HELP! Give me your suggestions

[crappieseeker]

I have wondered this for quite some time now and have never asked the question. It may have been brought up on here before but I didnt catch the post if it was. What is a good guide material that will not get knicks and cuts in it from line abrassion. It doesnt take long for my guides to get bad places in them from the fish tension the mono lines place on the guides. I have never payed attention when buying a rod what the guides were made of, but I'm gonna start. I lose alot of fish do to this problem. I even have a reel that the line has almost cut through the metal bell on it. Let me know what your suggestions are please.

[treepotato]

I have wondered this for quite some time now and have never asked the question. It may have been brought up on here before but I didnt catch the post if it was. What is a good guide material that will not get knicks and cuts in it from line abrassion. It doesnt take long for my guides to get bad places in them from the fish tension the mono lines place on the guides. I have never payed attention when buying a rod what the guides were made of, but I'm gonna start. I lose alot of fish do to this problem. I even have a reel that the line has almost cut through the metal bell on it. Let me know what your suggestions are please.

Wow seeker! I wish I had that problem. That means you must be catching alot of fish! lol. Seriously , i have never had that problem and like you I really don't pay that much attention to the quality of my guides. I do buy good quality rods when I decide to purchase one so maybe they are just built with good quality guides. Very good post I will have to watch this one in case I have this problem in the future..........treepotato

[crappieken]

crappieseeker - Here is an excerpt from the BPS Outdoor Library. Hope this helps!

"Rod guides are the circular loops found along the shaft of a fishing rod that your line passes through. Guides are important to an angler as they ensure distance on your casts and help in spreading out the stress applied to the blank while fighting a fish.

When choosing a fishing rod, make sure that the guides are made of a hard ceramic. Hard ceramic will cut down on line friction by ensuring a smooth path for the line to pass through and over, while also adding durability which will lesson your chance of line fray or breakage. These high-quality guides will also ensure that the new "superbraid" lines (Dacron, Fireline) will not grind or wear into the metal. Two popular guides on the market are Fuji's Hardloy and Silicon Carbide."

[crappieseeker]

I dont mean to sound like I'm bragging at all, but I do catch alot of fish. I catch crappie like crazy and then in the late spring I switch over and catch lots of bluegill and bream also. I should probably invest in some better quality rods, considering I have always used the cheap stuff. I have always told people that you dont need the expensive stuff to catch fish. That is very true, but maybe the more expensive stuff is better quality and will last longer and not give me the problems I have with the cheap stuff. Thanks for the info crappieken.

[whizkids]

I have wondered this for quite some time now and have never asked the question. It may have been brought up on here before but I didnt catch the post if it was. What is a good guide material that will not get knicks and cuts in it from line abrassion. It doesnt take long for my guides to get bad places in them from the fish tension the mono lines place on the guides. I have never payed attention when buying a rod what the guides were made of, but I'm gonna start. I lose alot of fish do to this problem. I even have a reel that the line has almost cut through the metal bell on it. Let me know what your suggestions are please.

You should not have the problem with the guides on any name brand rod. I have had that happen to ceramic tips on rods made in the 90's. If it is the tips that you are having a problem with, replacements may be purchased at Walmart or Bass Pro. If you have rods that you really like, you may consider having new guides put on it. Most tackle shops offer that service and they can recommend what type guides to use.
The reel is a different problem. If it is an open face spinning reel make sure the metal bell is rotating. They should be oiled frequently. Regular use can bend the mechanism causing a problem with the rotation of the bell. That should not be a problem on any name brand reel unless it is bottom of the line.
Those bells are replaceable also and the webb site of the reel manufacture will list the nearest service center.
I have a Shakespear rod with steel guides that I use to cast for crappies. My father gave it to me and he went to fish in that big pond in the sky in 1967. I have replaced the tip one time.
I had another brand rod that I used to fish deep diving crank baits with and I had that problem with their ceramic tips on several rods. That was handled by the tackle shop as a warranty.
I have heard that some of the new lines are very abrasive and cause guide and tip wear. I have no personal experience about that.
I haven't heard of this problem in awhile and I use the less expensive rods and reels, so my best suggestion is to change rod and reel makes.

[Moose1am]

Very good answer. Substances are rated as to hardness on the Hardness scale. Diamond is the hardest substance and it's rated at ten. Different minerals are rated lower such as chalk which is very soft and rated very low 1 or 2.

Ceramic is a very hard man made substance and it's much harder than the plastic on our mono fishing lines. When two different substanced rub together the softer of the two will be the one that is abraded and looses material. The harder subsance will hardly be worn at all.

Now these new braided likes ( we used braided lines back in the 1960's btw) are much more prone to wear groves in the fishing guides and the reels. Water contains minerals dissoved in the water and also many particiles of clay can be suspened in the water. Clay consists of different minerals and Silicon Dioxide is one of them. SiO2 is what sand or quartz is made out of and Quartz is a very hard minearal. Rated about a 7 or 8 on the hardness scale. So when your fireline gets in the water and it picks up dirt that dirt can contain harder minerals and those minerals embedded in the braided lines can really play havoc on the rod's guides if they are not made of the harder ceramic materials. Even the Ceramic materials can be worn down and groved with time.

