Spiral Wrap Fishing Rods

Just what the heck is a spiral wrap rod? This unusual form of fishing rod has eyes that don’t line up—which looks mighty strange upon first glance, but often becomes a love affair after first use.

All rods have a spine running in a line from tip to butt, which is stronger than the rest of the rod. High-quality rods are assembled with the guides directly overtop (for casting) or underneath (for spinning) the spine, but in many cases, they’re a tiny bit off. And in low-cost rods, the spine is often ignored completely. As a result, whenever the rod is under load, it wants to rotate slightly to the left or the right. Because of the weight of the reel and changing directions of the fish, you might never have noticed this, but you’ll feel it in your wrist after a long day of fishing because your hand is always working a bit to keep that rod straight. In some rods you can even see this rotation. The tip of the rod may “fold” over and rotate noticeably; as a result the line can rub against the rod itself instead of only the guides, causing friction and eventually, a break-off.

Spiral-wrapped rods combat this problem by having guides that are mounted in a spiraling pattern, which makes a 180-degree transition from the first eye to the tip-top. Guide positions usually change at about 30 degrees each, but more or less may be necessary to match the rod’s natural tendency to rotate as it’s placed under load. Top-notch builders will locate each guide on every spiral-wrapped rod they build, to match each rod blank individually.

Does it work? Without any question. In fact, spiral wrapping allows you to apply more pressure with an identical rod blank as opposed to traditionally-wrapped rods, and it also eliminates the torque that can lead to sore wrists and lost fish.

So… why aren’t all rods spiral-wrapped? First off, because they look unusual; at least one major rodbuilder attempted to market them in the past, but quickly determined that the mass market wasn’t ready for them. Secondly, they’re expensive. Properly building a rod with the spiral wrap design takes more time and effort, so it costs more money; you can expect to pay 30 to 50 percent more than you would for a comparable rod with a traditional build.

Still interested in a spiral wrap? You’ll have to contact a custom rodbuilder, to add one to your arsenal. Do so, however, and it’s a fair bet you’ll fall in love with your spiral-wrapped rod the first time you use it.