Spiral guides

[Swimbaiting pnw]

What’s your guy’s take on Spiral guides, I’m getting a rod built for the mag and mag x and will be a dedicated softie rod

[chevro1et]

I like it. It allows for a lower number of total guides, so that can save some weight, make balancing a bit easier, and theoretically less friction while casting. 

[chefchris]

Useful if done correctly 

99% of the guys running them are fishing them wrong 

guides need to spiral to the OPPOSITE SIDE of the reel handle, EG: right handed reel should have guides going left. 

having the guides go to the same side as the handle does nothing and defeats the purpose of spiral wrapping 

[_diggy_]

That's how my conventional bass rod was built, same side as my reel handle. I snapped it panicking with a gator so I'll have to build another, with another builder 

[Bassmann86]

Take it like a grain of salt

I personally think it’s pointless in a bass rod beside the only real benefit is less weight/better balance. Acid wrapped rods we mainly designed for heavy salt applications to counter rod twist under extreme load. 

they may add a very little bit to distance because of less guilds but when you cast if your roll your reel over on its side past vertical to keep the line riding on just the guides this does not work on a spiral wrapped rod because the line has to go on the opposite side of the blank and every time the line slaps the blank on the cast it’s slowing down the line and lure 

 

Edited November 10, 2022 by Bassmann86

[tHeINFamoUS]

10 hours ago, chefchris said:

Useful if done correctly 

99% of the guys running them are fishing them wrong 

guides need to spiral to the OPPOSITE SIDE of the reel handle, EG: right handed reel should have guides going left. 

having the guides go to the same side as the handle does nothing and defeats the purpose of spiral wrapping 

 

Really…..what is the purpose of spiral wrapping and what makes it useful? 

[chefchris]

15 minutes ago, tHeINFamoUS said:

 

Really…..what is the purpose of spiral wrapping and what makes it useful? 

like @Bassmann86 said "Acid wrapped rods were mainly designed for heavy salt applications to counter rod twist under extreme load." 

was designed for short stout rods with big reels, think tuna/swordfish set ups, the spiral counters the torque from the reel load, and stops the rod set up from wanting to spin, makes using a harness while fighting a fish better and less fatigue on the angler not fighting to keep the rod straight. 

its designed and SUPPOSED to be built to spiral the opposite side of the handle, if its not and goes the same side as the reel handle its the same as having them built all on top. 

heres a basic video showing how it works. 

a lot of guys swear by it, but dont have rods that are built right anyway so makes no difference. 

also theres a lot talk tat after the 7' mark that it makes no difference anyway. 

[Csweitzer]

Yes, it prevents reel lockup on 10+lb fish. If you’re catching smaller fish or running a very slow reel it doesn’t matter. Watching C2C footage on 10+lbers with both styles I can see the reel locks up way more with the normal guides compared to acid wrapped

[Bassbooger]

On my heavier set ups I have spiral wrapped guides.  I think it helps alot with casting an fighting fish. 

[ikaika]

11 hours ago, chefchris said:

Useful if done correctly 

99% of the guys running them are fishing them wrong 

guides need to spiral to the OPPOSITE SIDE of the reel handle, EG: right handed reel should have guides going left. 

having the guides go to the same side as the handle does nothing and defeats the purpose of spiral wrapping 

It's not black and white.  Spiral direction is important for reels without a levelwind as it's used as a tool to help manage line stacking.  People spiral away from the handle because this allows you to push the line with your thumb (instead of pushing+pulling) to get it to load evenly. 

For reels with a levelwind spiral direction doesn't matter.  Line starts on top of the blank and ends on the bottom...the force is straight down from the rod tip no matter which direction you spiral.  Different types of spirals (simple, forhan, etc) move the line to the bottom of the blank in different paths, with no clear consensus on the "best" way.  I prefer a simple spiral because it puts the line on the straightest possible path under the blank, and you only have one guide at 90 degrees to keep the line off the blank.

I spiral the same direction as the handle.  It lays flat on the deck of the boat, and that's important to preventing crushed guides.  In my experience I can get away with slightly smaller guides in a spiral wrap and still be able to pass leader knots, which helps reduce weight and manage balance.  Where I would need a size 7 or 8 ring tip top in a normal guide train, I can run a size 6 on a spiral setup and still have my FG knot pass without hanging up.

[Bassmann86]

3 hours ago, Csweitzer said:

Yes, it prevents reel lockup on 10+lb fish. If you’re catching smaller fish or running a very slow reel it doesn’t matter. Watching C2C footage on 10+lbers with both styles I can see the reel locks up way more with the normal guides compared to acid wrapped

Rod guide style doesn’t have anything to do with reels locking up fighting fish. That’s purely the reel drag, gear ratio and reel handle length hence the reason why XG reels come stock with longer handles and usually larger knobs over the slower models. 

[lmv_bassfishing]

I think it is completely pointless for freshwater bass fishing in my opinion, acid wraps were for extremely heavy saltwater applications as mentioned and I think it is very much a placebo effect for people who swear they’re better than the traditional guides for freshwater bass fishing applications. I’ve had spiral wrap and noticed zero difference from traditional but again a personal opinion

[Jscarbr]

I had a spiral wrapped Hudd rod and I was always concerned with stepping on the rod and snapping a guide since some of the guides were face down on the deck of my boat. I typically don’t step on my rods, but I have and I’ve seen others. 
As  for performance,  it did everything I hoped it’d do. 

I sold the rod and have all standard guide trains.

[Csweitzer]

22 hours ago, Bassmann86 said:

Rod guide style doesn’t have anything to do with reels locking up fighting fish. That’s purely the reel drag, gear ratio and reel handle length hence the reason why XG reels come stock with longer handles and usually larger knobs over the slower models. 

Reel lockup is a function of reel/rod twist in your hand and force being applied incorrectly. Having a spiral wrapped rod helps prevent that rod from trying to twist in your hands so the force is applied directly to the reel handle. Longer handles and larger knobs help that as well, but my Toro Rocket would lockup with a Bailey swim on 10-12lb fish, no such issues with the identical reel on a LDC Custom on 10-13lb fish. I’ve never noticed reel lockup being an issue for fish under 10lbs

[jthod]

I spiral wrap almost all my casting rods, from BFS to Swimbait rods.  

I see zero reason NOT to spiral wrap.  Fewer guides, less weight over the tip, less side torque under.  All my personal rods are spiral wrapped, and i don't see that changing.

Plus, I get to explain it to everyone that tells me I put the guides on crooked. 

Edited November 12, 2022 by jthod