guides offset from reel seat?

[Chonay]

Hey my buddy has a rod that he bought from an outfitter while he was living in Alaska that has a strange feature. Its a 2 piece rod and the guides on the reel side are offset or rotated almost 90 degrees from the reel seat. Is this a design feature for a specific purpose like maybe it helps with shooting line? Or is it possible that the reelseat was glued on crooked by accident? Its a 9' #8 Lamiglas graphite rod. Otherwise its a nice rod and casts great but we were curious about what that might be about?

 

[Stonedfish]

I’ve seen gear rods purposely built similar to that with a spiral wrap using offset guides, but can’t say I’ve ever seen a fly rod like that.
SF

 

[Jake Watrous]

I've had a couple of guides recommend doing so to help shoot line further. Personally I didn't notice a difference, and I found their conflicting reasons dubious (one said it reduced line sag, the other said it created effectively smaller guides).

But perhaps there is a benefit?

 

[_WW_]

Hey my buddy has a rod that he bought from an outfitter while he was living in Alaska that has a strange feature. Its a 2 piece rod and the guides on the reel side are offset or rotated almost 90 degrees from the reel seat. Is this a design feature for a specific purpose like maybe it helps with shooting line? Or is it possible that the reelseat was glued on crooked by accident? Its a 9' #8 Lamiglas graphite rod. Otherwise its a nice rod and casts great but we were curious about what that might be about?

Ask him if he wants to buy a bridge...

 

[Matt B]

Maybe the previous owner had a casting quirk where his line loops tend to want to grab onto the reel handle, and that was the fix? Get the reel out of the way?

 

[PhilR]

Sounds like the sort of thing I'd say after gluing the reel seat on the wrong way.

 

[G_Smolt]

I learned that trick (rotating guides 90° towards caster) from tournament distance casters in the late aughts. Less line-slap (drag) through the 2 largest guides. Works like a charm for distance casturbation, sucks out loud when trying to reel in fish - all the line piles up on one side of the reel and usually jams in the frame.

 

[Chonay]

I learned that trick (rotating guides 90° towards caster) from tournament distance casters in the late aughts. Less line-slap (drag) through the 2 largest guides. Works like a charm for distance casturbation, sucks out loud when trying to reel in fish - all the line piles up on one side of the reel and usually jams in the frame.

Thanks, maybe it was intentional part of the design then! interesting

 

[@Dryflyphotography]

Easy fix to remove and either reset or replace a reel seat.

 

[Brute]

Maybe someone should design a moveable bottom section so you can align the guides on the retrieve

 

[Porter2]

I've had a couple of guides recommend doing so to help shoot line further. Personally I didn't notice a difference, and I found their conflicting reasons dubious (one said it reduced line sag, the other said it created effectively smaller guides).

But perhaps there is a benefit?

(Im right handed). I had a casting instructor recommend to rotate my wrist inwards (pronation?) … basically my thumb would be pointing at my feet ..at end of my forward cast….which put the reel and guides at a 90ish angle to the right from my body, or the reel at the 3 o’clock position. Essentially doing the same as offsetting the guides. He told me basically the same thing… less line slapping. I didn’t notice much difference either. After decades of casting I find some of my best casting distances have come from slowing it down, not trying so hard, and being fundamentally sound with good high back casting, well timed tugs on the haul and a 10ish o’clock abrupt forward cast stop. Slow > Smooth : Smooth > Fast : Fast > Distance

 

[Mike Bacca]

Sounds like the builder of the rod had Chinese glasses and measuring tapes. And the straight line they thought they were following was from too much smoking the grass from the lawn mower.