Jesse, My first choice would be a 7-1/2 foot 4 weight 2-piece fly rod blank. The more you are willing to spend the better your hook set will be. Keep the tip very light. Titanium frame guides and fly rod tip top Recoil. If the guides wear replace as necessary. No ceramic inserts except stripper guide. The guide train could be light wire titanium single foot fly guides. Minimize the number o
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Frank, I've not built a roller guide rod but the principles should still apply. What is the distance from reel seat to rod tip ? How many guides are you planning on using ? What is the tip dia of the blank ? Gene
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William, For a starter it's hard to beat the reddington minnow. 8' 5/6 weight with a smaller grip for younger anglers. The whole outfit is $100. Just assemble and fish. Save the custom rod for the beginner who wants to go further into fly fishing and is sure he wants to go there. The patience level in younger anglers may turn some off with the chores in fly fishing and line manipulation. Ge
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Lee, St Croix 5C74HF-B 1-piece med heavy 7'4" fast castng blank should do the trick. Light and sensitive Gene
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Phil, Welcome to the quest for the "Holy Grail". An elusive beast from a very simplified lever. My feeling are it's embodied in the design of the taper and it's effect on the change in polar moment of inertia when loads are applied. Even the notable blank manufacturers stumble around the problems from time to time. How quickly the rod taper changes and where it's located from the f
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Rick, 12 guide 3.8 ; 8.0 ; 12.7 ; 18.0 ; 23.8 ; 30.3 ; 37.6 ; 45.7 ; 54.7 ; 64.7 ; 75.9 ; 88.4 11 guide 3.9 ; 8.3 ; 13.3 ; 19.0 ; 25.5 ; 32.9 ; 41.3 ; 50.9 ; 61.8 ; 74.2 ; 88.4 The placement may be varied to better fit with the connection ferrules of the blank
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Rick, If you provide the distance from the reel seat to the tip I can give you some locations. The number of guides anticipated is also helpful. You could choose 11 or 12 it will make a small difference. Gene Moore
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Logan, Good and cheap are normally opposites. Most expensive blanks are good to excellent. Average price blanks may range from poor to excellent. Cheap blanks are normally poor. The exception can be found ,but it is the exception. Why waste time and energy attempting to be cheap. Practice on old non used blanks. Build a good rod with a good blank and be proud of your first. You will know t
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Harry, Calculate or measure the distance from the rod tip to the center of the reel seat. Mock -up your grip butt and reel seat positions if necessary. Multiply this dimension by .707 this should locate the stripper from the rod tip and take into account personal preference of fighting butt length, reel seat length and grip length. Movements plus or minus 2 inches won't impair the results.
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Rob, My choice would be per Sage recommendations for the Xi3 The only change would be to replace the #3 snakes with single foot #3 titanium. For salt all guides should have titanium frames. I'd stick with the double foots for the lower rod section. The decrease in number of guides coupled with the titanium singles should give a performance edge in blank response. Gene
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Shawn, Looks like 4 guides is sufficient Distance in inches from tip 7.3, , 15.5, , 25.0, , 35.7 Gene
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Sam, Sounds like a multiple nymph rig. French or Czech nymphing. Long rod with short cast for tight line, sight fishing. Very specific requirements. The added length keeps more line off the water and allows better contact with the fly leader rig. Look for a 6 weight. He can overline 1 line size easily with the short line. Med- fast action, graphite Use single foot #1 light wire titanium f
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Shawn, What's the distance from reel seat to tip top. What's the diameter of the tip. How many guides do you wish to use ? I can provide you some starting points based on number of guides. Gene Moore
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I wish you a great deal of luck in finding a "good" blank at that price point. With the streams you have available I'd consider an up-grade to a better casting blank. I've cast both and the only thing attractive is price. Casting performance is very limited and your casting potentials will quickly out grow their shortcomings. If you are going thru the frustations of learning, select
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Sid, Save the money from the stripper guide and spend it on the tip top and top 1/3 running guides. The top third of the blank travels further and faster than the lower portion. The biggest bang for the buck is weight reduction in the tip.
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Tom, When the winds blow, and they almost always do during a Missouri winter, an 8' 8 weight is my favorite. I use my own progressive placement strategy and guide sizing for use with light tippets. Gene Moore
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Jimi, I did find an 8' 2-piece 3 weight from T & T I too am disappointed at the meager supply of quality 2-piece rod blanks. Far too few. We are in the minority anymore. Why should someone sell lower priced 2-piece when they can make bigger profits by selling a 4-piece. All the US manufactures seem to be taking the higher profit stand.
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Curtis, Perhaps this the site you were referring to Under odds and ends I believe Gene
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Chuck, I normally build the rod for the size fly I'm throwing. Poppers can be used with a #4 but an #8 makes it easier. Keep the rod short and the line heavy and you can cover a lot of water from one spot. The difficult part is getting a soft presentation from a heavy line but with practice you can fish drys delicately. My go to is an 8' 8 weight. Makes casting poppers or streamers with indi
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Jim, Don't sell yourself short before you begin. In your case I would build on a 7' light action spinning blank probably glass. Use a 5" rear grip with a #16 spinning seat and a 6" cigar fore grip. Build as a spinning rod but use a fly rod guide chain. The blank should cast an 8 weight fly line or can be used as a spinning rod. Use a fly tip top and if it grooves either replace or
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Michael, Happens to me whenever I get lazy and don't guide the line with my free hand as Greg mentioned above. Happens less if I cut back the power and don't shoot long lengths. Gene
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Dave, Commercial rod building thread will work much easier then fly tying thread. The fly thread is loosely woven so it flatten's as tension is applied. Rod thread will remain closer to round allowing wraps to guide into position side by side rather than overlap. Much more consistent and easier. Gene
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Peter, I use .707 times the length from the reel to the rod tip. I don't measure the caster's arms and can take into account changes in reel seat position from grips. Gene
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Harry, My typical build for fly rods reduces the number of guides by one. The upper 30% of the rod length uses single foot light wire titanium guides. The lower 70% uses double foot snakes with ceramic stripper. The dynamic effect of the components inertia is very high in the top 30%. The dynamic affect diminishes as the weight approaches the center of rotation. The highest dynamic affect i
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Jeff, I you can find the specs for the Scott S4 you might find a close replacement. Key dimensions are length, butt dia, tip dia, weight and material. Pour through the advertised specs to find the closest match. Length, butt dia and weight are the biggies. Good luck, Gene
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Steve, I agree with Russ completely on this one. If the first move by the fish is for close cover you are in for a long unejoyable fight or a short empty struggle . The fish dictates terms in congested fishing conditions. Gene
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Charles, You might consider the use of a #4 std wire fly "snake" guide. Large loop for hook but the snake sheds casting loops well due to it's geometry. Gene
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Chris, If you provide the distance from the tip to the reel and the desired number of guides I can give you a layout. Gene
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Richard, Look for a blank at 8' long with a butt of .370 and a tip at 4/64. IM7 material with a weight of 1.6 oz. Mid blank should be approx .240. This should throw a 7 to 8 weight easily. I believe the HS9600 may be a little stout. Good luck Gene
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Jonathan, If you give me the distance from the reel seat to rod tip I can provide a layout with 9 guides even with your fore grip length. Gene
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