Best way to check your fishing rod's guides for wear and tear is to take some nylon hose from your wife or girlfriend and use them to check the guides for wear and tear. If there are groves or nicks in the guides the panty hose nylons will catch on the guides and let you know that they are not smooth like they should be.

You can have the guides replaced or buy a new rod. If you continue to use a rod with worn and groved fishing line guides the guides will cut into your fishiing lines and cause you to end up losing a good fish someday.

I have some older rods that use steel guides and I can see where they have groves worn in them. Those rods were used many years with the braided line of the 1950's and 1960's.

crappieseeker - Here is an excerpt from the BPS Outdoor Library. Hope this helps!

"Rod guides are the circular loops found along the shaft of a fishing rod that your line passes through. Guides are important to an angler as they ensure distance on your casts and help in spreading out the stress applied to the blank while fighting a fish.

When choosing a fishing rod, make sure that the guides are made of a hard ceramic. Hard ceramic will cut down on line friction by ensuring a smooth path for the line to pass through and over, while also adding durability which will lesson your chance of line fray or breakage. These high-quality guides will also ensure that the new "superbraid" lines (Dacron, Fireline) will not grind or wear into the metal. Two popular guides on the market are Fuji's Hardloy and Silicon Carbide."

[crappieseeker]

I even have this problem with name brand equipment, but like you suggested, it is the lower end scale, not the high dollar scale.

[Moose1am]

You don't need expensive stuff to catch fish. Sensitive rods do help detect the lighter bits though. But not all graphite rods have to be expensive. You can get a decent graphite crappie pole from Richard Williams for about 26 bucks plus shipping. You don't need a CE Loomis rod to catch fish. If you are a rich dude then you can afford to pay more for a nice looking rod but it won't make you catch more fish. Knowledge is what helps you catch more fish. After all you can't catch any fish if you fish were there are no fish even if you are using a million dollar gold plated fishing rod and reel.

Fishing can be fun and easy when you locate the fish. Then it's just a matter of timing to get them to feed. A cane pole and some old fishing line and a old gold plated crappie hook will catch fish as long as you have some minnows to bait the hook with.

I caught many a blue gill on a throw line with a small hook and some earth worms and or balony

I dont mean to sound like I'm bragging at all, but I do catch alot of fish. I catch crappie like crazy and then in the late spring I switch over and catch lots of bluegill and bream also. I should probably invest in some better quality rods, considering I have always used the cheap stuff. I have always told people that you dont need the expensive stuff to catch fish. That is very true, but maybe the more expensive stuff is better quality and will last longer and not give me the problems I have with the cheap stuff. Thanks for the info crappieken.

[Moose1am]

The new super lines that are braided have lots of spaces for small dirt to get into. It's the dirty braided lines that can casuse excessive wear these days. Look at a big rope that has been braided and you can see where there are many spaces between the smaller braided line. Think of that rope as a blown up view of the smaller braided lines in use today. Those braided lines were in common use before mono came into being. I still have some old baitcasters with the 1950's braided lines on them. I dont' use them any more but I am saving them since they belonged to my dad.

You should not have the problem with the guides on any name brand rod. I have had that happen to ceramic tips on rods made in the 90's. If it is the tips that you are having a problem with, replacements may be purchased at Walmart or Bass Pro. If you have rods that you really like, you may consider having new guides put on it. Most tackle shops offer that service and they can recommend what type guides to use.
The reel is a different problem. If it is an open face spinning reel make sure the metal bell is rotating. They should be oiled frequently. Regular use can bend the mechanism causing a problem with the rotation of the bell. That should not be a problem on any name brand reel unless it is bottom of the line.
Those bells are replaceable also and the webb site of the reel manufacture will list the nearest service center.
I have a Shakespear rod with steel guides that I use to cast for crappies. My father gave it to me and he went to fish in that big pond in the sky in 1967. I have replaced the tip one time.
I had another brand rod that I used to fish deep diving crank baits with and I had that problem with their ceramic tips on several rods. That was handled by the tackle shop as a warranty.
I have heard that some of the new lines are very abrasive and cause guide and tip wear. I have no personal experience about that.
I haven't heard of this problem in awhile and I use the less expensive rods and reels, so my best suggestion is to change rod and reel makes.

[whizkids]

I even have this problem with name brand equipment, but like you suggested, it is the lower end scale, not the high dollar scale.

I just checked the guides and eyes on my Wally Marshall Pro series Rods. I have 8 that I use for trolling. From 5-1/2 ft. to 14 ft. They are not expensive rods in my opinion. I use 6 lb test Wally Marshall green line. Now those rods don't see a lot of abuse as far as heavy weight pulling drag. I am fairly adapt at becoming afixed to solid objects attached to the lake bottom. Also being fairly slow in the reflex area, I have allowed a fair amount of line to be pulled from the reel via the drag before said operation gained my attention. Those occurances and the occasional striper or catfish puts some stress on the equipment. The Bass Pro site says those rods have Fuji® Aluminum Oxide Concept guides. None of the guides or tips show any wear. I did try Fireline for awhile but found the no stretch aspect a negative for me in that application. I am not recommending the rods just my experience with them and that there may be fairly inexpensive solutions to your problem. I have only had them about 18 months. I bought them and open face reels in the same brand when I started trolling. I have changed brand of reels,and now use Mitchell 308X's. I am having no problem with line wear there either.