I am rebuilding an old Eagle Claw Ocean Granger trolling rod for my brother. The reel seat was loose, so I stripped the butt section and re-epoxied everything, and replaced the fore grip with cork.

Now I am replacing the guides (there were only 4 plus tip). The rod is 7'5", but the blank is actually 6'2", as the rest is a solid hardwood handle. How many guides do I need on this rod? I am looking at the Fuji KW's, as I do not wish to dump a lot of money in this rod. He uses it for trolling leadcore line for 14" Kokanee, and might on occasion catch a lake trout up to 20#.

The next item---As I mentioned it has a 15"  hardwood handle. It is tapered to the mid point, then swells again to the reel seat. Would cork tape work to wrap this handle, with the reduced diameter in the middle? Would Winn tape be a better choice?

Any suggestions are appreciated.

The K series guides are not the lightest or cheapest Fuji guides, I see no benefit on a trolling rod. 8 would probably do it. I have not had any problems with the G2 style grips in rod holders, if he didn't mention he had a problem I wouldn't mess with the grip. My rod holders cradle the reel and very front of the grip only.

The rod holder is not an issue, he has problems keeping a grip on the rod when it is raining, snowing, or his hands get cold. He wanted me to wrap the handle with cord. 

I think the KW's are cheaper are cheaper than some of the others. What would you suggest for a decent, inexpensive guide?. Weight is not a problem.

One chart I referenced suggested 10 or 11 guides, which seems excessive. 8 sounds about right.

Thank you!

Without the luxury of a static test, my recommendation would be 10 plus tip.  That's solely based on the formula of rod length plus one.

 

My go-to guides are Alconites.  Sometimes I'll use Fazlite to save a couple bucks, but the price difference between those two is negligible.