I just finished tying 8 Fuji LSG-4 micro guides. This is my first micro guide wrap and one of the reasons that I did not jump on the micro band wagon earlier was because of the tip tops. I did not want to split the tube or wrap another guide at the end of the rod for the purpose of matching the ring size of the tip to to the guides.. So when ordering these micro guides I found out that the smallest braced ring size that would fit the 5.5 tube and match the color of the micros and material of the rings that I was using ended up being a #6 !!! So reluctantly I order the over size ring thinking that I would not care what it looked like. But the size of the #6 ring is so much bigger than the #4 micro guides that it looks like crap and can't seem bring myself to glue it on. Why can't Fuji make braced tip tops that match the size of the micro guides and the material of the ring that they sell to a bigger tube size? This is a crappy deal and I will not buy another Fuji micro guide. I bet if Fuji is supplying guides to these rod manufactures that are coming out with micro that the tip top size is matched to the guide size. Is there a braced #4 ring micro tip top out there that would fit a 5.5 tube and match the smoke color of my Fuji guides?
Thanks, Terry

Terry,

Mark Griffin at C & M Custom Tackle, (www.@#$%&), advised me that FUJI does make micro guide tip tops; however Anglers Resouse does not carry them. Mark placed an order directly with FUJI in Japan. I was in his shop today and he said the latest word he has is that they should be here in mid-May. he said he had to order a "bunch" of them,so once they arrive he will have the corner on the market.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/29/2010 02:19AM by Don Campbell.

Psssst... Don,

Those aren't Fuji lol

Mark Griffin
[]
C&M Custom Tackle
San Dimas, California

Sorry about my misunderstanding!

Don

Quite alright...

They'll be up on the site as soon as we have them in the system, probably mid-May.

4mm SIC Rings in a recessed (flanged) frame, 3.5 to 7.5 tube and BRACED this time!

I'll let y'all know when we're ready...

Mark Griffin
[]
C&M Custom Tackle
San Dimas, California

Look at Jann's, they had the BMCAT and BMCOT. One goes to 5.5 tube the other to a 6.0 tube and each have a 4 ring.

Hi Guys,

We just finished up the tooling and shipped the Ring Lock 316ss 4mm micro top to Boyd Duckett. They will be in stock the last week in May. We will stock sizes 4, 4.5, 5, 5.5 and 6 in both DuraLite and NanoLite rings with chrome and Black chrome. We'll have NanoLite rings in TiCH and Hard Chrome (to match the Titans). There is talk of making a 6.5 and 7 but we are still debating it.

Duckett Fishing uses the 4mm top with the 3mm guides they did not think it necessary to have a 3mm top.

The top will have our new snagless design. We lengthened the bridge arms to increase strength. This prevents ring collapse in both spinning and casting rods. These bridge arms will also have a snagless shape designed specifically to reduce tangling of braid in both casting and spinning setups.

The bridge arm weld point on the pipe will be on the same side as the ring. The weld point will be punched concave to wrap around the pipe reducing or eliminating the troublesome weld spot where braid gets snagged in casting set ups. It will virtually eliminate snags on the top in spinning setups eliminating any weld point on the bottom of the pipe.

We extend this design in the all new Medium Ring Lock Tops in ring sizes 6, 7, 8 and 10 from 4 through 10 pipes. There is talk about adding a 12 and 16 later. We will gauge the demand and see what happens.

So we've taken a quantum leap in the Micro guide and top technology with the introduction of the above and our exclusive Ring Lock/Foot Lock 3 & 4mm guides in 316ss and titanium.

Mach 3 with our hair on fire. Joe Meehan, American Tackle



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/29/2010 03:19PM by Joe Meehan.

Joe,

Where can we find pictures of the new guides and tops?

thanks,
Tom

I just got some. I'll send them to headquarters and they'll do some professional photos.

Terry,

You might look at the AmTac NMCT. I'm really on the double foot heavy duty side of things in general, but I'm impressed with the stoutness of this unbraced top. It's 4mm to match your guides. I'm still licking my chops for a braced 4mm in titanium (ahem), but this is certainly not a second rate choice for the time being. I don't think you'll notice the difference in color between the smoke and chrome, since 4mm micros hardly have any metal to begin with. I believe this is the top Joe was referring to above. When someone comes out with your ideal top it will take just seconds to pull the old one off (if we're talking about your own rods).

Jason Cosby
Cos Rods



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/29/2010 06:34PM by Jason Cosby.

Hi Jason,

That is the standard style top non-Ring Lock. The new top has the Ring Lock frame and the snaggless design. it is a completely new top not in stock yet. I have a few samples on my desk. I'll send some down to FL to get pics taken.

As for titanium it makes little sense to us to build a titanium ring frame and tack it to a SS or brass pipe. The welds oxidize and eventually break. Finding titanium tubing in .2mm increments in 20 different sizes is impossible but you never know. We'll keep looking. Joe

Thanks guys for the information.
Terry

Joe,

Is the TFST not the animal referred to, albeit in larger rings?

Jason Cosby
Cos Rods

The guys I build for prefer the #6 tip even though the guides are #4. They get beat around, banged up, poked at stuck lures under the water and everything else. Also, some of these guy use a snap swivel with their crankbaits for quick changing. That swivel will hammer a micro ring, so will a bullet weight, a jig eye and a split ring. My experience is that the tip ring is usually the first one to fall out on any guide set up so I feel a little better with more ring contact here. I haven't seen any difference in casting either. I've used micro tips before but, for me and my customers, they're a little too "rudy-poo" for the tip and don't offer much more advantage.

Hi Jason, What is a TSFT? That is not our model number. Joe

HI Joe,

No, it's a Fuji. Currently, AFAIK, the only titanium tip out there and the one we're stuck with when we use Titans in order to get an all titanium set. They often don't offer the size of ring desired and they're a fortune, but they do run the gamut of tube sizes. If you can find out where they're procuring the tubing...

Jason Cosby
Cos Rods

They look good Joe!!

Tom Kaufmann

Jason Cosby Wrote:
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> Joe,
>
> Is the TFST not the animal referred to, albeit in
> larger rings?


Hi Jason, I believe that is a Batson top? I'm not familiar with that. Joe

Just saw your post it is a Fuji. I didn't know Fuji had a titanium tube/frame. Do you have to buy it in Japan? I don't know if AR stocks it.

Anyway I'd like to find a source on titanium tubing I know it is out there no one seems to either want to find it or can find it. You need special equipment to weld it. That is the only way we'll do it. I don't think welding a titanium frame to ss or brass tubing is a good idea in sw. Joe AT

Thomas Kaufmann Wrote:
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> They look good Joe!!
>
> Tom Kaufmann


Hi Tom, Where did you see them? The only rods they're on are Duckett's so unless you've seen the rod you haven't seen these guides yet. The pictures on our site are a mistake!! The new ones will be up next week. Sorry about that. Joe