Rod Building – Simple tips you never see in print: Where to put a stripping guide on your fly rod
by Mark Waldin Flycatcher Custom Fly Rods – When building a fly rod you want the guides to follow the contour of the rod. You’ll want to place the stripping guide as close to the butt as possible so that you gain maximum effect of the rod energy on the line.
BUT, you want to be able to easily strip line with your opposite hand. You’ll want as much line as possible unencumbered by the guides so you can strip the most in a single motion. Also, you want the lowest possible angle from the reel to the stripping guide. As a result, you want to place the guide very far away from the butt.
These two goals fight against each other and you have to find a comfortable solution. For my money, I want to place the stripping guide for maximum stripping ability. The only time I might violate this is when using a short progressive taper rod, where the rod bend extends far down the rod. In most cases, the butt section of the rod is very stiff, bends little, and holds only a small amount of casting energy.
Retail rod manufacturers use an “average” person to set the distance, typically 30 inches. A better way to do it is to place it at a point where the guide is at a comfortable hand reach distance and no more. You find that by ‘feel’ with an existing rod you have. The taller you are, the longer your arm reach and the further out you can place the guide. I have built a table to convert height to stripper distance that is on my web site for people ordering custom rods to use.
