Building an 8 1/2’ 5wt fly rod for myself. Somewhere I read that it can be advantageous to angle the stripping guide slightly towards your stripping hand. Something like 15 degrees or so.
Has anybody tried this... thoughts?

It won't make any difference. The line doesn't know where the rod is - only where the guide is. But don't take my word for it - mock the rod up and go out and cast it both ways.

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While that might help slightly while stripping line, it may add to the wear on the line if fighting a fish or while simply reeling in the line.
And, once it leaves the stripper, it has to go back to the 180 for the rest of the guides.
I tend to go up on the stripper guide size to help with both.

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

The only real benefit is convenience, as it is closer to the off hand that is doing the stripping.!

Thanks gentlemen. All good points. I will mock up the rod and give it a try. Just looking for a couple of ways to make the rod perform better than one off the shelf. I've already done a couple of things with the number of guides and guide sizing.

It might depend upon which side of the equator you intend to do your fly-casting. I think the earth's spin on one side of the equator has the opposite effect of its spin on the other side?

First time I heard of it was reading the L. A. Garcia fly rod building book, mocked it up and tried it, don't believe he ever said why in the book. Suspected it might cause line stacking on the reel under tension.
Not the only different thing, he installed his wrap epoxy with something resembling a dulled center punch, and only had epoxy setting on top the wraps, none down the side.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/18/2020 11:48PM by Spencer Phipps.

Spencer, i think the reason for keeping the epoxy on top of the wrap was to make it easier to remove the guides and clean up for replacing..he,s thinking ahead..snake guides wear out..