.

For some reason i don't see a blank with 3 guides casting very well lol. I think the line would be making huge waves and slapping the blank killing distance , what reel ? Ahh who cares , dang you Phil !!!!!!!!!!.....the season isn't over yet these discussions are meant for Jan and Feb when we're bored out of our minds.

Sorry, Herb.[Here in FLA it's finally cooling down enough to enjoy fishing.] It's just that discussions here are full of declarations about the best brand, number, size, and spacing of guides, yet conclusions always seem to be based upon "I like/recommend Brand X in this configuration." - but these recommendations are never accompanied by any physical evidence - only personal opinions?

BTW: Cane poles and their modern fiberglass equivalents have NO guides and over the millennia and without breaking have fought and caught an awful lot of fish, including some real beauties! They don't cast well, though, as proven by actual measurements.

Phil Ewanicki Wrote:
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> BTW: Cane poles and their modern fiberglass
> equivalents have NO guides and over the millennia
> and without breaking have fought and caught an
> awful lot of fish, including some real beauties!
> They don't cast well, though, as proven by actual
> measurements.


Phil? This ^^^ has to be a joke, right?

Phil Ewanicki Wrote:
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> BTW: Cane poles and their modern fiberglass
> equivalents have NO guides and over the millennia
> and without breaking have fought and caught an
> awful lot of fish, including some real beauties!
> They don't cast well, though, as proven by actual
> measurements.

True, but most of those have the line tied to the tip which makes a huge difference as the blank (pole) will then take its natural bend. This is why we often talk about doing a static distribution test with a line loaded from the tip, not through the guides.

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I have seen a Mexican Fisherman in Michoacan, wearing nothing but underwear (could not afford swim trunks) catch a 36 Kilo snook on a handline while wading out at a rivermouth on the Pacific ocean. It would of been a world record if he had done it with a rod and reel. The point is; you can catch fish on just about anything that can hold a line. So you got to ask yourself;"What am I going to fish with". and just be lucky that you have a choice. A kilo = 2.2 LBS Snook = Robalo (That's what they call them in that part of Mexico)