I am looking into buying more fishing gear and I see everywhere are these micro rods. I've seen them before but do not know their benefit. Any answers to my question would be helpful, seeing as how I know nothing about them.

The only differences that I have noticed are:

Pros: Lighter weight

Cons: Leader knots get caught up easier.

^{Pro's- Increase of sensitivity(slight), I think they cast a little better, pretty hard to break}

^{Con's- Fishing in water with junk on the surface(cottonwood) or icy conditions is impossible, leader knots are also impossible.}

^{In the right conditions micros are great}

In my opinion any benefits in weight, casting distance and sensitivity would be very minor.

In my opinion any benefits in weight, casting distance and sensitivity would be very minor.

 

X2.  Would need a very accurate scale for the first benefit.  I can't see a difference on the second benefit.  You need a lot better "feel" than I have to notice the third benefit.  Personally I prefer standard guides.

 

EDIT:  Some eyes might require a magnifying glass to string the micro guides.

I've bought a few micro guide rods both casting and spinning and I can't tell a difference with sensitivity or casting distance. Not to say they don't work I just can't tell. I could def see the weight savings with micro guides but I feel there's much more to a rod being sensitive then micro guides. I'd say just give both a try and decide from there.

I use braid with leaders on most of my setups so I have no desire to get micros.

If you search micro guides in the forums search function you will find all that you could want to read on them lol

I have micro guides on my St Croix spinning rods and I really don't notice anything I have standard guides on all my baitcasters and they work so there's no reason to fix what isn't broke

Tight lines

Andrew

The best guide to sue on any rod is the smallest, lightest ones that will do the job (pass line & connections, hold up etc.) "Micro" covers a range of guide sizes typically <6. A size 4 will easily pass an Albright joining 65# braid and 17# fluoro. Every gram of weight removed from a rod allows the blank to retain more of its inherent traits. This makes a rod as sensitive and crisp as it can be. This is the main advantage in using smaller guides. Any resulting casting distance or accuracy improvement from better line management is incidental but often exists.

Filamentous algae and ice are two conditions that may require larger guides. You can't compare different rods with different guides due to the variables. It just doesn't tell you anything. You have to build on a sole blank, then strip it and rebuild with another guide set. As a rod builder, I've experimented this way so I can confidently counsel my clients. My findings have supported my initial comment that the lighter guide train you can use, the better the result.

Con- they look terrible

I personally love them for the reasons mentioned by DVT they do perform better, for many applications, anytime sensitivity is important i like to use micro's... anytime you can reduce weight and not sacrifice strength and or comfort it is kinda goofy not to... JMO

 

Mitch

The more weight you can take off of a blank, especially toward the tip, the better it will perform.  When you get used to fishing rods with single footed, size 4 or smaller guides and very short wraps with minimal epoxy, rods with traditional guides feel sluggish.  Micro guides allow the blank to be more crisp, responsive and recover more quickly.  These are things that are really hard to quantify though.   Rods with smaller guides are also less likely to get tangled up with other rods in a rod locker.  

I recently bought a couple micro guide rods and really like them so far. The main problem has been that one of them I've been using as a jerkbait rod but when it's cold I have to use a different rod because the guides ice up so fast I can't even use it. 

I recently rewrapped an old fenwick fiberglass rod using micro's - it lightened up the rod and gave it a quicker action - it will be used for walking spooks.

I definitely notice better line management with micro guides. No wind knots with the guides ever. Much less flap on the out going line vs "regular" guides rods from the reel to first guide.