Tfo Fly Fishing

The Art and Science of Rod Guides

If you’re like most fishermen, when you pick up a new rod, you shake it, maybe bend the tip, scan the printed line- and lure-class ratings.

But what about the guides?

In past years, you probably looked for the “Fuji” stamp on a guide frame. Nowadays, that assessment is a little more complicated. Today Fuji offers a huge range of products, from proven aluminum oxide, to cutting edge ceramics capable of dissipating the heat of a jet engine (and you thought mackerel were fast!). Tangle-free guides are in development, as are–from Fuji and others–titanium models design to last longer than any other piece of your gear. Meanwhile, racing for price points, many reputable rod companies are relying on alternate components suppliers. Indeed, there are high quality rods on the market without that stamp.

For the average angler, if your rod guides are in good condition, showing no signs of wear or cracking, there’s little reason to obsess about the technology. The basic aluminum oxide rings developed 40 years ago are perfectly fine today, even for braided polyethylene line. Assuming the frames are stainless steel, a thorough freshwater rinse and towel-dry should stave off corrosion for many seasons.

If you’re looking for a new rod, however, it’s worth knowing more about those components.

And then of course there’s the third camp—guys like my neighbor, who throw away an otherwise good rod only because the guides are in sorry shape. New guides (or even old guides scratched off a broken rod) can make an old rod new again.

Walking my kid to school one day, I surreptitiously lifted that old fiberglass Shakespeare spinning rod from my neighbor’s trash pile. The guides were corroded beyond recovery, and several of the ceramic rings were missing.

The rod itself was indestructible, old-school fiberglass. Too much of a stump to work well as a spinning outfit, but as a jigging and drifting stick, it had promise. Maybe mount a heavy baitcast reel on it, like a Penn 655? I thought about some guides I’d recently scraped off a broken trolling rod. (If you, reader, haven’t yet developed a habit of squirreling away rod and reel parts, I suggest you begin.)

I took the rod and the guides to Roy McFarland, master rod builder and proprietor of Treasure Coast Rod and Reel, in Jensen Beach. From his inventory, he completed the set of guides, Fuji aluminum oxide heavy duty casting guides, durable and cost-appropriate. Together, we turned that old spinner into a versatile boat rod, starting with scraping off the epoxy, spray-painting the blank, wrapping new guides, and applying three new coats of epoxy.

No Motor Fly Fishing: TFO = WINNING!

BVK reels are precision machined from bar stock aluminum.  The clear silver anodized frames and spools are ported to eliminate excess weight.  Equally at home in both fresh and salt waters, the super large arbor design provides faster line pick up and helps the maintenance free drag system work at a more constant pressure that standard arbor reels.  Delrin/Stainless stacked discs make the drag silky smooth and the one way clutch bearing makes engagement instant and left to right hand conversion simple. I'm Dave Loger, owner of NMFF and I am a "Flyfishaholic"! Join me through the various writings in this blog about the wonderful world of Fly Fishing here in Southwest Florida. Our travels take us from Placida/Boca Grande to Matlacha/Pine Island in a quest for some of the most exciting saltwater game fish, all taken from paddle craft and hooked on the fly! In addition to fishing, I will be reviewing equipment from my sponsors and various companies. As a avid fly tier, reviewing various patterns and their effectiveness. All of my reviews and opinions are in an honest, no nonsense approach. If it doesn't work or do the job, I will not recommend it.

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