What’s the purpose of this dramatic style of rod guide on a spinning rod? The first two guides were relatively normal size, but from there to the tip they are extraordinarily small. Never have I seen this. Does it help or hurt casting distance? Must be horrid in freezing weather.
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Micro guides. They are lighter weight. But yea, ice is an issue.
Micro guides and helps casting accuracy
Micro guides have been around for 20 years. Like said they’re lighter weight for better performance and supposed to increase casting distance. Negatives are they’re completely worthless in freezing weather and can be tough on leader knots with heavy line.
Micro guides were really popular for a few years but seem to have faded away recently. I tried them and was not a big fan of them. They were way more popular on baitcasters than they were on spinning rods.
Just started building rods. Those small guides are a pain to handle. Hope it’s worth it.
The big thing about micro guides (normally size 3 or smaller) is they are smaller and lighter than other guides. This increased the sensitivity of the blank, casting distance, blank response or recovery, and accuracy. Every gram of weight removed from the rod allows the blank to retain more of its inherent traits.
The thing that sucks about them is they ice up easy, knots don’t flow thru them well, harder to thread line through, and they get clog with cottonwood and algae.
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In my testings I found that I gain more casting distance with the wave stripper guide (on spinning rods). I produced 2 identical crappie rods with different guide trains. The one with the wave guide out cast the other by 3’ to 6’ every time. That doesn’t sound like a lot but that was with a 1/32 oz jig!
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I built a custom rod with micro guides and have 3 avid X’s that have micros as well. I do feel they are lighter and I genuinely love fishing with them, but if there’s a chance for ice, they stay at home. They ice up so easily.
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