I met a nice old gentleman while fishing on the White River at Bull Shoals in Arkansas in 1995 by the name of Bob Brunsell, who made his own rods and would demonstrate his theory that "sag makes drag" by shooting incredible lengths of line without false casting using a 8-1/2 foot fiberglass rod that had twice the usual number of guides on the rod. This rod had 10 #3 snake guides plus tip-top on the tip section and 3 stripping guides on the butt, the largest a 1-1/8".
By spacing the guides close, the line was not able to sag down and cause friction. The large snake guides also helped reduce the line friction. He placed the stripping guide 29" from the butt to reduce the angle of the line from guide to hand, also reducing the amount of drag friction. That rod shot line like a cannon. Perfect for nymph fishing. Non of the younger guys with their graphite rods could come close. Bob was 82 at the time, and you would have thought he was half that age.
His experiments showed that doubling the # of guides didn't really affect the action of the rod as long as the wraps where kept as small as possible. He felt that the weight of the wraps and epoxy/varnish was what affected the action more than the weight of the guides themselves. One rod he showed me had the guide feet shortened to 1/4" with no more wrap than necessary to hold it onto the rod. The rod looked strange with the large #3s all the way up the tip, and the last one only 3" from the tip-top, but it too cast a long, long line with no fasle casting.
By spacing the guides close, the line was not able to sag down and cause friction. The large snake guides also helped reduce the line friction. He placed the stripping guide 29" from the butt to reduce the angle of the line from guide to hand, also reducing the amount of drag friction. That rod shot line like a cannon. Perfect for nymph fishing. Non of the younger guys with their graphite rods could come close. Bob was 82 at the time, and you would have thought he was half that age.
His experiments showed that doubling the # of guides didn't really affect the action of the rod as long as the wraps where kept as small as possible. He felt that the weight of the wraps and epoxy/varnish was what affected the action more than the weight of the guides themselves. One rod he showed me had the guide feet shortened to 1/4" with no more wrap than necessary to hold it onto the rod. The rod looked strange with the large #3s all the way up the tip, and the last one only 3" from the tip-top, but it too cast a long, long line with no fasle casting.
