Gary Loomis discusses how to find a spine on a blank and guide placement

Rod House Ambassador and Gary Loomis have a short discussion. Visit @northforkcomposites on Instagram for more NFC content.

[@harrythomas1714]

Thanks for the explanation for casting and spinning blanks. But what about a fly rod? Do the guides go on the outside or the inside of the natural curve?

[@MrGetthenet]

Great content!!!

[@808kman]

Now i'm confused???? What Gary says makes sense, but everyone else does the opposite.

[@pakde8002]

Yes you're right. But I do get what he's saying. I'm just spitballing but I believe the location of the guides on the belly of the blank is more important on a heavier rod because there's not much flexibility so you want to maximize the available flex. But on a lighter rod you can dampen the wave motion of the rod tip in the way suggested in this video, because flexibility is already available on either the back or the belly. So, to sum it up on an ultra light rod or rod with a fast/light to medium top section the dampening is more important than the added flexibility.

[@phototechchannel229]

I'm building my first rod and would not know which way is the best, but I'll probably trust Gary's controversial opinion that the guides should be opposite the easier bend direction. I do know that it's super important for the spine to be lined up with casting directors. If your spine is sideways on a golf club shaft, you're off by 20 yards on a 200-yard shot, approx 10%. That's why I could never break 80...LOL, it was the poorly made clubs. As long as your spines are all the same on all your rods, you are probably OK, but I bet he's right and there are gains from doing it his way. It will make the rod a tiny bit stiffer!

[@christianelias623]

No doubt especially from a legend Who would know!

[@hvuu1628]

im confused. so for a spinning rod do i put the guides to the direction of the bend or opposite to the direction of the bend?

[@zarchy55]

Unfortunately, Gary didn’t define what he meant by “top” and “bottom”, so this just further adds to the confusion.

[@sirwilliam7988]

My thoughts exactly. Can someone clear this up.

[@cameronmcleod7740]

He is using top as oriented in the video. So as the rod naturally curves the casting guides go on the concave side and the fly/spin guides go on the convex. As others pointed out this is opposite from other’s convention, but by Gary’s logic you are counter balancing the natural flex with the strain placed on the guides to balance your casting load and power. I can’t say which way is right since I am an EE not Mech E but it would make sense that on a flexible rod you are not trying to compliment natural flex but instead counter load it for even forward and back cast.

[@AccountingTutor]

Cameron's right. Gary is telling us to do the opposite of the conventional method. I wrap fly rods, and Gary is talking only about spinning and casting rods I expect he would say the same about fly rods. However, my take on it is that the weight of the 4 to 6 guides on the upper half of a fly rod is insignificant compared to the force exerted when making a forward cast and flinging 30 feet of 200 grain line off the tip. Putting the guides on the soft side (the concave side) of the bent rod means that the rod is flexing against the stiff (convex) side on the forward cast, lending greater power to the forward cast than the backcast. To me, it seems that the tip will be less apt to dance around much if the rod is bending against the stiff side. Therefore, that would seem to better dampen the cast than putting the force of the forward cast into the soft side of the rod? Of course, one must make a backcast too, in order to make the forward cast. What is gained on the forward cast is lost on the backcast, but it's the forward cast that takes the fly (hopefully accurately) to the fish. I guess, if you have the time to burn, it makes sense to tape guides on both sides of the blank and try it out both ways in order to decide. (If we do, I wonder how many of us would notice a difference?)

[@AccountingTutor]

I'm over-thinking this, I guess, but now I wonder whether casting with the guides of a fly rod on the soft side (the concave side - the "traditional" side for the guides) of the blank means that yes, you are flexing against the stiff side on the forward cast and getting more power, but in addition to more power the rod will also have a greater tendency to twist. If that results in lateral movement of the rod tip on the forward cast, then accuracy will suffer. Maybe that's what Gary is talking about?

[@zarchy55]

I think people tend to exaggerate the importance of locating the guides relative to the spine. I do it only because it’s easy enough to do, and I may as well just do it. But I suspect that if you placed the guides without regard to the spine, the results would not be that far off.

[@chuckpatch1230]

can i put a line counter real on a heavy glass trolling rod that is a spinning rod ?? it will be for trolling on a downrigger only no casting or throwing out ,thank's.

[@runswithsisors1753]

which is the bottom and which is the top very poor explanation

[@graemeclark6671]

I agree. Should use terminology like inside and outside of the curve. Not top and bottom. Confusing.

[@ThatGuy-hj4xj]

Why aren’t all rod maker taking this advice, I don’t know 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@laserdoc85]

anyone try it Garys way?

[@mikedanko97]

Going to try it on a spinning rod I just started. Let you know how it goes.

[@mikedanko97]

Going to try it on a spinning rod I just started. Let you know how it goes.

[@runswithsisors1753]

use a friking microphone