Hey. I read many of these posts back for several years and still have some questions. I have wrapped up several rods in the past so I thought this would be easier. My goal is to have a really nice finished product without spending $1,000 for a new factory built rod. I ordered a NFC 9' 7 wt that I will use in salt water. My first question is reel seats, they vary in cost from $12 to $60 and more. I would like to have a small permanent fighting butt and I want an attractive well functioning seat. Can I just pick one from one of the sponsors and hope for the best? Maybe a complete grip/reel seat package? My other question is guides. I like the idea of the single foot titanium recoil guides, what is the proper size/sizes? I would tend towards slightly larger diameters but I have no idea what the size numbers mean. Thanks.

John,
What will your fishery be???
#7 for many saltwater fisheries is a little light.

I favor the REC Component products.
One stop shopping.
REC Recoil Cerecoil #16 Stripper then a #12 Cerecoil. Ten a #4 REC Recoil S/F guide. The rest 7 #3 S/F Recoils.
like the RSLL reel seat because - IMO - it holds the reel foot better.
They will supply you with the grip to fit the RSLL seat hood.
Fighting butts are also available in many configrurations.
Regards,
Herb

Thanks Herb. I want this mostly for smallmouth bass but it would also see action with school stripers, maybe bonefish. I have another question: do I need two stripping guides? I seem to recall that the second one was to accommodate especially aggressive casting styles, if you needed a bigger haul you could skip the first guide when stringing up. Is there another reason?

John,
There is only one stripper on any rod - that is the bottom most guide.
Some very good builders/fishermen do not use a second ceramic (ringed) guide. I use two and lately 3.
It's really personal preference.
No - NEVER skip a guide when lineing the rod.

Re Stripers and Bonefish. Wind will be your enemy - especially on the Bonefish flats.
That being said - Chico Fernandez uses my custom #6 for Bones - but when there is no wind.
Herb

John,
I pretty much wrote the exact same thing as Herb before it got erased this morning (my fault). I would do a 16 cerecoil and a 10 cerecoil then the rest exactly as Herb says. I also like a Fuji KW 16 and 10. I will not ever use single foot snakes again because they just do not work as well as the double foot snake. If you use single foot add two more to your running train. Better yet dump the single foot snakes and use ceramic ringed guides, if that is the direction you are going. Go with L 7s 12 guides total on a 9' rod otherwise it will be 10 guides total with the double foot snakes. To keep it light, just go with 8 double foot snakes a stripper and a following guide. Alps, Seaguide, Strubble, REC and American Tackle all make nice reel seats. The one I currently use on my personal fly rods 5wt to 10wt is the Alps HERA7WL2. It is very light and looks good too. Let us know what you decide.
Lance

As a relative noob myself, I have a question. John is favoring single foot guides. Is that a good idea on that large of a rod? I'm building my nephew a 7', large swimbait rod (2-6oz lure rating) and I'm going double foot on all of the guides and even the tip top has a foot. I'm just curious if John should go double foot, or am I just going overkill.

No need for double foot guides on the fly rod,. if that is the question. Weight slows recovery speed...