Would a spiral guide configuration reduce the number of guides?
Forum: rodboard

A rod's performance depends not only upon its components and construction but upon the rod's user, the type and size of the reel being used, the diameter and stiffness of the line being used, the weights being cast, and the size and strength of the targeted fish. A custom rod builder will identify these requirements and make the necessary compromises to create the "ideal" rod for its sp
Forum: rodboard

The growing popularity of one-piece rods has stimulated the rod-repair business.
Forum: rodboard

A few years back every other post on this site seemed to be about the spine or "spline" of a rod blank. Today this topic has been abandoned in favor of the best guide spacing, right down to the millimeter. I have never seen any credible, objective tests comparing the distance or accuracy or ANY performance feature of completed rods with differing spine alinements or guide spacing? Are
Forum: rodboard

I fish bait in the surf around Ponce Inlet and usually use 4 oz. storm sinkers or sputniks [6 oz. when tide and surf combine] on an 11' rod and a Slosh-30 reel and a shock leader for casting.. I would advise an 11 or 11.5 foot rod capable of handling 3-6 oz. of weight. The physical weight of the rod is not too critical since it will spend most of its time in a rod spike. I would avoid a fast acti
Forum: rodboard

You might include whether this rod will be used more for bait fishing or casting spoons and plugs, and how much weight you intend to cast. This will enable contributors to offer more specific advice.
Forum: rodboard

Are they looking for the overall height of the guide, the height of the bottom of the ring from the bottom of the guide foot, or the height of the top of the ring from the bottom of the guide foot, and why are they looking for this height?
Forum: rodboard

The "best" guide depends upon its use: salt water or fresh water? 2# "big fish" or 40# "big fish"? 30' "long casts" or 90' "long casts"?
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Expensive is a relative term. A pair of red Abel leader nippers (like fingernail clippers) goes for $105. Apparently some people think they cut 10# monofilament a LOT better than cheaper fingernail clippers. I can easily imagine a single running guide costing $90, since the metalwork and plating of the guide is more complex than the clipper's construction.
Forum: rodboard

If you can find a way to do so there is no substitute for test-casting a particular rod blank. I would not get sucked by claims of highly specialized blanks; those that claim to be made for specific species or specific lures.
Forum: rodboard

Second Dennis D's suggestion. Surf blanks are built to handle lures and fish at least as big as muskies, and fish can't tell what kind of blank you are using.
Forum: rodboard

It depends if you plan on a straight guide train or a spiral guide train.
Forum: rodboard

I concede that the physics of fly casting differ somewhat from spin or bait casting, and spey casting is a whole new ball game, but I'll stick to my defense of the laws of physics. I have yet to see or see a video of a fly caster throw a curve cast AFTER he has released the line. Fly casters cast the line, not the flies. By under or over powering a cast it is easy enough to cause the loop to rema
Forum: rodboard

I concede that the physics of fly casting differ somewhat from spin or bait casting, and spey casting is a whole new ball game, but I'll stick to my defense of the laws of physics. I have yet to see or see a video of a fly caster throw a curve cast AFTER he has released the line. Fly casters cast the line, not the flies. By under or over powering a cast it is easy enough to cause the loop to rema
Forum: rodboard

David: Once you release the line at the end of your cast the only way you can change where it's headed is to pull on the line again. You can't push it, and guides won't help. That's my story and I'm sticking to it
Forum: rodboard

No matter what type of line, reel, or rod you are using the instant you release your line the direction and trajectory of your cast is determined. You can only change distance or direction by grabbing the line as it passes up the guide train. You still can't push on a rope.
Forum: rodboard

Only the tip-top is physically able to impart direction to a cast. You can't push a rope (or a braid). The line only touches one small part of the tip-top at the moment of release,so the diameter of the tip-top has nothing to do with accuracy. The direction the tip-top is traveling (pulling line) at the moment of release is the direction the lure/bait/fly will go. Neither the diameter of the tip-
Forum: rodboard

I also do not understand how guide placement determines accuracy? Your line, bait, lure or fly will follow the path of your rod tip at the moment of release, not the arrangement of your guide train. As long as your rod ferrules and tip-top are not loose and moving around if you can manage the same release with each cast your rod will cast in the same direction with each cast. Accuracy is complet
Forum: rodboard

If distance is NOT the determining factor in guide spacing what is - Reel size, Casting weight, Line stiffness, Fish fighting, Strength, Looks, some combination of or all of these factors? I see guide placement specifications dictated in small fractions of an inch without any clue as to what requirement(s) these exact distances satisfy.
Forum: rodboard

Most anglers seek guide spacing for maximum casting distance. How rod builders for champion distance casters determine optimum guide placement? Will they share their hard data and experience?
Forum: rodboard

Fresh water guides do not face the difficulties salt-water guides constantly do: corrosion from salt, banging around in boats in rough seas, reel drag settings over 20#. A competent custom rod builder will select blanks and components based upon function AND environment.
Forum: rodboard

The diameter, coefficient of friction, and stiffness of a line also affect ideal guide size and spacing, at least on a spinning rod.
Forum: rodboard

You won't be able To re-align or replace a tip-top secured with epoxy without ruining and cutting off 3/4" - 1" off the tip of the blank. There are any number of hot-melt glues on the market which hold a tip-top securely but release with GENTLE heat, allowing you re-position, remove, or replace a tip top without shortening your rod blank. Time-tested stick shellac works as well or bette
Forum: rodboard

I predict it will stay on the shelf until you have to replace or re-align a tip-top you glued on with ultimate 5-minute epoxy. Then it will go in the garbage.
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A straight cork grip with a pair of anodized sliding aluminum rings is the lightest reel seat around, not counting adhesive tape.
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I do not like the "2-turn" Recoil choker guides because they squeak. I really like - and use - Recoil snake guides on fly rods because they are very flexible and for practical purposes indestructible. Since rigid guide feet don't bend they have to create flat sports in the rod's bend/action, particularly toward the tip. This is very undesirable in a fly rod where the rod's action (bend)
Forum: rodboard

Is the difference between spacing guides dependent upon their inside diameter, outside diameter, flexibility, height above the blank, guide ring material, or advertising? Does the blank being used, the type of line being used , its diameter or flexibility, or the ambient temperature where the guides/rod are used influence guide spacing? It seems pretty complicated!
Forum: rodboard

Amazon will ship me everything from a pair of skivvies to a large appliance free of charge. This has caused mass closures of traditional retail stores. Retailers who soak customers with heavy delivery charges, take note.
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I have resorted to measuring and stripping the 1st 30' of a fly line into the pan that sits on top of a Diet Workshop electronic scale, then converting the weight in ounces into grains in order to get a ballpark figure for the line's "weight". The difficulty of matching line to rod is compounded by the taper of the line: some extreme weight-forward lines pack 90% of the head weight in
Forum: rodboard

Damon: I agree with Phil. Fly fishers have embraced four-piece rods. There is no apparent reason to have a wrapper more than four feet long to build fly rods.
Forum: rodboard