Micro Guides

[ULfisher]

I've heard a lot of good things about micro guides on your rods. I thought about buying an e21 that had them, but wanted to know if there were any rod smiths that would replace the original guides on my rods with micro guides.

[zx150]

It can be done. What kind of rod are you wanting to replace the guides on? Some people only like micro's on spinning rods or if there is a spiral wrap on a bait caster. On some set ups the line can lay on the rod.

[Jbyrd]

looking at your pic you might do some night fishing. Before you leap on the micro bus try threading line thru one. HA total night mare . Then break off and accidently pull the line out of the guides at NIGHT. mission impossible. What a pain not worth it. seems to me to be an AWFULL lot of regular guides out there working great. But my 2 cents worth , some may think they are worth the hassle.......

[ULfisher]

I thought about replacing the guides on one of my bass pro shop bionics (bait casting rod). I agree I think it can be done but I don't know who I could get to do it.

[zx150]

I can do it for you no problem. But the kind of rod you are doing it on, it would just be waisting your money. Save your money and buy a good custom rod if that is the way you want to go, I think you will be happer in the long run.

[dpage70]

ULfisher, micro guides really are everything that you've read about. I build rods and all of the rods that build, except for 1 person, are built with micro guides. The finished rods are considerably lighter than being built with "standard" sized guides and cast a pretty good amount better. Micro's aren't right for every application but for the ones they work for they are the best thing going right now. Threading line through them is as simple as putting the line between your thumb and forefinger with about an inch of tag sticking out. Place the "v" between the 2 fingers on the rod and slide them up the rod. Once you figure out exactly how far up in between your fingers to place the line it's just as fast as threading line through bigger guides. Amazingly simple actually. I agree with zx150 in that the price of a rebuild can be a bit a high just because of all the extra work involved in the stripping of the old stuff. Unless you are just in love with action of the rod or the rod has some form of sentimental value to you, you're better off buying one or having a custom builder work with you. Just as an example I charge $95 plus parts for a complete build and $95 plus parts for a guides only rebuild and that'll be somewhere in the neighborhood of most other builders as well. That's why it's usually better to purchase one or work with a builder. If I can answer anything else for you just let me know I'd be glad to.

[tomo]

I also build rods and have built quite a few castind rods with micro's ( 3.5mm Fuji's ). They work very well on rods that are used for worms, jigs, shaky head fishing where sensitivity is important. They don't contribute much to spinnerbait - crankbait type rods - topwater rods. A rod is most sensitive when it is a blank with no hardware on it. the minute you add hanlde and guides you decrease sensitivity. The trick is to add a little weight as possible. A complete set of 9 micro guides weighs less than one standard double foot 8mm casting guide. Less weight + stiffness = sensitivity. I have weighed them myself. I recentl removed the factory guides on a Loomis C723IM6 that i purchased back in 1980. I put the micro's on it and the difference is stunning. If your rod is for slow fishing where feel is important the micro wraps are well worth it.

[dpage70]

With all do respect Tomo I completely disagree about them not doing much on casting type rods as well. The added casting distance and ease of casting is really pretty dramatic. I've used them on crankbaits, lipless bait and spinnerbait rods and the bait just flies past a standard built rod. My first micro build was a deep cranking rod and when it was done I took the same reel I was using without changing the line. My first cast it went so much farther than the old way that my knot for my backing went through the guides and ripped out every ring in every guide. Again i hope you don't take that as being disrespectful Tomo but there really is a big difference in all kinds of rods built these (as long as you aren't using braid with a leader). Not to mention that less weight means less fatigue.