I am rather new to the addiction and have a question.

At what line weight do I want to switch from standard type guides to roller guides for a spiral wrapped rod?

I read somewhere that 60 lb and above was the transition point and somewhere else that 80 lb and up would need rollers.

Any advise would be appreciated.

Mike

I don't know if line wieght is the determining factor between standard guides and roller guides. I think it has more to do with your targeted species. I have quite a few rods built for 80# and up using regular guides (most of them spiral wrapped) but they are all used for bottom fishing. The bottom dwellers I am targeting don't perform reel sizzling runs. If, on the other hand, you are looking to tangle with tuna, swords, marlin, etc, you may opt for the rollers, due to the simple fact that these fish will run long and hard.

At one time, Fuji offered their tri-leg trolling guides (the original mushroom-turbo models) on Lew's 130lb offshore trolling rods. They performed well. So there really isn't any point at which you must switch to rollers.

Having said that, I nearly always went with roller guides once I reached the 80lb class. I would probably do the same today, but only because I do not see many ceramic guide styles that I think would be suitable for rods that heavy. Then again, I haven't been able to keep up with all the various ceramic offerings these days.


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