# Rod guides - large or small? Whats the difference?



## aeviaanah

Rod guides - large or small? Whats the difference? 

I was out looking to buy my second rod. I noticed some guides are much larger than others, what does this serve? Pros and cons of larger rod guides over smaller?


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## bcbouy

spinning or fly rod ?


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## Captain Ahab

Are you talking about micro guides v. standard size guides?

Micro guides are lighter, you have more guides per rod which reduces line "slap" (keep the line running true while casting) and can aid in casting distance.

The down side is that they do not handle the line to leader knots as well (if you use a long leader like I do), you have to clean them more often as they will not handle much line scum and there is usually an increased cost.


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## aeviaanah

Captain Ahab said:


> Are you talking about micro guides v. standard size guides?
> 
> Micro guides are lighter, you have more guides per rod which reduces line "slap" (keep the line running true while casting) and can aid in casting distance.
> 
> The down side is that they do not handle the line to leader knots as well (if you use a long leader like I do), you have to clean them more often as they will not handle much line scum and there is usually an increased cost.


I think so, the rod I bought is medium heavy and the first eye is roughly 3/8" in diameter and the last eye (at the tip) is roughly 3/16" in diameter. 


bcbouy said:


> spinning or fly rod ?


Spinning rod


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## Pappy

Guide size makes quite a difference in a spinning set-up. Just bought a 7 1/2' high end Bass Pro rod on sale with fairly small guides to upgrade one of my spinning outfits... and hate it! The line slap when casting is pretty bad and definitely decreases the casting distance.


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## gillhunter

Pappy said:


> Guide size makes quite a difference in a spinning set-up. Just bought a 7 1/2' high end Bass Pro rod on sale with fairly small guides to upgrade one of my spinning outfits... and hate it! The line slap when casting is pretty bad and definitely decreases the casting distance.



I agree with Pappy. When I am buying a spinning rod one of the things I check is to see if my thumb will fit into the first guide. If it does I know that the line slap will be minimal. There are a lot of inexpensive rods out there that will and a lot that won't.


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## aeviaanah

Ok guys thanks for the help. Ill return this rod and go get a different one. How do you tell its line slapping??


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## gillhunter

aeviaanah said:


> Ok guys thanks for the help. Ill return this rod and go get a different one. How do you tell its line slapping??



You can feel it.

I don't have any real expensive rigs, but I have bought a bunch of them over the years. One of outfits I like the best is a Berkley IM6 Lighting Rod, with a Mitchell 300 series spinning reel. I have 2, 6' light rigs with the older 300 series reel and 2, 6'6" rods one with the newer 300XE reel. The rods and reels are carried by BPS, Cabela's, Dick's Sporting Goods, but I bought mine at Wally World. :LOL2: The rods are around $36 and the reels about $39. The reels have 8 bearings and the rods have cork grips, which I like.


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## LonLB

There is much more to line slap than the size of the guides.


The reel and line are as big, if not bigger factor.


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## aeviaanah

gillhunter said:


> aeviaanah said:
> 
> 
> 
> Ok guys thanks for the help. Ill return this rod and go get a different one. How do you tell its line slapping??
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You can feel it.
> 
> I don't have any real expensive rigs, but I have bought a bunch of them over the years. One of outfits I like the best is a Berkley IM6 Lighting Rod, with a Mitchell 300 series spinning reel. I have 2, 6' light rigs with the older 300 series reel and 2, 6'6" rods one with the newer 300XE reel. The rods and reels are carried by BPS, Cabela's, Dick's Sporting Goods, but I bought mine at Wally World. :LOL2: The rods are around $36 and the reels about $39. The reels have 8 bearings and the rods have cork grips, which I like.
Click to expand...

I actually have a berkley im6 lightning rod. Its 5' 6" i think.


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## 200racing

from my reading on rodbuilding,org. in therory a blank would perform best naked and all weight added has a negative effect on feel and performance.


