Hello, I am currently building an 11-ft two weight euro nymph rod. I have seen several recommendations on how far stripping guide should be placed from the grip on these types of rods. I'm wondering if anybody has any more insight and reasoning about the placement of these stripping guides.
Thanks,
Logan

Guide spacing for fly rods have more to do with what you are doing with the line in your hands and how easy it would be to pick up that line if dropped, some call this simply line sag. My first fly rod build had the stripper much further away from me than I do now because it didn't occur to me it could be a problem while fishing, I just put it where I thought it cast best. Wading in a slick rock or boulder strewn river was a real pain when I dropped the line on that rod.

If you put the stripping guide 32 inches from the butt of the rod you'll be just about right. This holds true for any fly rod from small stream trout to ocean billfish.

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Tom:
I know about your 32" rule of thumb and have used it as a guide for many times. But now I'm starting a 12'6" Spey Rod (my first), and have been trying to decide on the best first stripper location. At 32" it will be 12" from the top of the top handle, too close. Any rules of thumb for the top of the handle/top handle? I'm thinking I may simply mount the top handle, and first stripper temporarily and then by moving he first stripper around, simply mount the first stripper where it feels most comfortable while holding the top handle and reaching to the stripper. Any thoughts?

Thanks, Jack

Here's what I'd do - the spey rods are a bit different for sure but the placement from your grip won't be. So working with the 32 on most fly rods which feature a typical 5 inch seat and 7-1/2 inch grip, you've got roughly 20 inches from the fore area of the grip to the stripping guide. Parlay that to your spey rod and place the stripping guide that same 20 inches from the fore area of your spey grip. How does it look now?

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Thanks Tom. Good advice. I've been thinking along the same plan. If I use that plan, it would put my first stripper at about 40"from the Butt of my 12'6" Spey, with maybe 11 guides including two strippers, at an average guide spacing of 10" to about 110" to 112" from the tip. Generally, that seems feasible spacing to me.

Jack

Remember you need to be able to grab and hold the line with your off hand. The guide needs to be far enough away so that you can grab/hold it below the guide and not so far that you get a lot of line sag..

Decide where you will be gripping the rod, and place the first guide 32" above that.

Thanks again Phil. I'm going to use a 9' 7w .built on a B2X Winston blank I use for steelhead, to help me get started by locating the first stripper on my Spey blank. The B2X is a one hand rod with a 1 3/4" fighting butt; 4 1/ 2", reel seat, 7 1/2" handle total about 13 1/2" total from butt. On the B2X the first stripper is 20 1/2" from the top of the handle, on the second rod section. So using 20" from top of top handle the fist stripper on the Spey blank will be about 40" from the butt and about.110" from the tip top.

I will use the spacing guide you previously sent, and place the guides starting from the first stripping guide placed at about 110" from TT. All guides will be temporarily attached so I can move them if needed to get the best spacing possible. The B2X Winston rod I will be using to get started casts like a dream, and I don't recall ever having any problem with "line sag" fishing with that rod. Although I'll be a raw beginner, I'm told with most spey casting the casting hand will be on the top handle. So the line hand will be reasonably close to the same distance from the first stripper I'm accustomed to.

So far, this process has been fun. I'm excited to get started, and as always, the Forum has been a big help.

Jack

On my 11’ 2wt nfc euro nymph rod, I put the stripping guide at 25” from the butt. At that length it defiantly helped to control the sag of the mono line/leader.. I think I went with that measurement as it was the same as my factory T&T contact two 10 foot two weight.

Thanks Ross that was very helpful. I have a 10 ft 3 weigh and the stripping guide is a little too far out for my liking. I'm currently building an 11 ft to weight and your 25-in suggestion will give me a Good starting point.

For a rod of 10 feet or a bit more - I use the rule of 30 inches from the reel seat for the stripper.

For a rod of 12 feet - I use the rule of 36 inches from the reel seat for the stripper.

For rods of 6-8 feet, I typically use a distance of 19 inches from the reel seat to the stripper.

For myself, it makes 0 sense to measure stripper distance from the butt of the rod.

The distance of the rod butt to the reel seat is not part of any thing to do with line flow or line loops or any similar line related issues.

It is only the distance after the reel seat to a line guide does that distance have an effect and make any difference in how the line flows or loops.

Best wishes

Because the reel plays no role in casting on a fly rod, measuring from the rod butt makes good sense, particularly if you have a number that has proven to be ideal going back some 5 or 6 decades.

Because Logan is working with a fly type rod (European nymph) that features an unusually longer grip than common on most fly rods, this distance can be modified a bit to more closely to resemble the distance from the line control hand to the stripping guide on common fly rods.

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Ross Montgomery Wrote:
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> On my 11’ 2wt nfc euro nymph rod, I put the
> stripping guide at 25” from the butt. At that
> length it defiantly helped to control the sag of
> the mono line/leader.. I think I went with that
> measurement as it was the same as my factory T&T
> contact two 10 foot two weight.


Ross, can you share with me the guide spacing you used? I am building the same rod and can't find it on the charts on the NFC website. I sent a message from their website, but didn't receive an answer. THANKS!

Mike B