I know that this has been addressed before, but please bear with me. I'm building my first fly rod with single foot guides (a 9 foot 8 weight, and I'm using Pac Bay single foot guides). Do I use standard "double foot" stripping guides? If not, what type of stripping guides do I use? Thanks.

I use those same guides and indeed use a Fuji double foot stripping guide.

Bob

That's the way to go. If you buy your PacBay sets from Hook&Hackle they supply the double foot striprers and the single foot guides all correctly sized for the length of rod you are building--no guesswork involved--FlyDoctor

No offense intended towards Hook and Hackle, but I hope you will shop our sponsors first. It is their sponsor fees that pay for this board and I am pretty certain you will find nearly all of them offer the best possible pricing and the best possibly service. They are here as sponsors because to them, rod building is more than just a business. They build rods themselves and they enjoy supporting the rod building craft.

Single foot guides can be used as stripping guides, if you select one with a higher frame. You will also likely want to use the ones with ceramic inserts, although I must admit I am still confounded by the factories who continue to tell us that ceramic guides are not needed on fly rods as running guides, but then they go and use them for the first one or two guides (strippers). If hard chrome or stainless is entirely sufficient, why do they not use them for stripping guides as well? I have heard the argument about tradition, but am not sure why they say the running guides should be traditional, but not the stripping guides. Go figure.

Double footed stripping guides will take a bit more abuse than the single foot variety, although I think the gap is closing and with the proper security wrap I am not sure that single foot strippers are really at any disadvantage.

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Thank you all for the information. Tom, I purchased the blank and a spinning rod kit (a christmas present for my father-in-law) from a sponsor, but went outside to get the other components because I could not locate the reel seat that I wanted. Since then, I've learned that another sponsor carries both the blank and reel seet that I wanted, and purchasing all of the materials from that sponsor actually would have saved me money. Your point is well taken and I will continue to begin my "shopping" with the sponsors. Thanks again.

I'm glad you brought that up about ring guides as strippers and the rest being snake guides. I've often wondered about that also. Seems like a mismatch, doesn't it.

Also, some bring up the point that the only use for single foot guides is that they don't groove like snake guides. There is a definite improvement in casting performance with the use of single foot smooth ceramic guides.

Just also to throw in we are proud to sponsor this site, and are an authorized Pacific Bay distributor/dealer would be more than happy to assist you with guide choices, sales and sizing to your requirements.

Rich
Richard's Rod & Reel Service