Not to gloat, really, but I received my copy of Rodmaker earlier this week and read it through. I enjoyed your piece on single foot guides and though you didn't put an upper limit on them, you did say that SGs, properly secured could be utilized at a higher load than most poeple generally do.

I pretty much spiral wrap all my conventional rods and I like the Fuji TLSGs (titanium single-foot concept guide, like on a GLoomis GLX). I've never felt comfortable taking these beyond 15# line because there seemed to be precious little to keep them from ripping out of the wrap, but using your technique, I now think I could push these (much?) higher. The question is, how heavy a line do you think is practical?

Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

P.S. For those of you poor sods who haven't received your copies yet, I assure you that your impatience is well justified :)

I'll let Rich give you his answer based on the tests he had done. For now I will just say that I have used single foot guides on some surf rods and never had a problem. And yes, I have caught a fish or two on them.

For most fishing situations, the amount of pressure put on each guide, particularly those near the tip, is a lot less than you can imagine. A few pounds at most. Obviously, rods used for heavy saltwater fishing receive a bit more, but until we get into the realm of the boat and trolling sticks used with 30lb and up lines, you will be surprised at just what those guides will take.

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Don Morton did a fascinating demonstration at the last Guild Conclave in which he picked up a chair, using a rod on which the guides were held only with a layer of masking tape. As Tom says, the vertical stress on a guide is MUCH less than one would imagine!

Sangeroo, you're right - with this locking wrap, you can push those Fuji J-ring fly guides (6J, 7J, 8J, & 10J) MUCH higher. The bass rods I build go up to the Flip stik (the original was a saltwater blank picked by Dee) and use 25-30 lb test (and up) using the same guides as on the smaller blanks.

How high is high? I tested these guides while testing the pressures on guides on the spiral wrap. (another suprise coming there.) The limiting factor is not the guides or the line - it's the blank. Those single foot guides can take in excess of 20 lb of vertical pressure before they even flex. In comparison - a bass rod with a 5 lb pulling load will generate about .2 of a pound of vertical pressure on each tip guide - not exactly something to worry about.

I take Bass flip stiks and Musky blanks to Alaska to test my Revolver Rod design against the giants. I use the same guides as on the bass rods. I normally tangle with 20-50 lb Ling Cod, 20-100 lb Halibut and 20-50 lb King Salmon. I use 80 lb spectra line on the Lings and Halibut (party boats) and 20 lb mono on the Kings. The blanks and guides are more than a match for those Alaska fish. The single foot guides show no movement or wear. So in summary - what you've been thinking you can do - you can.

Tom has me working on an article on guides - number, type, and spacing (for both spinning and baitcasting). It will be based on my testing of actual pressures encountered on a loaded rod and especially related to the spiral wrap for baitcasting. The results apply to all rods - not just bass rods.

Sangeroo, you're right - with this locking wrap, you can push those Fuji J-ring fly guides (6J, 7J, 8J, & 10J) MUCH higher. The bass rods I build go up to the Flip stik (the original was a saltwater blank picked by Dee) and use 25-30 lb test (and up) using the same guides as on the smaller blanks.

How high is high? I tested these guides while testing the pressures on guides on the spiral wrap. (another suprise coming there.) The limiting factor is not the guides or the line - it's the blank. Those single foot guides can take in excess of 20 lb of vertical pressure before they even flex. In comparison - a bass rod with a 5 lb pulling load will generate about .2 of a pound of vertical pressure on each tip guide - not exactly something to worry about.

I take Bass flip stiks and Musky blanks to Alaska to test my Revolver Rod design against the giants. I use the same guides as on the bass rods. I normally tangle with 20-50 lb Ling Cod, 20-100 lb Halibut and 20-50 lb King Salmon. I use 80 lb spectra line on the Lings and Halibut (party boats) and 20 lb mono on the Kings. The blanks and guides are more than a match for those Alaska fish. The single foot guides show no movement or wear. So in summary - what you've been thinking you can do - you can.

Tom has me working on an article on guides - number, type, and spacing (for both spinning and baitcasting). It will be based on my testing of actual pressures encountered on a loaded rod and especially related to the spiral wrap for baitcasting. The results apply to all rods - not just bass rods.

Sorry about the double post - the first few attempts would't post.

Thanks for the replies. I'm building a couple of spiral wrapped rods now and with this input, I'll be using TLSGs underneath. Too cool.