capt mike Posted January 26, 2011 Report Share Posted January 26, 2011 I plan to buy a Calstar GF 800L blank and build a swimbait rod out of it. It is an 8' xheavy rated for lures 8-12 oz. I plan to throw 12" swimbaits with it. I want to spiral wrap the guides and I will have a 14" handle and 6" foregrip. I would like to know what sizes of guides to use on this setup and how many. I plan to use Fuji alconite guides double footed. Any helpould be appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattman Posted January 26, 2011 Report Share Posted January 26, 2011 Well...I'm not one that would use double footed guides on a spiral wrapped rod for anything past the 3rd largest guide... For me, a lot depends on the width of the reel face. If the reel is really wide, I'll use a 16 for the butt guide. 16, 10, 6 BLNAG's. #6 BLAG's. Maybe even 16, 10, 7 with 7 single foots if knots get used frequently. Locking wraps on the single foots. If you must use double foots...16, 10, 6. With a narrower spool, 12, 8, 6... I'd probably use 9 guides, but would buy 10 just in case I needed another after I tested it after initial guide spacing. 1 guide per foot of rod length, plus 1 more guide is my rule of thumb for freshwater rods and it has served me well. Rarely do I find the need to vary from that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capt mike Posted January 26, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2011 Well...I'm not one that would use double footed guides on a spiral wrapped rod for anything past the 3rd largest guide... For me, a lot depends on the width of the reel face. If the reel is really wide, I'll use a 16 for the butt guide. 16, 10, 6 BLNAG's. #6 BLAG's. Maybe even 16, 10, 7 with 7 single foots if knots get used frequently. Locking wraps on the single foots. If you must use double foots...16, 10, 6. With a narrower spool, 12, 8, 6... I'd probably use 9 guides, but would buy 10 just in case I needed another after I tested it after initial guide spacing. 1 guide per foot of rod length, plus 1 more guide is my rule of thumb for freshwater rods and it has served me well. Rarely do I find the need to vary from that. I will use a Daiwa Luna 300 reel. Not having the need for double footed guides on the spiral wrap sounds terrific since it will save more weight. What do you mean "if knots are used frquently"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jwags Posted January 26, 2011 Report Share Posted January 26, 2011 I'm with Matt, I use single foots on everything, even my musky rods. If you don't use a leader, you can go much smaller than a 6 but if you are tying on a leader, you may only be able to go to a 5 or so for the single foot guides, it just depends on the line you are using. My best advice for you on your first 3 guides is this: mount your grips on the rod and then mount your reel and run the line through your first guide. Tape the guide in place and make adjustments to it and try different sizes to see what works. You need to make sure that your line will not cut your thumb if you hold the foregrip when fighting a fish. Too low of a butt guide will allow the line to rest on your thumb and it will cut you badly if you have a big fish make a powerful run. If you never use the foregrip then you don't have to worry all of this. For the bumper guide, I personally use a single foot but it is recommended that you use a small double foot for durability. You can bend the guide feet to make it sit closer to the blank. Using double foot guides for your first 3 won't add any noticeable weight. For my LGM102XH, my guide train is double foot 20(for height), single foot 6 (bumper), double foot 10, and single foot 6's to the tip. It is super light and casts very well. I've noticed that I hardly ever use the foregrip so on my next rod I'm going to drop down to a smaller butt guide like Matt does. jeremy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattman Posted January 27, 2011 Report Share Posted January 27, 2011 What do you mean "if knots are used frquently"? Line connection knots. Superline to a fluorocarbon leader for instance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capt mike Posted January 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2011 Line connection knots. Superline to a fluorocarbon leader for instance. OK, got it. I do plan to use flourocarbon leaders on Samurai braid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capt mike Posted February 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2011 OK, got it. I do plan to use flourocarbon leaders on Samurai braid. The calstar blank came in this week and it is a huge rod indeed. It's one inch in diameter at the butt. Can't wait to get this thing finished. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
