Hi all,

Looking to build a spinning rod for trout fishing 2lb test. New Concept suggests size 6 choke and runners, but I want to go as small as possible. Will smaller sizes, say 5 or 5.5 hinder casting distance?

Thanks,
Nick

For à light Trout rod, runner size 4 will be better.

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Eric
[www.emfishing.fr]

Even 2mm will work on that rod, 4mm has been used on heavier powered steelhead rods for decades.

Do a KR concept using Minima 4 Match (M) guides coupled with Minima 4 fly (F) guides. Use size 16M, 8M and 5M for stripper and transition guides, and size 4F guides as runners. Can not get a lighter guide train. The entire guide train will weigh less than a single size 20 ceramic stripper guide. These guides will give you a very light, responsive, and sensitive rod that will cast great. They are a real performance enhancer.
Could also use the size 3F as runners they are even lighter.
Norm



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/02/2018 01:42AM by Norman Miller.

I use 2 mm on my trout and panfish rods that will not have knots to worry about.

When many of the New Guide Concept articles were first written, size 6 single foots were about as small as they came. So you can safely go smaller as long as the guides will clear the line and any knots/connections you may be running, which on this rod I doubt you'd have any. And with smaller guides you reduce weight further which is really going to liven up a rod that light.

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Nick ,
Guide size is always your choice.

But, if you built two identical rods - but with different sized running guides, where one rod had size 3 running guides and the other rod size 6 running guides i would really wonder if you would actually, see, feel, or have any difference in the action and effectiveness of the rods

i.e. I would rather expect that if you fished similar waters with equal use of both rods, that you would likely end up with the same amount of fish.

If you want to go with size 2 or 3 guides, by all means do so. But, if you want to go with size 6,7,8 or size 10 runners - then by all means do that.

i do know that for very cold weather ice fishing when the fellows are fishing in -10f weather, i use only size 10 running guides on the ice rods to better deal with the ice issues.

if I am running heavy line and have to deal with big knots i never run any running guides smaller than size 8.

Pick, choose and best of all - enjoy the fruit of your labor.

Take care

Roger, yes you would notice the difference between size 6 runners vs size 3 runners, especially on an ultra light or light action rod. I had a old light action rod that I built a long time ago using the NGC with size 6 runners, I disliked that rod, just felt heavy, very sloppy. and non responsive. I decided I would strip this rod and use the Minima 4 guides in a KR concept build as described above, This was the first rod on which I used Minima guides. Well, they absolutely transformed this rod into something that was a joy to fish, it was lighter, crisper, more responsive, and casted much better. Felt like a completely different blank. This completely changed my opinion about Minima guides trains. After that experience I stripped every NGC rod I owned and replaced the larger NGC guides with Fuji KR or Minima 4 guides, they were absolutely performance enhancers, in my opinion. I rarely use size 6 or larger running guides any more, except for repairs or on heavier saltwater rods. A light guide train brings out the best of any given blank. I live in the South so I rarely have any type of icing problems, I also use braid with a mono or fluorocarbon leader and have absolutely no problems passing the knot. The use of a light guide train is a win win situation and I will never go back to the dark side.
Norm

Help you he will ............ size 6 is too big for that rod, they are .......

That was my Yoda impersonation ...... figured the Luuuuuke, I am your father was a little ...... much.lol

The poor attempts at humor aside, Norman turned me on to the Minima4 guides that I am using on a build I am currently in the middle of. and they are no joke when it comes to being feather light. I haven't even wrapped the rod yet, but handling them, they seem very sturdy at well. I'm using them on a drop shot spinning rod that I am building for bass, and I have no doubts they will be up to the task. The layout that Norman suggested, would be my choice as well.

One nice thing about the Minima guides, especially when there is a concern of icing, is they have no ceramic ring, so their ID is at least 1 size larger than most ceramic ringed guides. A size 4 has the ID that a #5 Alconite ringed Fuji, and even larger if you're using an aluminum oxide ringed guide.

As Obi Wan said ...... they are win/win for light powered rods!!

David, that’s pretty funny, like your humor!
Norm

Just what I was looking for, thank you very much everyone

Nick

Pac Bay XF4XG 6 mm Ring = .234 grams VS Fuji BLAG 6 mm Alconite ring (black painted SS frame) = .185 grams

Lance, what weight do you have for a BLAG#4..Thanks.

Ben, If you pull up the M & M posts from about 9 - 10 years ago, there is a lot of info on both the stainless and titanium micro guide weights posted.

I'm curious about the weight of a BLAG#4 as well.

A #4 Minima4 guide's listed weight is .077 grams. 2.4 times lighter than the BLAG 6, but is it lighter than a BLAG 4?

Thanks Spencer, what is M and M posts..i have trouble recalling what happened 9 or 10 days ago much less years ago..the steel in my trap is mostly rust..

Ben, M & M stands for Micro Maniacs. There is a lot of reading in these posts, and lays out the history of microguide usage. Interesting reading. Start at the very end of the search and work your way forward to put things in perspective. A unfortunately a few of these guys are no longer with us. Spencer was the one who put me onto this a couple of years ago, and I greatly appreciated that he did so.

Norm

Thanks Norman..i recall that Steve Gardner sorta headed up that effort, but there was Kirkman, Ballard, Yang, and Sanders before the m&m group or before anyone was called m&m..those were interesting times..