Guide Placement

[BREAMBOSS01]

Hello all,
im after some information on guide spacing. im planning a rebuild on a 3-6kg 8ft 2pce spin rod. the rod casts ok for a fibreglass rod, but i want to better its casting ability. i will be using 20lb mono line on the rod.. so no leader knots

the current guide spacings are- tip-155mm/5mm ring-185mm/6mm ring-185mm/7mm ring-200mm/8mm ring-225mm/12mm ring-320mm/20mm ring-710mm/reel seat..

to get better casting do I,
1-have more guides and smaller.
2- use the same size guides and spacings

any help would be greatly appreciated

[Stuart]

A pic is worth a billion words mate. If you can load the rod up with the reel and line then take a photo from the side, we can better see what is going on with the action and guide spacings. It’s very difficult to say wether the rod needs more or smaller guides. It sounds like it may need at least a couple more than what’s already on the rod. Line slap on the blank from wrong guide spacings and inadequate amount of guides will you rob you of distance. The guides at the tip wont do anything to reduce casting distance, however as you near the butt the guides become more crucial. What reel you are using will be a big help to know.

Stu

[tunaticer]

As it is currently a 3-6kg rod presumably set up for spin by the number and spacings of guides listed, you might not achieve what distance you are after by using 20lb mono regardless of the rod build. If i was to run a heavy line over that rod I would be very careful in line selection, looking for fine diameter and it would need to be a very soft and pliable line to cast effectively on a 3-6kg rod. It might pay to look at some of the copolymer lines or perlon lines available that may suit this application better.

By all means you can rebuild the rod to make it a bit more user friendly, but at the end of the day it will still be a 3-6kg rod that you will be overgunning with 20lb mono.

Possibly you may need to look at a faster taper graphite rod in the form of a dropshot style to have the strength if blank to suit the line but still have the fast responsive and soft tip for longer casting. Most fibreglass blanks in the 3-6kg mark around the 8 foot mark tend to be fairly slow tapers and not overly reactive.

[BREAMBOSS01]

Ill be using a 4000 size Rovex Duren reel.

Stu. i cant seem to upload photos would you be able to give your email address so i can send you some pics.

after thinking about it yes the 20lb is heavy for the rod, i think ill have a look at some 15lb pre-test.

[sleepygreg]

Go 6kg Platypus pre - test....you are at the upper limits of the rods design tolerances. I have found anything over 6kg line on that length rod, regardless of guide spacings, number of guides, size of guides - will reduce your distance. As Stu said...a pic of the loaded rod from side on will help us provide feedback.

Greg

[BREAMBOSS01]

ive finally worked it out, here is a pic of the rod loaded up.

[sleepygreg]

Looks like a slow/medium taper to me.....maybe the pics dont tell a true story. Also looks like a clear tip rod of somesort...any brand name or srial numbers on the blank. Just by the pic...its not going to be a great distance casting blank....especially with line over 6kg. guide spacing also looks out of whack from that pic.

[BREAMBOSS01]

gday, the rod is a fairly slow taper . it is a Shimano Spectrum, 8ft general purpose. it has a 360mm clear tip.

i was advised by stu that the stripper guide needed to be further up the rod, i moved it 30mm and the casting distance has increased by a good 30ft.

ive now just got to play with the other guide spacings to to see if i can get further, and try some different stripper guides to stop the blank slap.

And before deciding on anything final ill get some different line.

Thanks for all the help, ill keep you all updated.