Low-tech repair of rod guide

[J.A. Veil]

Most of the spinning rods I use are good quality. If I damage a rod guide on those, I take it to my professional rod repair guy. He is a craftsman at rod repair and gives cosmetically pleasing repairs. A few weeks ago I broke off two guides on an old inexpensive two-piece 6’ ultralight rod that I had purchased years ago. I was reluctant to take it to the rod repair guy because the cost of the repair would exceed the value of the rod. My two remaining options were: a) get rid of the rod, or b) learn how to replace a guide myself.


I am not good working with small things like guides and thread, but spent some time on the internet looking at videos of how others had done repairs. There are many videos that show the “right way” to replace guides using a rod turning machine, special thread on a bobbin, and other tools. Some Snaggedline members enjoy building their own rods and have the right equipment. I had none of that equipment and did not want to invest in them. I eventually found one repair video that was much closer to my skill level and interest. How to replace a fishing line guide without rod building equipment - YouTube Watching that gave me the confidence to undertake my first guide repair ever -- I completed the work this morning.


I ordered a box of assorted sized guides and 5-minute epoxy from Amazon. I built a frame to hold one end of the rod out of two pieces of scrap wood from my workshop, a metal pipe support bracket, and some nails. The other end of the rod rested inside a plastic clamp held in a bench vise.

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I had a old spool of 20-lb dark green Powerpro braided fishing line, which served as my thread. I ran a nail through the center of the spool so it could rotate. I made two wraps of line around the second nail to provide more tension.


I first glued the new guides in place using low-melting-temperature glue that I use for replacing rod tips. I began my wraps (nowhere near as neat as skilled rod repair guys or fly tiers, but it worked). When they were in place, I put some epoxy over the wraps and slowly rotated the rod by hand for several minutes to allow the epoxy to dry evenly. The final results, while not cosmetically pretty, should restore that rod for more perch and pickerel catching. Where there is a will, there often is a way. And it need not be expensive or complicated.

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[bignose]

While I have not tried the Mudhole kits, I have built a bunch of rods up from blanks that I bought from Joe Bruce's Fly shop when he had a store in Catonsville, as well as Cabela's, Janns, Mudhole and several blanks that I bought thru eBay.

I ran the gamut from inexpensive utilitarian rods, up to medium high end blanks (the original Loomis IMX blanks that I got from Joe are much missed). You can go from a simple wrap that makes the rod functional, up through wrapping designs that are works of art.

It's a lot like fly tying. You can catch fish on a simple fly like a wooly bugger that takes 3 minutes to construct, or catch them on Salmon fly that has 20 + ingredients, exotic feathers, and takes a hour to assemble, and is too pretty to fish with.

These days my rod work is much like John's, limited to replacing guides on older rods and occasionally replacing guides from the Charter Boat.
That sort of maintenance is a relatively easy skill, much like line replacement, and knot tying. There are plenty of instruction videos available and Mudhole's are as good as any.


Rod building, like fly tying, is a very gratifying activity.
There is something satisfying about catching a fish on a rod that you put together that is different than catching a fish on a mass produced rod assembled overseas.
But I also get that this isn't something for everybody.

[baitball]

That’s a handy skill, John.
Thanks for taking the time to share your experience and the YT video.