I hope Micro and Recoil guides fade away.

With recoil guides...what is the point in having the most bullet proof guides on the most brittle rods....nothing like having 20lb mono make that annoying grinding sound that braid has on a $400 rod. ugh.

Recoil Guides? Never heard of those

Recoils are loud but say you do spend the money on them and you end up breaking the rod. Get a rod builder to put them on a new rod. They last forever.

At the seminar he did at Cabelas last year Gary Dobyns flat out said he didn't see any advantages and didn't like them personally. But he also said a lot of his customers do so he would continue making the rods. He said the same thing about split grip rods. (Which I love...)

I was also at the Cabelas seminar where Gary Dobyns mentioned his disliking of micro guides. Not until a custom rod builder friend of mine talked me into it was I amazed not only the distance but sensitivity. I've also used them in freezing weather and when cat tail remains are on the water with no issue, now don't use braid on micro guides in freezing weather, that could be trouble!

Micros and split grips are simply a fad that will pass with time. I own a few split grip rods simply because that's all that was available in the rod/blank I was looking for at the time. I'm a fan of the Dobyns full rear and no foregrip. Phenix Recon offers this on some of their heavier sticks also.

I tend to disagree on the split grips, they provide an improved fulcrum point for better/easier casting, decreased weight, and when you really want to sling the snot out of a crank bait you can leverage the but end as a handle and get that thing sailing

To each his own, but I love the microguides. Casting distance is better and it seems that I have less backlashing. Split grips make a rod lighter, but you have to balance it with the right reel for good sensitivity imho

I don't see much difference in micro guides either I have 2 Dobyns rods with them but I will say I love my split grips I have probably 18 rod and reels and all are splits except for 3 and don't much like useing the fulls anymore.

I switched over and now have 9 Ducketts. I've broken four and I've seen plenty of damage to the eyes and tips and I use rod gloves. I'm just a tackle junkie but I see no advantage to the micro guide rods and they are a pain to change out your line which I do frequently and on the water...,it's a much slower process. Can't wait until my next impulse strikes....lol

When I was fishing everyday of the week I could easily tell the difference and wouldnt go back to regular guides. Easier casting, lighter, easier in rod lockers, etc. No real reason to go back to regular guides.

I know how to fish and can put double digit fish in the boat with line that can run thru micro guides! lol

The only difference ive noticed in guides is if they have metal in them or not. Metal ones cast further and braid doesn't saw them... atleast not yet...

Here to stay! I do think that they have their place and time and fortunately for me that place and time is here and now on every rod I own and nearly every rod I build.

While I can not speak for freezing temps (South Louisiana and I am usually hunting at any times of freezing temps), they will pass leaders if tied properly without much loss of casting distance. You will feel them ticking but they fly though well up to a 3.5 (smallest I have tried) and depending on the size line. Regarding the freezing temps, I do have one question. I understand that the smaller guides will freeze faster but what about the very first guide. No, I am not talking about the butt guide or any other guide on the rod itself. I am talking about the line guide on the reel itself. Seems to me that freezing temps would freeze over this guide as well??

Anyway, back to the thread. I absolutely LOVE micros and believe that they are everything that they are advertised as. They are very light which allows me to use a couple extra guides to keep the line following the true action of the rod. This improves the performance of the rod in many ways.

1. Even with a extra guide or two they are still much lighter and they require less thread which should result in less surface area of the blank being affected. The lighter rod improves sensitivity, lessens fatigue, etc and the shorter wraps keeps the performance of the blank as close to what it was originally designed as.

2. More guides = more transitions from the line to the blank which improves feel and sensitivity.

3. Micro guides are much shorter thus vibration has less travel to get to the blank. Advantage feel and sensitivity.

4. The shorter guides also creates way less torque than a standard guide. I can not vouch for ever seeing a rod fail while being twisted or torqued but if you ever seen a torque demo then you can not say it is good for a blank. Now, that said, you can prevent torque but spiral wrapping and putting the guides on bottom.

5. Increased casting without a doubt. I have done a lot of casting with identical blanks and reels and they out perform standard guides hands down. With that said, I believe that this advantage is far less important than the above mentioned reasons. Note: When I say identical rods I mean that I took the same rod and build it using several different combinations of guides.

6. Less mess in the rod box.

7. Not that any bass fishermen do this. HeHe. But a gentle step on the guide while on the front deck will normally result in zero damage to the guide. Try that with a standard guide and it is sure to get tweaked and fatigued.

Regarding the split grips, they truly have their time and place. Some folks like them because they are slick looking but the real advantage is weight reduction as long as you do not have a heavy decorative wrap and a thick layer of clear in between the grips. It may not be much but add that with micros, a skeleton seal and no fore grip and it will make a difference.

Anyway, I am sure that there are CONS to the micros as with anything. However, for me......in normal bass fishing situations, they are very hard to beat and I have yet to have a situation where I wished I had conventional guides.

Scott

I like them a lot. To me there is less to step on when I have 14 rods on the deck and braided line seems to behave itself a little more.

I always find arguments about rod sensitivity based on rod guides to be unconvincing. This is unless one is discussing the materials, and construction of the guides themselves. Until someone does some comprehensive testing under laboratory conditions I�ll remain skeptical. If someone has done any serious analysis then I would be open to such an analysis as well. I simply can not visualize how either micro-guides, or spiral wraps will cause the transmission of vibrations, or force to be transmitted more effectively/efficiently. The physics just do not add up, at least not unless there is some aspect of wave reflection, and/or refraction that general models do not account for.

TFP