Hey guys,
I've been building fly rods for a while and now I'm looking to build a couple conventional rods for SoCal local species. 8ft, 20-40lb, general purpose rods while I sort out what kind of arsenal I want to build. I'm looking at all the fuji alconite offerings and my head is spinning. KW, LKW, MN, HN. I was thinking MNs as I don't need the heaviest duty stuff, but any input you have regarding guide choice would be appreciated.
Cheers,
Rory

I would think your decision tree should revolve around two factors: corrosion from the saltwater, and the line/leaders you plan to use.

Full disclosure: I’m a freshwater bass angler

Just found the Angler's Rsrc link. I'll hunt there before I get flamed here. Let you know what I decide

Sounds like you're on the right track. I always go Fuji for the quality; never had a failure. Because it's salt, go titanium, and for hot-running salt water fish of substantial size, I would go with the SIC rings on all guides and tiptop.

I use the the alconite CC guides on my saltwater rods and haven’t noticed any rust issues. I’m only fish salt a couple weeks a year but If you want to be safe use titanium. The guys on the striper forum all seem to use the fuji alconite guides. For your build I’d choose the KW’s.

KWs is what I was leaning towards. They seem like a good balance of strength and weight. Is the standard for the smallest guides and tip top a size 8 or can I get away with smaller?

Michael Danek Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Sounds like you're on the right track. I always
> go Fuji for the quality; never had a failure.
> Because it's salt, go titanium, and for
> hot-running salt water fish of substantial size, I
> would go with the SIC rings on all guides and
> tiptop.

What guides you to SiC over the Torzite? I’ve never broken either but have read that SiC is more brittle. The price difference isn’t great in the titanium frames. I’m not arguing, but just trying to understand.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/31/2023 04:55PM by Kendall Cikanek.

Fuji MN in alconite is a solid proven choice for mono. For braid KW would be better.

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

I'd look at the JDGLB80ML-CG for your weight class, I like the XNZG Alps guides, Ti if you like, but I don't see why others won't work. Guide size depends on what you have passing through the guides, 8 mm is a fairly safe bet for just about anything. I have an XL that I like for Kelp beds, and the like just about anywhere.

>>What guides you to SiC over the Torzite? I

Price. I've never had a "brittle" SIC fail. While Torzite may be the "best," it may be overkill.

Rory,
Good replies above, especially those suggesting Fuji guides. For a 40lb saltwater rod, you will be hard-pressed finding a better guide than KWAGs in your choice of color, CC or BC. Yes, Ti is corrosion-proof but the new corrosion control finishes are quite up to the task and are available in more reasonably priced ring choices. No need for SiC, SiN or Torzite! Size 8 runners will work reliably very well, with size 6 certainly not out of the question. My last comment = SPIRAL WRAP IT!!! You will not regret it!!!

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

If your going to use a braid to leader I’d go with size 8, if using straight mono I’d use the 6’s. My rod is also a 20-40lbs and I paired it with a Tranx 400. The butt guide is a 12kw to a 10kw then the rest are 8’s.
I also spiral wraped them.

What reel are you planning to use? This helps to know to choice the right size butt guide.

I have my eyes set on an Accurate Tern 2 for a reel, planning on going braid to mono. Good to hear I don’t necessarily need Ti. Sounds like I’ll be going with some out of the KW series! I’ll look into spiral wrapping them too. I’m hoping to get the build going by the middle of next week!

I’ve used the Fuji gunsmoke SIC for a couple recent builds. Pretty nice and cost savings. The AT tiForged are reasonable but I don’t have any long term tests with them.
I just did a SJ804 with KW 10-8- 6’s to tip and a 6.5 tip. 30lb braid to 30 leader with an older Komodo 364. It is a nice setup. I really like the tactile feel of the NFC solftouch grips. I really hope they expand the line.

Definitely a tangent. I just came off reading a LONG thread about Fuji new concept stuff and the “concentric rings” of huge stripper, medium stripper, then the smallest guides you can get away with. Now I’m looking at the spiral wrap (and it makes total sense to get the guides on the bottom), but isn’t that disrupting the line in exactly the way that the Fuji concept is trying to avoid?

For the record I’m game to go spiral, that’s the fun of building my own stuff!

Your line naturally wants to be on the bottom, by load, by gravity, it ultimately can give you the straightest line path there is.

line on the bottom makes sense to me.

BCKWAGs ordered!

Rory,
Good choice on guides; you will not be disappointed. Also, good choice on spiral wrapping the guides; again, you will not be disappointed. There are numerous spiral wrap methods to get the line to the bottom of the rod. While in the end, they all accomplish that, some are better than others. The main thing to strive for is the straightest line path through the guides, both loaded and unloaded, while keeping the line off the blank. 2-line static load testing will be your friend and reveal all!

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

Mark, without a blank in hand I was thinking about 30-45° rotation. Also can you give me a quick explanation of 2 line vs standard?

Rory - Read this for doing the two line static test.
[www.rodbuilding.org]

I like a spiral wrap with guides offset about 0, 60, and 120, to the runners at 180 degrees. The angles are approximate and the idea is to try and get a straight line path. This type of spiral just looks better to me and it casts and handles fish extremely well. There are a number of other variations for doing a spiral wrap including the simple spiral, and they all work.
Norm