I am in the process of building a 7'2'' medium action mh St. Croix SC-5 bait casting rod. I will use this rod for bass on Lake Guntersville. I think with the medium action and braid it will be great for square bills and rattle trap type baits. For the braid I will progress to no. 5 mm diameter concept type rings. I am trying to decide to go with the Kegan system or the Fuji KR system. I will use a light low profile reel such as a Chronarch K and will want to keep the line close to the rod all the way. Which brand should I go with and any suggestions about layout would be appreciated. I had also thought about Kegan no tangle guides for the two stripers at the butt and using Fuji concept guides for the rest.

I would go with a spiral wrap set up. Start with a 5 mm stripper 4 mm then 3 mm runners.
You get get great results with that set up which will allow that blank to perform at its best.

Not to try and change your mind about brands, but my personal choice would be Alps guides
Been using them for over four years now with braids up to 80 lb test, with out a single failure

you asked about braid. I haven't tried them all (has anyone?), but Power Pro is very good as is Suffix. I would stay away from off-brands. Some probably are Power Pro or Suffix, but you cannot be sure and the price difference isn't worth the risk. Some braids are not that good.

Re the guides, I am not a fan of either spiral or micros. I think the supposed advantages are minimal at best. Spirals look goofy, IMHO, and I still don't see how a path around the rod is as straight as a path directly down the rod. Even so, the biggest path deviation is at the eye of the level wind, and it doesn't seem to matter that much. Maybe I'm just dull, but I have never felt a rod twist in my hand. If you put micros as small as 3mm on, it will preclude your using braid with a line to line knot to flouro. I know some will disagree, but with the guides you suggest your knot problem will be much less. I would do two things before making the choice: Check out the Microwave story for casting rods and check out the video on the Fuji site about their casting system(sounds like you already have?).

"I will use a light low profile reel such as a Chronarch K"

Instead of trying to correct a line control issue, why not reduce a part of the problem. Daiwa introduced a low profile reel with a T-Wing guide for the level wind. It drops and opens the area for line flow. This reduces the angle between the level wind guide and line made to the spool. This should reduce any line issues by 50%.

Youtube showing T-Wing guide
[www.youtube.com]

Don Becker

I was just describing the way I would utilize the rod. I am sold on Power Pro as I fish a lot of grass. As a relatively new rod builder less than 20 rods, I am intrigued by the spiral but like you feel that the shortest distance is a straight line. I will build one in the future but with a less expensive blank until I determine how to do it and if it has any benefits. I do not want to go smaller than a 5 mm ring as occasionally I will use fluorocarbon. It has memory and coils that get caught in smaller size diameters. I do use reel magic on the line to alleviate some of that problem. I have had very good luck with 5mm on some mhx rods that I have built. I am very intrigued by the Kegan stripper guides for the butt end and have seen them on the new Avid z series. I am leaning toward going with an 8 mm Kegan stripper followed by a six and finish the run with 5 mm. Fuji 5 mm concepts I guess I am hooked on this hobby as it does have its challenges!

[stcroixrods.com]

You can check the St. Croix guide size and spacing chart at the end of the .pdf for a starting point.

If I was considering ever using fluorocarbon, I would likely start with a bigger stripper guide on this rod like a size 10.

Take care

X 2 on Roger's comment using a size 10 then a 8 followed by the 5's

Tom

Jim, there is no Kigan "system". As so often happens, they simply copied the K-Series design as closely as they thought they could without infringing the patents and put it out there. Fuji is the only company with "systems" or concepts that, once understood, can give you the freedom of tossing the "build sheets" in the trash and managing your own destiny when it comes to top notch performance with any finished rod. It's also interesting to note that Kigan's "tangle free" guide is nothing more than a guide that leans forward. If it were truly that easy to create a guide that maintains performance and provides a tangle free feature, I doubt Fuji would have gone to the trouble and HUGE expense of creating separate forward leaning angles for the frame and ring. I don't hop up on the soap box too often, but to credit Kigan with a "concept" or "system" of any kind - or anything beyond a copied guide and a spacing chart - is more than I can stand. It's like Microwave calling itself a "system" when in fact, It's a kit with instructions. That's the reality.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/09/2015 11:17AM by Jim Ising.

I appreciate all the insight. I am interested in performance usually way above looks as I truly like to fish on Lake Guntersville. I like specialty rods built for a purpose! I always start out by thinking how will I use this rod? With that in mind I did compromise a bit with my decision. I have already put black and gold winding checks and a black and gold locking hood on my Fuji split grip. I decided to go with the 10 stripping guide and progress to five mm on the tip. Fuji concepts do not come in black frames with gold rings so I am going with the American Tackle because of this. I was disappointed that the black and gold tip top only came with a 6 mm ring and not a five but it will have to do. The people at St. Croix were very nice and gave me the recommended spacing for this rod as it was not on their charts on their web site. I know you more experienced builders would not need this but it gives me somewhere to start. I will finish with a static line check to get them just right. This rod has a moderate action so it has crank bait all over it. I wanted to be able to use fluorocarbon as well as braid. Hence the 5 mm. I truly appreciate the help and insight from the more experience builders and I am sure will help me get to the next level!

I appreciate all the insight. I am interested in performance usually way above looks as I truly like to fish on Lake Guntersville. I like specialty rods built for a purpose! I always start out by thinking how will I use this rod? With that in mind I did compromise a bit with my decision. I have already put black and gold winding checks and a black and gold locking hood on my Fuji split grip. I decided to go with the 10 stripping guide and progress to five mm on the tip. Fuji concepts do not come in black frames with gold rings so I am going with the American Tackle because of this. I was disappointed that the black and gold tip top only came with a 6 mm ring and not a five but it will have to do. The people at St. Croix were very nice and gave me the recommended spacing for this rod as it was not on their charts on their web site. I know you more experienced builders would not need this but it gives me somewhere to start. I will finish with a static line check to get them just right. This rod has a moderate action so it has crank bait all over it. I wanted to be able to use fluorocarbon as well as braid. Hence the 5 mm. I truly appreciate the help and insight from the more experience builders and I am sure will help me get to the next level!