TackleTour

i have not built a spinning rod in a while so i was wondering what guide setup you guys are using. i found an old imx in the basement i think is an 842 popping blank and want to keep it light. i've got some fuji ti micro's left over- my buddy gave me a sz 16 single foot spinning guide for the stripper and was wondering what to use after that. i have some sz 3.5's will they work or are they too small? i need a dropshot rod for lake erie. thanx

My typical set-up for ML and M spinning rods is:
25
16
8
4's

I do have a 7'6" ML/XF SCIII with TLSG3.5's and it works just fine. I fish 10/2 PowerPro with a 6# Halo leader and have no problems.

First guide is sized for the reel spool. Typically...

25
16
10
5's

For my spinning rods that i fish with braid (which is all but one, none bigger than 15lbs). I use and really enjoy:

16
12
7
4
4
4
4
4


I'm very anal about closing my bail by hand and never reeling against drag, but i never have twist issues.

It's pretty obvious that small runners will lighten your set-up more than anything else but you should check out the new high-frame, small-ring strippers and reduction guides Fuji has come out with. Using them can lighten the reduction train as well and do some pretty great things. Some guys are successful with a 12 or 16 stripper and the performance is excellent. search KR CONCEPT.

the stripper i have is a TATSG16 which will bring the line pretty far off the blank to start. so it seems a minimum of three guides to the choke point is what your doing. the choke being where the micros start, nespa

This free online software program will help you:

http://anglersresource.net/GuidePlacementSoftware.aspx

20
10
4
4
4
4
4

I've had issues with mono line coils and anything smaller than size 6's, my normal setup goes BYAG20, BYAG10, BLAG6 to the tip. If you want to lighten it, go with pac bay minima 4 guides.

thanks for the input guys - i'm going with a 16 10 and the rest 4's including the tip. my buddy made me a short carbon fiber grip and i'm hoping it will be about 2 ounces when done. i'm gonna wrap it today and bought some pp super slick 8 10 lb to try.

pics and a report are required when u are done!

ok guys this is how you do it- no 1 find an old imx blank in the basement which i paid $90 for a long time ago. 2 have your buddy make you a carbon handle. 3 borrow some titanium fuji guides from him, which he isn't too happy about but tell him you need a spinning rod and if he wants a seat in the boat for vacation that he has too. i used a tat 16 a 10 then sz 4 micros to the tip which i paid $7 for and maybe $3 worth of cork. you now have a 7 foot $100 dropshot rod that came out at 1.9855 ounces which i'm pretty happy with. it needs to dry a tad more before i can cast it and my only worry is will the leader knot pass thru the sz 4 guides. after reading this it sounds like i'm bragging, oh well you'll have that.

If you don't use a modified Albright, you should learn to tie it. It's not that bad to tie, and it's more compact than a uni-uni or blood. You shouldn't have any problems with the 4's as long as you're not going overkill on line size.
I started using the mod Albright last year and like it way better than the uni. Took a bit of practice to get fast at it but it's worth it. In my experience if it doesn't fail when you stress it after tying, it won't fail while you're fishing.

OH yeah, nice build. I built an UL that's slightly heavier then that...

thanks columbus - i used the double albright - which i might have used before when i was into fly fishing and it works great. its longer but smaller than a double uni knot and works fine. it 's like a chinese fingers but make sure you wrap the braid around the floro because i won't work the other way, i know duh

Looking for some "hard data" the other day on light spinning trains and actually weighed guide groups to compare. Using K-Series stainless ALCONITE guides I selected a standard NGC group, a COF group and a new KR CONCEPT group.

Using the KR CONCEPT with these particular guides gave me a 65% reduction in total guide train weight vs COF (COF weighed 19.23 grams and KR weihed 6.73 grams). Most surprising, the KR set up was 55% lighter than a New Guide Concept grouping! NGC weighed 15.01 grams and KR 6.73 grams.

If you want a lightweight spinning rod, a careful look at the KR CONCEPT should definitely be on your list. And don't think for a minute this is an "ultra-light" concept. The rods we are building are for inshore SW and we are easily managing slot reds and the occasional ill-mannered monster jack.