Looking at building a Rod Geeks 9ft 9wt. inshore. Any suggestions on the guide sizes below? I will be using Fuji K stripping guides and recoil snakes. Thanks for all the help.

12-8-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4

A size 4 is a big snake. General rule is guides should easily pass all knots while rigging the rod and of course the line to backing knot, which is typically not so large. I'd use one 4 then either 2s or 3s instead of 4s.

9' 4.5 9.5 15.25 21.75 29 36.5 44.75 54 64.5 76 spacing
the runners are fine the guides suggest that it be a 16 -12 -4-4-4-4-4-4-4 plus or minus 1 more depending on the load test

The best day to be alive is always tomorrow !!
Think out side the box when all else fails !!!
Wi.

The ID of the #4 guides and the #12 ceramic will pretty close to the same.

Most likely you'll be happier with 12-8-2's.

..............

Scott
You don't say what fishery the rod will be used in.
If you will be fishing for "hot" fish that will take a fly and run - you need guide sizes that will allow fly line snarls to pass through without jamming.
Normal knots are easy to pass - the snarls are not. So size your guides according to your fishery.
Your original thought is fine - but I would go with at least a#16 stripper.
But my brain is set-up for saltwater and fish that run hard.
Herb

Herb,

Probably chasing Reds and Snook.

Scott Herb has a very valid point about snarls that is the reason for the larger stripper and running guides for that rod line wt.
doubt you will get in to the backing to often but you will be working most of the fly line from time to time and it always doesn't lay perfect on the water in front of you or along side the boat where you could get a twisted curl that will hit the guide and under a little tug from the fish will go back to straight and pass

The best day to be alive is always tomorrow !!
Think out side the box when all else fails !!!
Wi.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/10/2018 12:28AM by Matthew Paul.

Scott,
Mathew and Herb are correct for what you want to do. I like the Fuji KWs for something like that. A 16 mm and a 12 mm or a 10 mm. To decide whether a a 12 or 10, line it up with the 16 and the guide following the 2nd stripper so it is in a line of sight between the two. Use the one that lines up that is spaced slightly greater between the first stripper (closest to the reel seat) and the second stripper and less distance between the second stripper and the next snake guide. Whatever looks right and lines up like that will work. I would try to use a smaller guide (10 mm) if it looks right. You will need to figure out where the 1st stripper is going so depending on your reach; this should determine the placement of that guide. The line is feeding from your hand or simply from under the rod and not the reel when casting, I like the KW guide because of the angle in the frame. I like a larger guide as the 1st stripper and then a rapid reduction. The KR concept can be applied to any rod that cast a lure or a line. To me a fly rod is a lot like a spinning rod, especially the way the line contacts the guide closest to the reel. I try to keep the line straight as possible going through the guides. Typically you will not be able to get a tangle past your tip top so tangles are not a good argument. I do not cast a tangle if I can help it.
Tight Lines,
Lance

After several casts I frequently find my fly line has acquired some twists. These twists often result in small tangles in my fly line, but only when the line falls limp in my shooting basket or at my feet -about 90% of the time I am fishing. I rarely if ever develop a tangle in the taut line I am retrieving. Most of the fish I hook hit during the retrieve when there is a significant chance of a tangle entering the guide train from the reel end, not the tiptop. That's why I prefer larger choker and running guides to stylishly smaller guides.

One thing not yet mentioned is the tiptop, which should be, IMO, a large loop, not a small loop, not a REC (might be noisy, as I recently found).

I concur with those suggesting a 16 stripper-since it's close to the grip and not the tip, weight is really not an issue. I see no reason to be going to a size which many of the experts above think may be too small. My son insists on a 20 for his salt water rods.

Guide size in my opinion is nt the issue most times, it's guide height just like in a spinning rod. I do spend some time cleaning, checking and stretching my fly lines to ensure they work as intended. Don't know the last time I saw someone other than me wrap there leader and fly line around a tree and pull to take out all the coils, loops, and kinks and yet it was one of the first things taught me in class when I learned to fly fish.

I'v gotten tangles when line is "zipping" out of my stripping basket AND from the deck of a boat after hooked up to a "hot fish.
Some times I am able to stop the tangle in my line hand and work it out while stalling the fishe's run. Sometimes it happens so fast that the snarl "pops" through the guides and tip-top. The problem is working it back in through the guides - so I usually back away from the water when on the beach or hand-over-hand in a boat.
I also use a tip-top at least as large as the runners - but mostly larger.
Number 4 REC runners are a comfortable size to pass snarles.
Number 3 Snakebrand are good also.
Both the Snakebrand large loop ECO tip-tops and the REC large loop tip-tops are good
Herb

Thank you all for the suggestions. Would be a lot easier if I had a rod building shop close.

Scott Strength Wrote:
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> Thank you all for the suggestions. Would be a
> lot easier if I had a rod building shop close.

Not really, you can take 10 different builders and can come up with 10 different build configurations

Ron Weber

Scott, you are on the right path so don't get discouraged. Build it the way you think it should be built. Many of us feel a larger stripper guide is needed for saltwater but if you have an idea that you think will work; then by all means do it. Even if you make a mistake it can be fixed and you learn from it. We all have different opinions on what will work best. I think the best thing you can get out of this forum is the mechanics of how rods can perform with different configurations as provided by experienced builders. Just put it together and fish it.

Thanks Lance! I was just looking for a starting point. I've not built any rods this heavy. Building this one for beach vacations. Figured I might as well fish if I'm going to have to go sit in the hot sun at the beach. All I was saying above is that I have to order all of my supplies and it can get quite expensive to have to ship back and forth if somethings not right. Was trying to minimize my pain. Thanks again.