I’m building up an Ijuin Yomogi 663 and running into an issue with the guide spacing. For those of you who’ve built on his blanks, you’ll be familiar with the “wiggle” technique to find the upper node for guide placement. The issue is that I’m finding this node to be right at the ferrule transition between the upper and middle sections. Has anyone else experienced this problem?

This has been discussed before in the thread below but not this problem specifically. I’ll keep working on it but any thoughts or insights would be appreciated.

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=64180&hilit=Ijuin

Thanks for sharing your experience, xNYkid. I’m also finding that I can change the position of the node depending on how aggressively I shake the rod. I think I’ve got it dialed in, though, with a position for that 4th guide that’ll do just fine. I too don’t get too bent outta shape for 1/16 of an inch ; )

Thanks again, much appreciated

Certainly, depending on how you mix rotational and translational inputs you can get a rod to cast off the tip or off the butt, irrespective of taper. Your casting arm has a lot to say bout how the rod will bend when casting and how you cast is going to be different in different situations but when fighting fish it's the action of the blank that will shape the curve of the rod. I would tend to use that static curve to position guides.

Ideally when positioning guides you want them to be closer in regions where the rod bends a lot - so the critical area is really the tip. On a parabolic rod where the tip bends less the first guide can be farther from the tip top, on a fast progressive taper where the tip bends a lot your first guide will be closer to the tip top.

As you work your way towards the butt the prime consideration shifts from keeping the angle the line makes to the guide within acceptable limits (when the rod is bent) towards limiting line sag. Stiff fly lines sag less on their own but if you are using soft, light lines then closer guide spacing down towards the butt reduces sag. This is an important detail if you are fishing wet flies or nymphs and need to maintain contact with the flies.

Having said all this I have noticed that at least one premium rod manufacturer positions guides depending on the rod length, regardless of blank action - basically unless you really want to minimize the number of guides (which I don't think is all that great an idea - usually an extra guide hurts a lot less than one too few), their position isn't super critical.

If you keep these principles in mind trial and error using tape to hold the guides will help find the best compromise for your user case.