pluggin/ braid

[Mike P]

I've been using braid almost exclusively now for 6 seasons and haven't noticed a single case of guide damage on any rod I own. Most have Fuji Hardaloy guides. One or two have Pac Bays. Tips are split between hardaloy and SiC. I've used Power Pro, Whiplash, Spiderwire Stealth, Rip Cord and Fireline. I used the old rough finished Spectron braid on my Canal jigging rod (Arra 126 1MH). If any rod was going to suffer guide damage, it would be the one I use to hump 5 oz jigs out of 40'+ depths with a line that'll cut your thumb like a bandsaw if you don't use a level wind. Not a trace of guide damage.

Carboloy guides are made for wire line, and braid will not hurt them either.

Braid will groove plated wire guides. So will mono.

[Roop]

RE: grooving

I use braid on St. Croix Tidemaster & Ben Doerr rods, Ugly Stix & Star Rods - never had a problem.

Good luck,

Roop

[chief10]

Mike P Thanks! I'm having that same canal rod built now-just wanted to be sure.

[Mike P]

If you really want to place your mind at ease and want to save a few bucks over all-SiC guides, you could opt for a "mixed" set of guides. You could go with Hardaloy on the lower guides, and with SiC on the 2-3 nearest the tip and on the tip-top, as these bear the brunt of the friction when the rod is under a load. The price difference between Hardaloy and SiC is less in the smaller guide sizes than in, say the 20-30 mm size.

[Goose]

What MikeP said big time. Also more effective in the cast.

[jfisher]

wow, this thread exploded.
Thanx again for all the info.