Читать книгу The Essential Fishing Handbook - Joe Cermele - Страница 25

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GUIDANCE

All fishing rods start out blank. Some are weighted and tapered for making fly rods, while others are designed to be the base for big-game saltwater rods that can bale a marlin. What really makes a rod function properly are the

guides. Understand how guides work, and you’ll understand why different rod styles are beer suited to varying fishing situations. These guide styles and configurations are the ones you’re most oen going to find in your local tackle shop.

CONVENTIONAL ROD Conventional and bait-casting reels sit on the top side of the rod, and reel line straight onto a narrow spool. They’re not as wide as spinning reel guides, and they generally taper very quickly to a small-diameter tip guide. Line comes off these reels very quickly, so it’s important that it stays channeled to achieve maximum accuracy and distance. Some companies now make conventional rods with super-tiny “micro guides” all along the blank. It’s believed that the smaller the guides, the more accurate the cast, especially when used with the ultra-thin braided lines and super lines popular today. The small diameter and fast taper of conventional guides also aid in accuracy in short, delicate presentations with methods like flipping, which are much harder to achieve with a spinning rod.

FLYROD With the exception of the first guide on a fly rod—which is wider and thicker and known as the stripping guide—fly rods are built with light thin-wire guides, oen called “snake guides.” Since the reel never comes into play in terms of cast distance or accuracy, snake guides are designed to simply let the fly line pass through freely and without obstruction while adding as lile weight to the rod as possible. To that end, it’s important to always make sure snake guides are aligned properly and don’t have any grit or residue buildup on the inside. You want the guides to remain as smooth as possible to maximize your casting distance and accuracy. The stripping guide is wider and beefier because it takes the most strain when stripping streamer flies. You’ll oen find two stripping guides on heavier fly rods used for saltwater fishing.