In your opinion, what are the most saltwater resistant guides on the market for light spinning tackle, 8-14# line for top water plugs?

The most corrosion resistant ... RECoil.

I WOULD LOOK AT BATSON'S VS3 GUIDES IN SS316 STAINLESS STEEL FRAMES

Bill@midwestrodandreel.com
www.midwestrodandreel.com

Fuji or Amtac titanium frame guides

The ONLY guides which are SW resistant are Titanium - Fuji, Amtak, and the REC Recoils. Stainless guides from EVERY Manufacturer are not SW resistant, they will all rust/discolor at some point, although if you take care of them by rinsing after every trip they will take longer to discolor/rust.

Some were saying the Fuji Alconites were good in salt ??

Bill - willierods.com

Bill, he wasn't asking what was good, he specifically asked for the most SW resistant guides.

Billy
Do the Alconites rust ?? I was thinking of using them on a surf rod ? But if they do I will go for the AMTEK Ti guides.
Thanks

Bill - willierods.com

The stainless steel frames on the alconite ringed guides will be ok with just basic rinsing in tap water after use. I have seen some cases where the wrap finish had lifted off the blank allowing the saltwater to creep underneath and the guide foot had rusted badly, in some cases resulting in frame failure but have only noticed this on factory rods from a certain manufacturer most of the time. As to the titanium frames and surf rods, the velocities generated by some surf rods are that high that I have seen some frames get flattened by poor/bulky shock leader to mainline knots. The titanium frame will be corrosion free but do choose the correct frame strength/shape for the job.

Any stainless steel guide form any company will rust. Washing after every use will make rusting take longer, but they will rust/discolor. Now, does teh rust affect the performnce of teh guide? Depends onhow bad it rusts. IMO, teh majority of rust/discoloration that occurs on guides is mostly cosmetic. Now, if it starts corroding around teh ring, that can cause teh guide ring to pop out.

Billy
I dont know if corrosion affects the crystal structure of metal the way bending does but I suspect it may as I have done many repairs on a certain brands factory rods where the BYAG guides have broken on the bend at the foot where the rust was most evident. The rust by the way did not go through the metal. The best care in my experience with ss frames has been to spray on Mr Sheen after through rinsing and polishing all residual salt/grime off and also giving it the Sheen treatment before first exposure. My personal rods show zero signs of corrosion and I fish saltwater eevery week in our harsh sun.

Rohit, great info there. Most of the guides I deal with and see the most rust on are heaver then th Y frames, and usually the smallest size is an 8 or 10, so tehre's a bit more material there. What you do to prevent rusting is great, butyou are one of the very few who ar that diligent in taking care of their rods to that degree. On SW rods which use heavier guides, the one place you cannot protect is when teh epoxy cracks the foot/end of the guide beneath teh epoxy. Now, people who use very dark thread to wrap the guides will tell you tehir rods are perfect with no rust. Again, cosmetically they re correct but if you had to replace the guide and cutit off you'd see that there are brown streaks underneath teh guide wrap not visible.

FUJI..................The best.

End of story.

Paul.

I expect to get thrashed for my comment . Paul.

I fish therefore I am.
www.hookeduprods.com

Hi Matthew,

You can guess what company's guides I would suggest (American Tackle in case there was any doubt).

I agree with Billy, titanium is the most SW resistant guide frame, it's also light weight and flexible which is perfect for a light line saltwater rod. I would also use a press fit frame like our Ringlock to help protect the rings (our Ringlocks focus on ring protection and preventing ring loss) With titanium being ideal, I do still use stainless guides with little issue. The worst issue is the red rust which often attacks around the rings causing eventual ring loss. The green corrosion is generally on the undercoating applied prior to plating or a PVD finish. We upgraded our frame materials and finishes to help eliminate any issue with stainless but that being sid, titanium is still the best for saltwater.

Hi Paul, no thrashing here but I am going to ask you why you feel Fuji is the best, it's a good learning experience for me. So,,, why?

Best Regards,

Darrin Heim
American Tackle Company

Lots of great feedback, thanks guys.
I just have an inshore guide that has had issues with guides rusting off after about a year.

Billy
As I mentioned in my original post, I am with you there on the water creeping into the wrap area where the finish cracks. Have you tried using PG as a sealer/filler. it provides a great water barrier. The single footers are more prone to failure due to their flexing causing the cracks.

I have been known to start buffing up all the rods near me when on customers boat having a fish...lol. The fishing gear is the only thing that I look after with some care as I put in so much work into them. I always tell customers my procedure for keeping the rods in like new condition and a suprising number actually have started doing it as well

Scientific data indicate titanium and NiTi alloy resist corrosion from salt water indefinitely. I have a pair of St. Croix "Ben Dorr" surf rods that are around 25 years old. I live 300 feet from the Atlantic Ocean, and I like to fish. I have religiously rinsed these rods briefly with a hose after every use and the guides, they look like Alconites (at least they have stainless steel frames), have not discolored and show no signs of failure.
We Americans continue to re-define the meaning of "excess." I suspect the quest for the "eternal fish pole" is the result of something other than the production of an efficient fishing tool.

We Americans continue to re-define the meaning of "excess"

Not sure what that means, in Japan all factory rods have SIC, and most have TI SIC, and a lot have TI-Cermet. Here none have SIC, most want to spend less for a rod than a set of TI SIC's, and a lot never heard of TI Cermet.

lol.

I didn't mean to stir up such a hornet's nest. I was just trying to build a more durable rod.
Thanks guys.

Not a hornet's nest, there's quite a bit of good info in here.