Hey guys I'm currently building a pitching rod on a medium heavy MHX FS904 blank with a size 6 double foot stripping guide and size 5 running guides and am having some issues with guide spacing. My first static test with a moderate load in the blank gave me spacing from tip top of: 2 1/4, 4 3/4, 8 1/2, 11 3/4, 14 3/4, 18 3/4, 25 1/2, 31 1/4, 37, 45, 51, and 57 1/4. This spacing looked great on a moderate load but I'm getting line rubbing the blank under a heavy/full load but am worried about adding "too many" guides and was hoping someone had some advice. My handle length from butt to the top of my reel is 15" if that makes a difference.

Thanks for any help,
Matt

Matt spiral wrap it and never worry about line rub again

I considered that but wasn't sure how it would work with the casting motion used when pitching. Especially considering the fact that with my left hand reel I would need to spiral it to the right and I cast right handed. Guess I'll experiment with it and see.

Matt,
Most folks that use micros - don't worry about line rub. It makes sense, since during casting the rod is not bent and the line will not rub. When you set the hook, the rod will flex and the line will rub, but there is very little line movement at that time.
When you reel in a big fish, you typically pump the rod so that there is not a lot of movement against the flexed blank.

If you want to use micros with no line rub, then you need to put a guide about every 3-4 inches to prevent line rub. This may be 14-20 guides.

The other choice is to use taller micro guides so that you do not have to have so many guides. You can use match guides with small diameter eyes if you wish and use a much smaller number of guides that you would use with standard micros.

Be safe

Does the direction of the spiral really affect casting?

For normal casting no but I haven't tried underhand pitching with a spiral rod.

Matt,
I honestly feel that my micro rods will pitch better since they have less weight on the tip and are more efficient with less weight. I also feel they control the line better but that is just my own opinion. With the spiral there is no rub, you can use less guides and create imo the most efficient rod that you can. Give it a try

Some years ago Steve Gardner did a comprehensive study of pitching performance with his spiral rods. Might be worth looking up if your interested. He seemed to do best with 3 mm guides, by quite a bit if I remember correctly.

Spencer you are right on track. That is why mine have 3's on them

Be careful with what tip top you put on the pitching rods with it being spiral wrapped, if it has a frame that wraps around the back side of the tip top the line will get caught on it occasionally when you turn your wrist to pitch.

I appreciate all the advice. Think I'll give spiral a try. If I were to use 3's what would be best for the stripping/turning guides?

I use a guide train that consists of 6mm dbl foot followed by single foot 5,4 (put on the 60 and 120 degree access accordingly... 5 on 60 and 4 on 120) with 3's out to the tip. For the most durable guide I really like the Alps for lighter I go with Kigan and super light I would go either Fuji titanium or the AMTAK titanium. I just used a set of titanium SIC's on an HM MB705 and could not believe the difference in weight between my other setups. That rod weighs 3.0 oz right now without finish on the wraps.

Tom

Perfect thanks Tom I'll give that a shot.

Matt,
You are very welcome however the credit goes to Steve Gardner who put me onto this setup

With the line control of the small 3 mm guides I've had no problems with any loops forming that can grap the tip top, or any other guide. Doesn't mean it can't happen, just not my experience, all my braid loops and wind knots have disappeared.

Anyone happen to know where the article you mentioned is? Found a few different setups based on Steve Gardners spiral wrap and a few of them seem to have the stripper guide placed at 60 degrees instead of 0. Sorry just trying to wrap my head around spiral wrap layout.

Just curious guys, how do your rods with 3mm micros handle braid with knot to flurocarbon leader? Are you using a short leader to keep the knot from entering the guide train?

It seems to me that I am always changing out the 3mm guides for customers that are dissatisfied with those small guides. Looking for what to tell them to keep the rods original.

Tom

Like Tom, I have either completely replaced size 3 micros with larger ones, or replaced broken or pulled out size 3 guides. It is very difficult to pass a knot through size 3s, and they also seem to be quite fragile and susceptible to breaking off if mishandled. I understand both the advantages and disadvantages of very small micro guides; there are trade off that need to be considered. Spiral wrapping does work very well, the only trade off is the non traditional look. Try it, it you do not like it rewrap the guides is a traditional manner.
Norm