Placement of guides

[learner]

Am building 6 wt. rod from Global Dorner. Oops, while mutitasking, glued handle so that the "hard" side of the rod will be the one that gets the line guides glued onto it.

Al's article says this may be okay for fighting "bigger" fish; I don't think I'll be catching lunkers on this.

I could mount the guides on the soft side--but then I would have to tie part of the reel on with some kind of string to make it work. Doesn't sound good.

Will mounting the guides on the "hard side" make that much difference in my casting?

Also, when all is done (after rod wraps are "painted"), is there something I need to do to give the rod a smooth finish (like storebought rods) or just leave the graphite as is. thanks.learner

thanks, learner

[learner]

Just read post in archive...guess it is best to leave finish alone or use a wax?

[dleo6446]

Iwill work just fine as you have it, most folks never would feel the difference anyway. I wouldn't risk changing it for the gain.

[flyfisherjoe]

I agree with dleo6446 Just leave it the way it is.

As far as finish, leave that alone too. Store bought rods come in a variety of finishes, as do blanks. If you want a certain type of finish, next time buy a blank with that finish. Painting a blank and having it come out looking good is not easy.


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Joe

[learner]

Dear Leo and Joe, thanks for the input. It will help me keep going. bill