Snake guides or Single Foot Guides?

[sight_nymph_17109]

Which do you prefer and why?

I prefer snake guides. The single footers I've used could bend if bumped and I've have had line wrap around them which was kind of a pain.

 

[ezpickins]

I like the single foot guides - less wrapping to do when building. Supposedly, they cast better too- but that is probably hard to prove. With snake guides the fly line can rub against the rod when casting, increasing friction, the single foot guides keep the line up and off of the rod. So it makes sense to me and I'm drinking the kool-aide.

 

[skiltonian]

depends who you talk with ...the snake guides have a tendency to be a little more sturdy but single footers are less work to tie on and that is generally what I go with. my guess is the higher end Loomis rods tend to use them more to make more profit (less manufacturing time) SOme will say the singles can come loose easier, but if you are tying the rod yourself use the forhan locking wrap (http://www.rodbuilding.org/library/forhan.html). snake guides take a little longer to ice up, but still do and really not that much of an advantage when fishing in winter. weight wise, I think its negligible but some use singles to reduce wieght. I only ever had a rod break ocne right at the guide wrap and it was with a single foot guide, as always wondered if I tied the wrap too tight which dug the foot into the blank creating a weak spot on the blank - it broke during a hook set on a 14" or so rainbow in heavy water. landed the fish and never did replace the rod yet....it all comes down to personal preference.

 

[MKern]

When I build a rod I prefer single-footers, because making adjustments to the snake guides is hard once wrapped.

However, I prefer snake guides on my smaller rods for durability and being bumped.

Plus I've never bent one, but if I do, single foot are easier to replace.


Weight should never be a factor between choosing your guides; nor should action. It's thread and fingernail pollish after all.

 

[JoeE]

I'm with you I prefer snake guides

 

[beeber2]

Snake guides work for me.

beeb

 

[tomgamber]

I like the single foot guides. I liked building with them. I think they do allow for less friction not only on the rod but through the guides. I would probably never change to single from snake of I had to replace the guides on a rod though. I don't know how you get line wrapped around them though. Never had that problem. Never bent one either. Have had snake guides get flattened though. Snakes are much thinner.

 

[abbrod]

I am a custome rod builder and always advise single foot guides. Especially single foot ceramic. This is for several reasons.
1. Weight. I see it was mentioned above that you should not consider weight but it really does make a difference. Tape a single penny to the tip of your rod and see what the difference is.
2. Ceramic guides are hard, slick and silent. Fight you first big fish on one and you'll never go back.

 

[MKern]

Taping a penny to the end of the rod is way different than splitting a penny into 8 sections and spacing them along the length of a rod.


Tom,
I was under the impression that single-footed guided and snake guides are the same thing, but the single foot have an extra bend, turning 2 feet into one by doubleing-back.

 

[tomgamber]

MKern wrote:
Taping a penny to the end of the rod is way different than splitting a penny into 8 sections and spacing them along the length of a rod.


Tom,
I was under the impression that single-footed guided and snake guides are the same thing, but the single foot have an extra bend, turning 2 feet into one by doubling-back.

No....here are pics of each...and zoom into the pic of the LST guides and you'll see what single foot guides look like on the rod.


http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp?id=0079712317957a&navCount=6&podId=0079712&parentId=cat604915&masterpathid=&navAction=jump&cmCat=netcon&catalogCode=9IS&rid=&parentType=index&indexId=cat604915&hasJS=true

 

[troutslammer]

does tapeing the penny to the end of the rod give ya good luck or just make you throw tighter loops ?

 

[eroc144]

No preference. Aesthetically I prefer snakes, but when I'm fishing I could care less.

I rebuilt two rods this winter and used the guides from the original rods for each. One has snakes, the other single foot. Both keep the line where it should be on the rod, and I've never had issues with line wrapping, guide bending, etc. To assess whether snakes have a noticeable impact on a rod's action you'd have to cast identical rods with identical setups except for the guides. Has anyone done that? (that's a question, not a challenge) Depending on the blank and desired action, you might find that the "theoretical" stiffening you get from the double mounting points of the snakes results in a desired action. Again, only side-by-side casting would tell.

Building-wise, the snakes took slightly longer for obvious reasons, but I found it easier to get the snakes exactly where I wanted on the rod. I was able to use a decent-sized piece of masking tape to hold one side of the snake in place, so the guide didn't move or twist when wrapping up onto the guide from the blank. With the single foots I could only use a thin strip of masking tape, also for obvious reasons.

EG

 

[afishinado]

I have rods with both single foot and snakes. I really can't tell the difference in the rods performance and shooting line. I just picked up a Sage TXL 3wt blank and will be using REC single foot guides on it. They can be bent and return to shape. They are also very light for this lightweight rod.

http://www.shofftackle.com/rec_single_foot_snakes.html

As someone else mentioned, I suppose the only way to judge the difference in performance (if any) is to build two identical rods with snakes and singles and cast and fish them.

 

[sight_nymph_17109]

I think that I had talked to the tech guy at Sage a while back. If my memory serves me, there was a difference in the flex points on the rod based on guide placement using snake guides. The had charts that show the exact placement for the guides when building and breaking away from their diagram would change the performance / flex points of the rod.

 

[abbrod]

Any snake guide that is stiffer than the rod blank and is attached at two different points on the rod will effect the way it bends. To what degree is the question. I would think that most will not notice a huge difference and at the end of the day it really is up to the individual and there really is no right or wrong way. Personally I build all of my rods with SF ceramic guides. You can't believe how much easier the line glides through them. This is especially noticeable when fighting fish. If you fish for steelhead, try them and you will really see the difference. I still maintain that any additional weight at all, specially towards the tip decreases the frequency of the rod and reduces efficiency. Having said that it is worth noting that not everyone like a fast frequency/recovering rod and likes a rod that has more weight attached. To each their own. It is what makes this a great sport.

 

[sight_nymph_17109]

Anyone interested in forming a 'snake guide only' club or maybe a possie to run all them single foot guys off the streams?

 

[jayL]

My new rod will have single foot guides. I have never fished with them before, but I am curious.

 

[sight_nymph_17109]

Don't do it!!! You're drinking their kool-aid. You could alternate them and get the best of both worlds. The only rod I had w/ single footers was a St Croix. Maybe it was the crappy Air Flo line or just my imagination. Didn't care for them and got rid of a perfectly good / sweet casting rod. I still have the line though. Make sense outta that!

 

[afishinado]

jayL wrote:
My new rod will have single foot guides. I have never fished with them before, but I am curious.

sight_nymph wrote:
Don't do it!!! You're drinking their kool-aid. You could alternate them and get the best of both worlds. The only rod I had w/ single footers was a St Croix. Maybe it was the crappy Air Flo line or just my imagination. Didn't care for them and got rid of a perfectly good / sweet casting rod. I still have the line though. Make sense outta that!

LOL....of the 4 trout rods I use most frequently, 2 have snakes and 2 have single foots. I really see no difference one way or the other.

 

[Acristickid]

They both freeze up. Okay- snakes get one or two more casts.