Can Guides On Baitcast Rod Be Changed?

[ghost]

I have a couple baitcast rods with regular guides and have been thinking if It's possible to get those guides off and replace with micro guides. Is this possible and what is the best way to re-balance the rod?

[.RM.]

I have a couple baitcast rods with regular guides and have been thinking if It's possible to get those guides off and replace with micro guides. Is this possible and what is the best way to re-balance the rod?

Yes it can be done....

But when done will cost you more than the purchase of a micro guide rod off of the rack...

[A-Jay]

I did a couple of guide replacements myself last winter.

Not going to win any beauty contests but certainly functional.

These rods were tried and true favorites. The handles and reel seats are fine but the finish on the guides had started to fade and was getting close to failing.

Rather than replace them, did a little reading and watched several of the on-line tutorials on the subject (and there are many) and them took the plunge. I'm very glad I did. The supply list for this is fairly short and inexpensive.

It is satisfying being able to continue to fish (and Catch) on these sticks.

A-Jay

[MickD]

Yes, the guides can be changed to micros. I think we make the whole issue of rod designing and building much more difficult than it should be. OK, taking the old guides off and putting new ones on in the same places won't be 100% optimum, but the difference between optimum and "it works pretty well" will be minimal. If you put the new micros in the same place as the other guides the impact on the finish of the rod will be minimized, and it will still work well. Where the first guide is , put a Fuji KW size 10. In the place of the next guide, put a KW 6. In the next put a KB 4.5. From there, Fuji micros all the way to the end. Worst case scenario, the line may touch the blank when under load. Not a big deal. Go for it!

[MickD]

Last post of mine didn't mention balance. Don't worry about it, just do the guides as I said and I think you will love the rod. When starting from scratch, worry about balance. But even then I contend that other factors are much more important than "balance."

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

Stripping the old guides is labor intensive and must be done carefully. Personally I can't see the point in going through the effort of building or re-wrapping a rod just to use the factory guide placement for a "good enough" result. Whether it's worth the expense and/effort would depend on the specifics like the blank, what guides are on it, what they will be changed to and often it boils down to sentimental value. Replacing a guide or two is one thing, but unless you want to get into rodbuilding longer term, I'd pass or get a quote from a builder.