Wanting to see if there are any tricks to getting a system to micro guide placement, Im wanting to come up with something I can use uniformly. I have been using a morton chart but am open to new ways. thanks ron

Why would you not place them like you do any other guides??

From rods I have seen and what I've heard you need more guides for a smooth even run

Nope, the more guides is better is simple marketing hype. I build almost exclusively with microguides and I haven’t ever used more than I used with larger guides in the past.

Are you talking spinning or conventional casting guides on top will usually take a few more.

Rule of thumb is one guide per foot of rod and maybe plus one -- to start. Then static testing and test casting sets you up.

Bill - willierods.com

Using more or less guides shouldn't affect the criteria for placing them. There are at least two articles in the online library here which instruct how to space guides along a rod blank.

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I have only used an additional guide on one rod so far and that was the MHX s781's I just built and that was only because the tips were so thin I wanted a little extra protection on them and since they were 2.0mm's I don't think the extra weight affected it to the point you could feel it.

Ronnie,
You can use the identical guide placment for Micros as you would with conventional guides.
But, for a top mounted casting rod, you might want to add a guide or several to keep the line off of the rod if you want the line to stay off or below the rod.

Roger

“The more guides is better is simple marketing hype”

Mike I respectfully disagree1.
The whole reason I started playing with Micro guides, was due to wanting to tighten up guide spacing (because I had seen improvements in rod performance by doing so) without paying the penalty of the added weight from doing such with heavier larger guides.

Now I understand that with some of the big box companies who have added many more guides, basically for appearances sake. It has gotten to that point.
In the “Our rods have 5 more guides then your rods so our rods are better war”

And while you can certainly do as Roger suggest;
“Use the identical guide placement for Micros as you would with conventional guides.”
Ending up with a rod that will mostly likely meet a persons needs.

I have found that adding a guide or even three (depending on the rod blank) can and does make a difference in rod performance.

Steve Gardner Wrote:

> I have found that adding a guide or even three
> (depending on the rod blank) can and does make a
> difference in rod performance.

I am totally with you on that. I was referring to the kind of marketing that results in 7 foot rods with 13 guides.

I sometimes use up to 10 or 11 on a 7 foot rod. I agree with Steve. There is no penalty for adding a micro or two.

_________________________________________
"Angling is extremely time consuming.
That's sort of the whole point." - Thomas McGuane

Just to chime in on the guide #'s. The answer is simple geometry.

Start off drawing 5 circles... Then evenly space 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 dots respectively around the edges of those circles. Go back to elementry school and play connect the dots with a ruler going around the circle from one to the next. The one with 12 dots will have a much smoother transition between the dots (or guides) and therefore put less strain on the line when fighting the fish.

Worried about weight? Use lighter weight guides... If you use the right size guides and align them correctly there won't be an issue with casting.

I've used a lot of different rods. Had customs made, now make my own because I want to have the control over what goes on them and how it's done. The customs that I had made were part of a sponsorship for fishing and the rod builder did a fantastic job on them. I was surprised though that on a 7'6" rod meant to battle large fish that he only used 5 guides + tip. I have 2 consumer rods (Cat Maxx from BPS) that are about the same length (7'9" I think) that have 10+ tip. Now while I haven't sat and done a full on scientific experiment with them to compare casting distances or fighting, I definitely prefer the 10 guides over 5 and have put 8 relatively smaller guides on my customs I've built because of this...

Now I'm sure there's an effective limit as they'll start effecting the action of the rod and limit it's bend and just make it pointless to have that many, but my general rule is atleast one guide per foot of the rod blank, not including the tip, plus one for baitcasting guides and spinning and 1/ft +2 for fly. I haven't done micros but I'd stay along the same lines for them, if not adding a couple more in for conventional/baitcasting rods since the guides are lower profile, closer to the rod and have less clearance of the rod for the line. The weight shouldn't be an issue and if it is, just put a hummingbird feather or 2 in the butt section to counter balance the guides "extra" weight.