Better or worse than regular guides? What are the advantages if any? Thanks.

Some say you can cast further with micros and you may have a little more line control and sensitivity due to increased guide/rod/line contact??? Because of their small size they make for a lighter rod, this is no doubt an advantage. I have a Lews TP-1 that has the new American Tackle Micro-Wave guides. The stripper guide is like a guide within a guide that is supposed to increase casting distance even further.

The only real disadvantage I have encountered is the micros are pretty weak on some manufactures rods. I've bent and broke a few putting rods in and out of the rods tubes. They will also go through the plastic rods sleeves with ease due to their smaller size (Another reason to buy Rod Warrior sleeves).

Thanks for the info

Not a fan.

I changed the guide on my rods to half way between micros and regular ones I like the micros but I like this set up better

Micro Guides are great. I have 5 rods with micro-guides and they are the rods I always seem to reach for. It seems that the rods are more accurate and further casting, however that may be all in my head. What I know for sure is that you can feel ANYTHING on the end of your line when using micro guides. As armadillo joe said, the hybrid eyes are great as well.

Not a Fan at all. Line rubs each and every guide and IMO slows down casting distance.

Larger guides have less line resistance.IMO. Not to mention every time you bump one putting them in the rod locker you either break it or bend the micros.

If you will look at a rod with a reel on it the very first eye is down hill from the height of the reel which creates drag.

To each one has his own opinion on these guides as I do also.

Don't the micros on a spinning rod made the bait swim differently, therefore, a one micro at the bottom would suffice?

Do they provide the same effect/affect as that little piece of plastic or metal that looks like a paper clip? I forgot what they are called, but it can be attached at the lower end of the rod, thus it makes the lures swim differently.
I forgot what they are called, so if someone chime in please...


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There are many videos that show smaller guides reduce line oscillation which is detrimental to casting distance, especially with spinning equipment. I understand that friction can slow line as it is cast but to me, I believe that oscillation is more critical. Also, it only makes sense that increased line contact after the cast will increase sensitivity.

On spinning equipment, here's my take on the whole guide layout thing.

I got into building rods a little over a year ago. First rod I built was with the "cone of flight" layout, where the guides get progressively smaller from the reel to the tip. This layout had been the industry standard, and still is for the most part, for decades.


The second rod I built using the Fuji "concept" layout, which employs the use of a choker guide, 6mm in my case, with the remaining guides between it and the tip being the same 6mm, and the guides between the reel and choker being the transition guides. This layout works on the theory that the choker arrests the line oscillation at the choker, thus allowing the line to flow smoothly through the remaining guides and tip.

What we are looking at here is allowing the oscillation to flow through every single guide (cone of flight), encountering some resistance at every guide, vs arresting it fairly early reducing the resistance on the remaining guides.


Same blanks, just different guide layouts.

What I found:

The cone of flight rod casts about like every other spinning rod I've fished my whole life. Want to cast farther, just put more oomph into the throw. But with that extra oomph comes a degradation in accuracy.

The concept layout, to me, seems like it casts farther with a normal amount of effort, but putting even more effort into the cast doesn't seem to yield much more distance. Net effect, overall distance about equal, more distance with less effort required.

Accuracy, I can't tell a huge difference, but the concept layout seems to be a bit more accurate because it casts so smooth with normal effort I can concentrate more on accuracy than distance when casting. The concept layout also yields noticeably less line slap when casting than the cone of flight layout, which is the desired result.


The line resistance to the guides is present either way. Cone of flight, the line encounters notable resistance at every single guide, even the tiptop. Concept, uses the transition guides to control line slap and the choker deals with a larger amount of resistance all at once, but once the line passes the choker it encounters a drastically reduced amount of resistance from the remaining guides and tip top.

So which do I like best? Of the dozen or so spinning rods I've built since comparing the two techniques, every one has been a concept layout. The results I posted here are my experiences, and no doubt may vary from person to person given different preferences and actual casting technique. But for me, I'll continue to build on the concept layout until I try something new and like it even better.

Working on my first casting rig now. It will be acid wrapped (another layout with some controversy as to its real world benefits). I've read many accounts of the micros being more delicate, and since I tend to be a little rough on my gear at times I'm using a bit more robust single foot guide for the runners.

I think the difference in the benefit between micro guides vs more conventionally sized guides might be based on the actual fishing to be done. No offense intended in this assessment. Bass fishermen tend to cast many, many more times between actually hooking and fighting a fish. Then, the bass battle tends to be over rather quickly. I chase hybrids & striper primarily, and sandies as by-catch mostly. Once I locate the fish I target they tend to be larger on average, fight harder & longer, and more often than not once the catching starts it can be fast and furious action with repeated catches. Meaning if I have a traditional layout casting rig using micro guides, the line rubbing the rod would happen potentially much more often and for longer periods of time. Spacing micros so the line doesn't touch the loaded rod requires more guides (more line resistance?). The theory behind acid wrapping, transitioning the line to the under-side of the rod, allows the guides to be laid out to best utilize the characteristics of the rod itself without worry of line contacting the rod, and potentially reducing the total number of guides needed (less line resistance?). Again, my views here are based on theory and research, as I have not yet completed my first spiral/acid guide rig.

Ultimately, whatever someone likes is the best to them, where someone else may have a totally different opinion on the matter. Fishing method and target species could, and likely will, play a huge role in this.

I was thinking about this subject while fishing yesterday and thought of something else that hasn't been brought up.
Lets say your using a casting rod and the line you are using is .032 diameter. A casting reel spools off line in pretty much a straight line. The only real oscillation you have would be caused by line memory. So, for the sake of the argument let us say there isn't any line memory. At any given time during a cast on a standard or micro guide rod there is the exact same amount of line making contact with the guides. There is only so much surface area on any given line. I cannot see where this small amount of the full diameter line making contact changes from guide to guide. So, to me since it is already proven that line oscillation is the major cause of a reduction in casting distance it makes perfect sense that smaller guides can only increase casting distance since the smaller guides reduce oscillation.

When I use braid it seems to wrap around the micro eyes... Only negative I've experienced... Dan

Kevin Smith with Shamrock Rods has custom built me 2 rods lately and used these sized guides and I can't explain why but I feel like this is the best sized guides and they work great. Casting has been great with these rods so I fell like these are the perfect sized guides.

This is an issue no matter what guides you have. When braid first came out it was MUCH stiffer than the stuff sold today and it was a bear to fish with sometimes, especially in cold weather!!

I don't have an issue with micro guides. I however don't use leaders when fishing them or use a shorter one just because I feel the guides affect my casting with longer leaders. They also freeze a little easier, but you probably should go back inside if the conditions are that cold.