Ok lads as the title says what’s the Rolls Royce of roller guides, the make, materials and why this will be for a 120 lbs class marlin and bluefin tuna trolling rod let us know your thoughts cheers.

winthrop

Freddwhy (Rapt-Ryte)

Mick,
Be prepared for a lot of personal preferences. When getting right down to it, all of the common big name brands such as Winthrop, Aftco, Stuart are all good, reliable products. I have recently become very fond of All American Roller Guides but have only used with their @#$%& series for spiral-wrapped roller guides, the only such rollers in existence. They are excellent quality and personally manufactured and assembled by the owner and his wife, Steve and Laurie Gusslin in Tustin, CA.
I may be incorrect, but it is my understanding that Aftco was first to design the “arched hinge frame” which allows the feet of the roller guides to flex with the rod under load. Most other brands are similar variants as this must be an understandable attribute. Although I cannot remember where I saw them or the manufacture’s name, I have seen machined aluminum frames with pivoting feet which is an outstanding idea but their price was equally outstanding. When speaking of expensive rollers, the CF framed Delca rollers from Italy come to mind as well.
With the performance being excellent with most of the brands of rollers, I vote for All American Roller Guides because the guides perform so flawlessly they have a lifetime warranty, plus Steve and Laurie are the nicest people anyone would expect to ever meet.
None the less, I will follow this post to learn from other contributors.

Mark Talmo
FISHING IS NOT AN ESCAPE FROM LIFE BUT RATHER A DEEPER IMMERSION INTO IT!!! BUILDING YOUR OWN SIMPLY ENHANCES THE EXPERIENCE.

Don't forget to check the Alps rollers from Batson. My favorite.

Hello All.

I have used all the rollers mentioned except the Alps (I may have to change that), but all the guides I've tried have been good, my favorites are the Aftco Big Foot Super Heavy Duty & the Winthrop Excel Series.


Tight Wraps & Tighter Lines.

Bob,

New Bern, NC.

Hello lads, Mark I checked those All American titanium rollers out and they look great plus price was very good compared to most of the others, I have never built a roller guide rod before, but looking at the rollers they all seem to be similar and work in the same principle so the all titanium ones for just over a $100 bucks a set seem the way forward to me and thanks for all the info much appreciated lads cheers.