I'm building a 9' surf rod for a customer who wishes to use it for jack crevalle on the Mexican Gulf coast. I'm using a casting set up for a Shimano Speedmaster on a moderate action E-Glass blank . The customer insists that he needs the spine side up which I am afraid will cause this softer tipped rod to twist under the strain of an oversized jack. I brought up the idea of a spiral wrap and was kind of shocked when he gave me the nod on it having more conventional tastes in rods than most.

The problem is that I may have spoken too soon. I did explain that it would be a first for me, but I don't want it to be a "practice rod".

Any suggestions as to guide sizes and butt guide placement? I'm sure I'm going to do some practice casting. I think I'm going to strip the butt section of a factory rod down, wtist the guide around with tape and do some tests.

First off, the spine will have nothing to do with rod twist no matter whether you put the guides on top or the bottom. Guide location alone determines whether the rod will twist. Put the guides on top and the rod will twist. Put 'em on the bottom and it won't.

The AllCoasters have been using the spiral wrap in earnest this past year. They call it the 'acid wrap'. What was originally thought to be something that only a bass rod would function with has turned out to be a much better idea for heavy duty saltwater rods even more so. You would be making a good choice to to try it on the Jack rod.

If you do a search here you will find all sorts of info on the spiral wrap. Ralph O'Quinn did a nice article on his version in one of the Rodmaker issues last year. There was also an article by Rich Forhan on his Revolver Rod design. There are several ideas on how fast to get the line around the blank to the underside. I have used Ralph's method on rods I intend to cast but on most of my heavier saltwater models I just take the line to the bottom via 4 guides. One on top at 0 degrees - the next at the 60 degree location - then one at 120 degree and one at 180 to finish. I get them all around in about 14 inches from the 0 degree to the first 180 degree. I don't know that this is the best way, but it works well enough for me. By all means listen to what others tell you about their own experiences.

In a nutshell, you take the blank and flex it from the tip. When you get it bent to the point where it forms a 90 degree bend note the spot where the bend starts. Just behind this point you will locate your first 180 degree guide. Now take the line from the reel spool center and string it out to that guide. You want to place the guides between that one and the reel so that the line continues to form that same straight line. So let the line between that first 180 guide and the reel tell you where the guides will go. How many you need in there depends upon how long the rod is.

From the first 180 guide on out to the tip all the guides will be on the underside or 180 degree location.

This is just one method and I think it is pretty much as the O'Quinn method spells it out. The article mentioned had photos which make it easier to understand but it's pretty simple really.

Fancy that! I just happen to have built a Seeker Ulua93H, 9'3", 30-60#, "S"Glass spiral or Acid wrapped rod! Ulua is the Hawaiian name for the Giant Trevelle, the size large cousin of the Jack Crevelle! Seeker Rods has developed, over many years, rods specialized for this type of surf casting, but that's another story. . .
My stripper guide is 24" from the top of the reelseat at 1:00. Using the O'Quinn method, I used 5 guides (including stripper) to transition the line to the 180degree guides. 5 guides are in this 6:00 position.
The key to positioning the transitional guides is having the line travel in a straight line from the reel to the first 180 degree, this ulitimately assists in casting. One other criteria is to make sure the transition to 180 happens before the major bend in the rod.
Your client will be over joyed the first time he casts, and the first time he ties into a sizable Jack because in this configuration the rod performs in such a stable manner.
BTW, the Spiral wrap got the nick name "Acid Rod" when a deck hand on a party boat eyed it up and down and asked me, "Were you on acid when you wrapped that thing or what!?"