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## aeviaanah

200racing said:


> from my reading on rodbuilding,org. in therory a blank would perform best naked and all weight added has a negative effect on feel and performance.



So smaller rod guides = less weight = better feel and performance??


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## russ010

aeviaanah said:


> 200racing said:
> 
> 
> 
> from my reading on rodbuilding,org. in therory a blank would perform best naked and all weight added has a negative effect on feel and performance.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> So smaller rod guides = less weight = better feel and performance??
Click to expand...


yes... you get less line slap on the rod which reduces friction resulting in a longer cast. The smaller guides also keep your line in more contact with the rod blank which results in you feeling more taps (and lighter taps) from bites. 

The only downside I have had so far with the micro guides are fishing in winter... when the line freezes, you have to stick your rod down in the water usually before and after each cast. Otherwise, sometimes you get AWESOME professional overruns at your baitcaster (and I mean a squirrel nest, not a birds nest)


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## russ010

Captain Ahab said:


> The down side is that they do not handle the line to leader knots as well (if you use a long leader like I do), you have to clean them more often as they will not handle much line scum and there is usually an increased cost.



I had the same problem until I switched over to Seaguar fluorocarbons. I don't throw much anything lighter than 15#, so I use 30# braid, and then tie an Albright Knot, always using the leader as the wrap. 
https://www.metacafe.com/watch/783208/albright_knot_how_to_tie_the_albright_knot_fishing_knots/


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## gillhunter

aeviaanah said:


> Captain Ahab said:
> 
> 
> 
> Are you talking about micro guides v. standard size guides?
> 
> Micro guides are lighter, you have more guides per rod which reduces line "slap" (keep the line running true while casting) and can aid in casting distance.
> 
> The down side is that they do not handle the line to leader knots as well (if you use a long leader like I do), you have to clean them more often as they will not handle much line scum and there is usually an increased cost.
> 
> 
> 
> I think so, the rod I bought is medium heavy and the first eye is roughly 3/8" in diameter and the last eye (at the tip) is roughly 3/16" in diameter.
> 
> 
> bcbouy said:
> 
> 
> 
> spinning or fly rod ?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Spinning rod
Click to expand...


I think we may be talking about 2 different rods here, bait casting and spinning. What type of rod were you asking about again aeviaanah? A 1st rod eye of 3/8" diameter is pretty small for a spinning rod. I think my ice rods have a larger diameter 1st eye than that.


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## aeviaanah

gillhunter said:


> aeviaanah said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Captain Ahab said:
> 
> 
> 
> Are you talking about micro guides v. standard size guides?
> 
> Micro guides are lighter, you have more guides per rod which reduces line "slap" (keep the line running true while casting) and can aid in casting distance.
> 
> The down side is that they do not handle the line to leader knots as well (if you use a long leader like I do), you have to clean them more often as they will not handle much line scum and there is usually an increased cost.
> 
> 
> 
> I think so, the rod I bought is medium heavy and the first eye is roughly 3/8" in diameter and the last eye (at the tip) is roughly 3/16" in diameter.
> 
> 
> bcbouy said:
> 
> 
> 
> spinning or fly rod ?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Spinning rod
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> I think we may be talking about 2 different rods here, bait casting and spinning. What type of rod were you asking about again aeviaanah? A 1st rod eye of 3/8" diameter is pretty small for a spinning rod. I think my ice rods have a larger diameter 1st eye than that.
Click to expand...

Sorry, it is a baitcasting rod.


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## Gators5220

There are more factors to casting distance then the size of the first guide, it's also how far the guides are sized down and how quickly, length of rod, spool diameter of the reel in use, distance of the reel to the first guide, as well as fuji concept guides (guides that start farther dow n and are tighter together at the end) and acid wrapped guides (which spiral around the entire rod). The most important thing I think no one has asked is what kind of line your throwing? If it's mono a lot of the larger guide ideas make more sense, braid in my experience casts a lot longer with smaller guides, again just my opinion.


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