I was hoping to have an open discussion about heavy tackle spinning guides, mainly Fuji ‘KW’ vs ‘MN’ for GT/Tuna Popping. There seems to be a train of thought among Japanese rod companies (Fisherman, Carpenter) that the MN guides are the way to go, apparently they are better but no one seems to know why. I have heard a head Japanese designer thinks the ‘K’ guides are noisy but that’s the closest thing I have to an answer on the subject. My personal preference is for KW frame guides given the anti-tangle properties (huge benefit when a 200g popper catches and rips your guide clean out), the increased distance and also the ability to move the stripper closer to the reel seat effectively placing it in a stronger section of the blank and reducing acute line angles for the whole guide train. Also I am lead to believe the frame of the KW guide is actually stronger than the MN, I know in the smaller sizes the K guides have a lot more thickness to the frames, seems heavy duty in comparison to the MN.

Can anyone shed some light on the subject? Whether its evidence to support one guide over the other or any personal experiences.

I am building quite a few more of these rods and a lot of guys are requesting the MN as they have seen it on premium JDM rods, no understanding or reason why they want that particular guide apart from it was on a $1000 rod so it must be the best.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Ben I would be interested to know the background of the "designer" you quote. It cannot be anyone from Fuji as they will tell you the KW is capable of anything the MN is capable of and more (i.e. tangle free etc). That leaves a competitive "designer" or someone currently building high dollar rods with the MN who needs to justify their decision in order to keep selling rods. I won't claim to be an expert on Tuna Popping but I do know the KW is being used on many heavy rods and is considered to be an advancement in design in the vast majority of cases. BTW yours is the first and only comment we have ever heard about noise from a KW. KW is certainly more of a "signature" guide for a custom builder and there's plenty of data and testimony to back up your decision to use them.

Ben: Below is a copy of an email Donnie forwarded me a few minutes ago. Check the date and time. Hope this helps.

Date: November 16, 2015 at 9:55:47 PM EST
To: "DONNIE PAUL" <[email protected]>
Cc: "'Aaron Lowe'" <[email protected]>
Subject: TKWSG GUIDES

Hi Donnie,

I had some reservations in regards to the K-Series Titanium frames holding up to our style of slide bait fishing off the cliffs using very stiff 13’ rods with 80lb. test mono, but the TKWSG guides held up very well as Travis landed a sizeable 8’ Hammerhead shark (photo) on the rod I built using those guides.
My concern was if the guide frames would collapse and flatten out during a long battle under heavy load. I was relieved to learn that they held up well with no issues in the true field test.


Aloha,

Hello Jim,

Thanks for your reply, I was hoping you would comment and as I suspected your response reflects what I had assumed. I was trying to track down the video with the guy explaining why they chose the MN guides over the KW but as it was in Japanese and a little while ago I’ve lost it, I can confirm he was not from Fuji and was a rep/ tester for one of the big name popping companies (Fisherman, Carpenter, Yamaga Blanks, Ripple Fisher etc.). I had a feeling it may have been down to cost (whether it was cheaper to bulk buy MN’s) and it was just marketing jargon to justify themselves.

I also did question the point of them being noisy, something that in my experience is not true but wanted to see if anyone else had seen/read of any claims as such.

I do use the KW’s on my popping builds and not one has failed yet, even when a greedy shark takes a liking to a $100 lure and really puts up a fight (something I have witnessed, felt sorry for my mate, he did seem a little spent after that encounter!) so I have utmost confidence in them under heavy drag situations. I now just have more evidence to back up my thoughts and to dispel some of the b/s that just because a $1000 JDM popping stick has MN’s doesn’t mean they are the best choice.

Thanks again for your input.

Ben

I've heard the same so had similar reservations prior to building myself a heavy popping rod recently. I went with the TKWSG's in the end. I'm about to go on a 7 day trip that will likely really test this rig out so will let you know the outcome. If there's any truth to the rumour it may be due to the MN having a lower profile so less leverage to bending plus perhaps the better support the MN's provide with the leg design. I'm not saying either of those two points are facts, just maybe why this is out there. Going titanium's should have helped my cause!
I think I could probably track down some comments about the MN's but will leave it for now.

Sure Ben. MN's have a much longer history than the K-Series and have served on millions of rods with no problems. But I see no need to talk bad about a new product that has built up a pretty solid record for over 5 years now. There's a place for every guide in Fuji's lineup and there will never be a shortage of opinions in the world of custom rod building!