About a month ago I began building a light, fast action 9' surf rod from an MHX blank. Taking the advice of several list members, I used SIC mini guides spaced as shown on guide mfgr. charts. The rod came out as I had hoped,very light, with a nice fast action. Yesterday I tried casting with it for the first time using a Stradic 4000, 10# Power Pro line and a one oz. jig. The rod casted fine, at least as far as similar rods I have with conventional guide set ups.
What bothered me was that I could hear the hiss of the line passing through the guides during the cast. I have had very bad hearing for decades and have never been able to hear this before when fishing with all size rods up to 10' using braid or mono. I would assume the sound was due to the friction of the line passing through the guides. I thought the mini guides were supposed to help straighten the line during the cast so it will flow through the guides more easily with less friction.
Could it be that the mini guides are causing more friction. Am I missing something here?

There is very little friction between the line and the guides on a cast because there is very little force pressing them together. Smaller guides are sometimes "louder" but the proof is in where the lure lands, not what the line sounds like through the guides.

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Helleluiah! Your hearing has been restored!




j/k

jk.

Thanks, an astute observation but there is no chance of that. Too many .223 rounds went off near my ears.

Some hearing losses can be frequency dependent. My father for instance has hearing loss in specific frequencies due to working RADAR equipment for years. Other frequencies, he hears fine.

Chris Richer
Iroquois ON

My loss is mostly the higher frequencies. If I recall, the last time it was tested I could only hear up to near 4K Hz

"It's just the normal noises in here..." Tom Petty.

Personaly I have come to love that sound; reminds me kind of the wind singing on a bait line at the end of a pier full of pin rigs. Something the good Lord has blessed us with...

What's for dinner?

Chuck

High frequency here also...diagnosed in jr. high no less. Like you...too many shotgun and .223 rounds before we wised up and started wearing hearing protection. Also, I drove alot of open tractors in the first 20 years of my life. Starting at age 6 and it only got worse from there.

High frequency loss and CONSTANT ringing.

Yeah, I have the ringing also. Now that the damage has been done, I wear hearing p[rotectors when shooting at the range.

Bill,
You can try PowerPro Super 8 slick braid and the hiss will quiet down and you will be able to cast farther. You may also hear the hiss when you
are retriving your lure.

Mikew
Yeah, I have hearing loss and ringing also... To much fun with the shotgun.

Thanks much, Mike! I saw the advertisements for the PP Slick and wondered if it would cast further than the regular PP. More expensive but if it works as you say, worth it. I fish mostly off the beach in areas where the people who can cast the furthest catch most of the fish.
I will order some today.
BTW, would you know if the Slick PP have the same diameter for a given strength as the regular PP?