I'm building a 3wt 6.5ft fly rod for son in law. Not accustom to building them this short. What would be the best guide sequence and sizes for this?

I would start with 41/2, 91/2, 15, 21, 271/2, 341/2, 42, 50" spacing, then static test for any adjustments. My guide choices are the Batson line of guides. LXN strippers size 10 & 8, followed by their light wire singlefoot size #2 all the way. If you believe 2's are too small #3 will work OK.

1/0 lite wire running guides are more than adequate for a build like that

My last 3 wt. was 7 guides, 10, 3, 1, 1/0t, than 2/0t to the tip.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/17/2020 09:33PM by Spencer Phipps.

With some advice and help from some guys on here, I built one back in August. Was a 7'6" 3 wt. I used an MN size 8 stripper, than a size 2 single foot wire, then 1/0's to the tip. Guy I built it for loves how it casts and fishes. good luck.

You can use a smaller snake guide than you can a singlefoot, it's the difference in approach angle for your knots, 90 deg. for single foots so they can hang up easier than the angled approach on a snake. Sage recommends 2 sizes bigger singlefoot guides from their recommendations for the snakes they use.