Guys:

What do you look for in selecting rod guides? I mean, what are the advantages that "top of the line" guides give you other than low weight? Are the best guides those that weigh the less? Those that impart the least amount of friction on the line? Those that are the most durable? Or is it some combination of these features?

With that in mind, does anyone have any particular guides they reccommend for freshwater spinning and baitcasting that have the features of premium guides with a lower price? It seems like Fuji is the most popular, but when you buy them you must be paying some sort of premium for marketing and brand recognition.

There is great deal of overkill in guides these days. For most standard applications, you want something as light and as small that will still perform the required job. That's the criteria for size and weight in most instances.

Is an SIC ring better than one made from aluminum oxide? Depends on what you're after. Line friction on the cast isn't really much of a factor. You can cast just as far with a rod carrying AL rings as the same rod carrying SIC rings, even though the SIC rings may have a smoother polish. So in the long run, all you need to do is figure out which rings will withstand the line you're using - which ones won't groove. And the thing is, most any quality ceramic ring these days will stand up to any mono and most braids.

Then you can think about corrosion resistance. Are you fishing in saltwater? If so, maybe a titanium frame guide is the way to go. If not, you could just as easily go with something less expensive and get equal service life from it.

As you get more involved you'll sort of figure out what you need. Until then, I wouldn't worry about buying the most expensive guides. Call your dealer (hopefully one of the sponsors to the left) and tell them what you're doing and what they recommend. They'll get you started at the right place and you can go from there in the future.

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Man Tom, you beat me to the punch yet again. No wonder I haven't been posting much these days.

Thanks Tom. I should be getting your book in the mail today. I'm excited to start reading.

Another thing to consider (at least with big fish is heat buildup)

An aluminum oxide ring will absorb and retain heat faster and longer than a SiC ring. That IS something I consider when doing tuna/wahoo rods (or any style of fishing where significant large lightning fast runs occur), and the main reason I recommend SiC or Nanolite. I need to know it those guides at any point will not have the ability to melt any mono it may or may not be in contact with.

I have had tiptops on some of my older cheaper rods (some really not so cheap!) groove. I've never had a guide groove. Because of this I always use SIC or similar tiptops on my custom rods. I've not had one of those groove. I use both braid and mono lines. Braid "seems" more aggressive than mono base on the sound and feel, but some contend there is little difference since mono picks up junk from the water that can abraid the guides.

I basically agree with Tom, with the above caveat.