Question For You Rod Builders

[dtrs5kprs]

They are actually. It takes several micros to equal the weight of even just one the very best conventional sized guides. And I'm talking cheap micros too. Besides you don't need 14 guides if any kind. As a matter if fact I don't use any more guides than I would using larger guides. This includes the conventional configuration of applying them not spiral wrapping them. Though I have made a handful of spiral wrapped rods. I personally don't see the need on a bass rid but that's my opinion. Anyway the micros weight savings allow the blank to act more like it would without any guides on it both in action and sensitivity. The more you put on a rod the more you hinder it. The only disadvantage to micros is debris or ice clogging them.

Absolutely. There is a simple way to feel the difference if you are close to a Cabelas. They build their Prodigy rods both ways, micro and regular. Hold one of each in the same length/action and it is immediately obvious how much weight is saved. And that is on an "average" mass produced rod.

Acid Rod has some cool pics of micros in relation to a dime.

http://www.acidrod.com/MicroGuides.html

Just wish the micros did not freeze up, and worked better on spinning sticks.

[hoglaw]

Micro guides work flawlessly on a spinning rod when placed properly. But its truly a custom deal. There is no one size fits all placement chart. I would never buy an off the rack spinning rod with micros. Consequently I would never build myself a spinning rod without them.

[dtrs5kprs]

Micro guides work flawlessly on a spinning rod when placed properly. But its truly a custom deal. There is no one size fits all placement chart. I would never buy an off the rack spinning rod with micros. Consequently I would never build myself a spinning rod without them.

Certainly could be they are for custom only. Have not been bold enough to try them on a spinning rod.

[hoglaw]

My placement method is really simple but difficult to describe. I didn't come up with it. It's called the 27x method I think, but I've found that it works extremely well. First, put your reel on the rod. Use calipers to measure the diameter of the spool lip - the widest point from the center of the reel that the line must pass over. Multiply that number by 27. The product is the distance up the rod that the choke guide must be placed. In test casting, I've found 28 or 29 to be a little better. The choke guide equal to the smallest guide you will use, and it's the same size as the rest of the running guides from the choke to the tip. On most spinning rods, the choke guide is the third guide up, and you will have two reduction guides below it. Placing the reduction guides is also very key, and here's how you do it.

Use a piece of tape to tape the line coming off the reel to the top of the reel, so that it is coming out of the dead center of the top of the reel. Run that to your choke guide, and put slight tension on it to form a perfectly straight line from the center of your reel spool to the choke guide. You will place your two reduction guides (the bigger guides) below the choke in such a location that the tight line runs just against the inside of the ring furthest away from the rod. It's easier if I draw a picture here. So that means the placement of the reduction guides depends upon their size and profile. When you're done, there should be a perfectly straight path from the center of the reel spool to the choke guide, and on the way the line will just barely touch the inside of the guide ring on the two reduction guides at the point farthest from the blank. The line path should not be deflected in any way whatsoever. Once that is done, the hard part is over. Tape the rest of your running guides on where you think they should go. Do a static distribution test to make sure your angles are correct and adjust the running guides as needed. Now take it to the yard. It should cast flawlessly. If it doesn't, adjust the positioning of your choke guide and running guides and try again. This part can be trial and error, but the methodology outlined above should get you very close.

When properly set up, the line will absolutely sail through the guides and you won't hear any "slap." Implicit in this method is the idea that your guide placement depends upon the spool lip diameter of the reel you are using. So it is absolutely not one size fits all. The rod must be customized to the reel you are using.

Also, folks talked about weight savings earlier. As we've already established, you do not need more micro guides than you do regular guides, particularly if you use a spiral wrap on a baitcast rod. So that's out the window. A set of micro guides does weigh less than regular ones. Even if the weight savings is just an ounce, the key is the location on the blank where the weight savings occurs. Additional weight in the handle is meaningless. Some folks will add weight to the butt to balance a rod at the reel. The key is saving weight towards the tip of the rod. This has a tremendous effect.

A friend's grandfather gave me a rod he build a while ago on a nice Loomis GL3 blank. It was a good looking rod with a cool handle and I thought it would be a great white bass spinning rod. It was build with gigantic blanks but I didn't think it would effect that much. I was wrong. It didn't cast well and it had a completely dead feel. I couldn't feel a bite unless they slammed it. It was so bad I thought it was a counterfit blank. I didn't want to mess up the nice work he did, but I knew I wanted to try different guides before it became a decoration instead of a fishing rod. So I stripped all of the guides off and replaced them with a proper micro set-up. Now the rod is spectacular.