in the old days, our tip guide would get a grove in them. 1950's.."wire" but I never noticed a grove in the other guides. As a good fly rod has most all wire guides, why can't I I put wire on my spinning rod.

I think that one of the big reasons "wire & snakes" are used in "Good" fly rods is due to very low cost and tradition! More and more, I see builders using ceramic guides on all of their fly rods, even the "High End" rods. Although more expensive, they are much more durable and slick. There are some that do use Recoil wire guides on U/L spinning rods to try to get the absolute lightest rod possible. I have never used them but if you do a search on this site and type in recoil guide or wire guide and select ALL DATES, you will get tons of info and opinions both Pro & Con.

Keep in mind, you are building the rod and you can do whatever you want! If you're not happy with it, just redo it.


Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!

I like your thinking here Mike. On the heavy ocean fly rods we use all kinds of stuff.

Ron,
Like Mike said, it's your rod so build it the way you like. I have used the Recoil wire guides for a couple of light spinning rods and are
quite pleased with them. However, they are a bit spendy. Other wire guides work well and if the tip gets grooved they are easily replaced.
The stainless types are heavier than the titanium but also much much less costly. (notice I did not use "cheaper")

I have a med. spinning rod with solid glass blank and a set of stainless wire loop guides that is 30+ yrs old and no grooves, corrosion,
or any other common problems with those guides.

I do however use the ceramic ring type guides 90% of the time.

Raymond Adams
Eventually, all things merge, and a river runs through it..

You surely can use a wire-ring or metal-ring line guide or tip-top on a spinning rod.

It is just that most rod-builders would consider a ceramic-ring line guide or tip-top to be a superior choice.

But that does not mean that a (solid) wire-ring or metallic-ring line guide (solid metal, like carbaloy, or chrome over base metal) can not be used. Or that in some particular applications or for some particular reasons, that a nice solid-wire ring guide could actually be a better choice. You may prefer a nice solid-wire ring guide, like REC’s Recoil guides, over a ceramic-ring fly guide or a ceramic-ring V-frame single-foot guide. Especially for Ultra-Lite rods. That’s up to you.

Ceramic ring line guides generally are corrosion proof, low-friction, and very high hardness (harder than chrome, and even harder than steel files), and are reasonably lite-weight. They come in corrosion-resistant steel frames, and are not that expensive. There is not much to object to when it comes to modern ceramic ring line guides, in my opinion. The mechanical ruggedness has improved over the last 20 years, and current ceramic rings are quite sturdy in normal use. Unlike the WHITE ceramic ring guides in the black or orange plastic shock rings of yesteryear. Those would crack so easily!

Just be advised that a chrome or wire line guide may be prone to grooving, whether you use nylon monofilament fishing line or a super-braid line. And remember that chrome is corrosion RESISTANT, and not quite corrosion PROOF. In strictly freshwater use, corrosion should not be much of an issue.

So, that’s one view on the subject of metal guides for spinning rods. Others will have theirs. Merry Christmas, –Cliff Hall+++