Micro guides/smaller guides .... clog?

[fishcast]

Curious what peoples opinions are on smaller size guides on fishing rods that are so common nowadays... I see where weight reduction would be an obvious benefit and people say casting distance can actually be better because the line is slapping around less in smaller guides... My question is primarily in reference to the size of guides that St. Croix rods has on their legends, and new elites etc... Do they become very problematic when cotton is all over the water? How terribly fast do they get clogged with ice in late late fall cold water fishing?  How about casting back to back uni knots through the guides?  With some situations I run 5-6' leaders of lb mono commonly spliced to 10-20 pound braid with a back to back uni knot... Thanks a bunch for any feedback on small guides

[MN Hooksetter]

Not sure about the cotton or the ice, but I bought a St. Croix legend extreme with micro guides a couple of years ago and wound up returning it due to my leader knots getting hung up.  I think for a crankbait rod they could be beneficial because I run either straight mono or fluorocarbon.

[bobbymalone]

I've had troubles with cotton and micro guides on a ultralight I built.  Otherwise they seemed to work fine, but I'm not sending knots through.

Still, I don't see myself building another open water rod with those guides.  I understand there are potential benefits, but I think it's a lot of hair splitting.

I do use them on super sensitive ice rods to avoid weight/bulk.  Rods specifically for in the house use, because I'm sure ice build up will wreak havoc with micro guides.

[RK]

True microguides can be a pain sometimes, with cottonwood seeds, and especially if you fish wild rice at all. Fished spoons in the rice with a friend of mine a few years back, and his rods had tiny microguides. After a couple hours he was ready to go Bo Jackson and break the rod over his own head.

There are guides that are light frame, low profile, with smaller rings than a 'standard' guide. I have several of those and don't have many problems with them at all.

[Hawg]

I bought a couple when the craze hit a couple years ago. I like the rods but like Bobby said, the benefits are hardly noticeable. I probably wouldn't do it again. The biggest benefit is the light weight.   

[fishcast]

RK, do you know where the guide sizes that St. Croix has on their legend elite/tournamnet/and extremes (they look to be the same size on all those models) fall on that spectrum? 

[RK]

16 hours ago, fishcast said:

RK, do you know where the guide sizes that St. Croix has on their legend elite/tournamnet/and extremes (they look to be the same size on all those models) fall on that spectrum? 

Not a St Croix guy really, but I think they're the small frame guides but not true micro guides, which are really teeny.

[MN BassFisher]

A few years back I purchased a St. Croix Rage rod when I found it on sale at Joe's. It was a baitcaster with smaller guides (not sure if they were true micro guides) than normal. I was using 10lb Flouro and due to a little bit of coiling I felt like the line either wrapped around or got caught at the guides often which made casting for distance very difficult. I wound up selling that rod after 1 season and am leary of baitcasting rods with small guides now.