Custom Acid Rod or Spiral Wrap Guides on Longer Baitcast Rods for Steelheading

 A Sage Method 6119-4B Custom Acid Rod or Spiral Wrap Guides on Longer Baitcast Rods for Steelheading.

Custom Acid Rod or Spiral Wrap Guides on Longer Baitcast Rods for Steelheading

Under load, conventional “top guide” rods have a natural tendency to twist or torque, trying to turn the tip
downward.

An “Acid Rod” or “Spiral Wrapped Rod” is a conventional or casting rod who’s guides start out on top of the
blank and then rotate around the rod leaving the final guides and tip under the blank. In a nutshell, this
guide placement reduces torque allowing you to fight larger fish on lighter tackle with less fatigue.

You’ll also notice that a heavy 7′ spinning rod often has fewer guides than a baitcast rod of the same
size. This is because with their guides UNDER the blank, they don’t need nearly as many guides to keep
the line OFF of the blank. Picture a 7′ conventional rod fully loaded. It has to have at LEAST eight guides
to keep the line from touching the blank.

 A Custom IMX 1562 Blank Built as a Baitcast Rod – Fuji Guides with a Spiral Twist.

The same size spinning rod on the other hand, could do the same
job with six to seven guides while still evenly distributing the load on the blank. More importantly, guides
under the blank can be smaller, lighter and sit closer to the blank as they don’t need ring height to keep the
line up off the blank. A “guides on top” conventional casting rod needs a taller, usually much heavier
“double Foot” guide to keep the line up off the blank when it’s loaded.

 A Sage Method 6119-4B Custom “Acid Rod” or “Spiral Wrap” Guides on Longer Baitcast Rods for Steelheading.

Less guides are better? In most ways, the answer is YES.

Fewer guides mean less weight over the length of the blank, especially the tip section.

Less weight added to the blank makes a more sensitive, more responsive rod.

You still need enough guides under the rod to distribute the load evenly and maximize the blank’s available power.

On a 7′ rod, this can normally be done with one less guide if Spiral Wrapped rather than wrapped “guides on top”.

Combine that weight savings with the weight saved by not having to use a heavier “Double Foot” and you’ve saved a considerable amount of weight.

A Custom Northfork Composites IMST11342 Baitcaster with a Twist.

Believe it or not, a weight savings of only a couple of grams can make a big difference.

Here are several definitions covering variations of the name:

Spiral Wrap –
“A method for taking the line to the bottom of the rod on conventional casting type rods. Results in a rod
which will not twist under load and is inherently stable.”

Acid Wrap –
“Another term for the spiral wrap. The term originated on the West Coast when one proponent of the wrap
“Jim Racela” was said to have been on “acid” when he wrapped his rod in spiral fashion.”

Robert’s Wrap –
“Another term for the spiral wrap named after rod builder Chuck Roberts, another proponent of spiral
wrapping for casting rods.”

Contrary to what you might think, there is no loss in casting distance from a properly built spiral wrapped casting rod!

Contact Us for build details!

See here for some of our recent Custom Builds.

Custom Acid Rod or Spiral Wrap Guides on Longer Baitcast Rods for Steelheading

Custom Acid Rod or Spiral Wrap Guides on Longer Baitcast Rods for Steelheading