I know when building rods that you want the smallest guide train possible. I was wondering about fly rod guides however. If I’m running single foot guides on a build and am going down to a size 3 recoil guide should my tip top opening match the smallest running guides in front of it? I was mainly curious as to how you guys do this as there are recoil tip tops that are standard, large, and x-large loops. I’m almost certain other manufacturers offer different sized loops on their tip tops as well.

In short, does your tip top opening need to match the running guide(s) in front of it or can there be room for a large opening that’s bigger than your smallest running guide?

It certainly needn't be any smaller, or you have negated anything gained by using the smallest guide that'll easily pass your knots and/or loop connections. Larger? It doesn't necessarily need to be and will only add a bit more weight in the worst possible place to add it, but it's not going to ruin the rod. There can be one reason to use a tiptop one size larger than your guides, however, and that is due to the angle of the line the top has to accommodate. Your running guides only handle line coming is straight to their openings. The tiptop often has to pass line coming in at some degree of angle. If I were you I'd mock up the rod and do some retrieving on the lawn with a tiptop the same size as your guides and then perhaps one size larger. Make sure to bring your knots or loops through it to mimic what you'll be doing on the water. In 15 or 20 minutes you should have your answer.

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Tom Kirkman Wrote:
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> It certainly needn't be any smaller, or you have
> negated anything gained by using the smallest
> guide that'll easily pass your knots and/or loop
> connections. Larger? It doesn't necessarily need
> to be and will only add a bit more weight in the
> worst possible place to add it, but it's not going
> to ruin the rod. There can be one reason to use a
> tiptop one size larger than your guides, however,
> and that is due to the angle of the line the top
> has to accommodate. Your running guides only
> handle line coming is straight to their openings.
> The tiptop often has to pass line coming in at
> some degree of angle. If I were you I'd mock up
> the rod and do some retrieving on the lawn with a
> tiptop the same size as your guides and then
> perhaps one size larger. Make sure to bring your
> knots or loops through it to mimic what you'll be
> doing on the water. In 15 or 20 minutes you should
> have your answer.
>
> ...........

Thanks for the detailed explanation Tom. These questions are all hypothetical, but what would you do in the event that your only options are to have your tip top slightly smaller or slightly bigger than the running guides? I’m not sure that is a common scenario but I figured it’s happened at some point right?

Slightly larger.

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