Rod selection question

[Pete]

How do you choose a rod? Certainly there's nothing better than fishing with a rod to know how it feels. But when you're in the store, what make one rod better than another? One thing I always do is check for the orientation of the guides on the spine of the rod. It's suprising how many rods don't have their guides placed properly on the blank. Place the butt on the floor and the tip on the edge of a counter and then roll the rod back and forth -- you'll notice strong and weak orientations of the blank -- the guides should be along the strong point. It makes a difference in fighting a fish and in casting.

What other things do you look for?

[Jennie@ifish]

Bill says: (I'm too lazy to log him in)
Yes, blanks do have a strong side and weak side. Having built many fiber glass and graphite rods, I would roll the rod over several times to see that the tip is "up" and straight when the guides are lined up the way you fish. On a spinning rod, the guides will hang when the tip is "up" and the reverse for casting guides. Another thing to watch for is the occasional misalignment of reel seats -- try a reel on it to check this. Also, look for damaged guides -- stores sometimes get a little rough with the merchandise. If you are building the rod, put a reel on the seat before you do the fast setting epoxy so that it can be aligned right before it sets up.