XRA 1205 w/low rider guides

[Back Beach]

Originally Posted by numbskull

That would be God telling you something

I knew that was coming...thankfully it wasn't another one of your diatribes...

[Stroth]

I have done allot of research and experimenting with the low rider concept. I have an all star 1209 with a modified low rider setup and over the winter I built an SSU 132 1MH with the low rider SiC's, not titanium. I am not a pro, I have not built hundreds of rods, (maybe 25), but I have definately found the low rider system interesting.

Here's a nice thread on the lami site. If the link is against rules please remove it moderators:

http://www.lamiglas.com/node/292

First question: Are you only throwing with braid? If no, then build it traditional, I do not see any advantages of low riders with MONO.

IMHO, braid totally changes the game here. Getting wind knots? Hearing FWAPPA FWAPPA when you cast? The traditional five guide setup was not made for braid. The braid has no memory and no stretch it comes off of the reel like a rocket....

I have done the side by sides as have others with a low rider setup and a traditional one. Every time I have done it the lowriders have won. Is it by ten yards, maybe, but hey it is still ten yards!

For me a custom rod is just that, a custom rod. You want a 1205 custom with five guides, you can go to any number of shops on the cape and get a 'custom' setup like that for pretty short money. Or you can design and build something yourself that is truly unique and IMHO will perform better.

My 1209 came out great. I absolutely love it. The issue I have had with the SSU is that it came out a little top heavy. This was most likely my fault though as I over applied the epoxy on the first two guides.

When I have fished the ssu most wind knots have been my error. With my setup it is fairly easy to lose tension on the line. Working a pencil for example, if you are not careful some knots will ensue.....

Good luck with your build! Search around on the other site and there is an absolutely ton of info there.

One thing I would look at is getting the low rider concept out of smaller diameter guides. In other words, do not use LCSG's, but something else to still get that low profile....

[JohnR]

Any thoughts on how this setup would benefit / detract from eeling distance?

[Saltheart]

The 132 rod is a rod I might consider a low rider set up. Its long enough. If the rods are short , you cannot really place the gathering guide where it should be in a low rider setup unless the rod is super fast action. Any bend down low and a guide pushed out to 43 (low rider type location) and you can start to worry about touching and the ultimate disaster , crossing the nuetral axis of the blank.

Now a 1209 with low riders makes no sense to me at all. A 1209 is for casting 4 to 6 and sometimes to 8. For long casting that kind of weight , you must have a shock leader (not just a fishing leader although a shock leader can be a fishing leader but not nescessarily vicse versa). A shock leader for say 6 ounces must be about a 60 LB mono or Flouro. That leader should come all the way down the rod and around the spool. That means that the leader knot must go through the guides so IMO the low rider small guides near the tip are out. This is the type of rod along with most short rods and any moderately slow to slow action blank where the low rider concept is misapplied.

As far as spending $90 on a titanium guide well if I ever do that I hope my fishing biddies will have me committed to an asylum because Thats NUTS!!

The general statement about the properties of the Titanium in the guides being stronger than stainless may or may not be true. It depends on the chemical composition of the Titanium and stainless and the processing history of both. However , I do not believe that the titanium frame makes a SiC ring any less likely to crack if bashed against a rock. In fact the modulus of elasticity is lower for titanium so any given load or shock impulse causing deformation of the metal guide frame will cause more deformation of the titanium ring and thus more chance for the ceramic insert to break. Strength has nothing to do with how much the ring will deform do to a shock or impact . Strength will determine whether is springs back to its original shape after the event but has nothing at all to do with how much it will bend do to a given load on the initial deformation.

Lastly , the rod with the concept build and the smaller gathering guide at 36 inches simply is not a concept build. It s aconventional build using concept guides. The plan to move it out to 40 inches is a move in the right direction but I think it needs to be even further out. A small guide too close to the reel will cause problems. That's why in a conventional build we use bigger guides and why in a concept build the small guide is pushed so far out.