Guideline Explorer Review

[reevesr1]

I'm sure many of you have noticed the Guideline banner on the website lately. I had the pleasure of fishing with their Explorer package this morning which consists of their EXP3 rod and Reelmaster reel, which is their "entry" level equipment. I was fishing with the 6 wt. Fortunately for me, I found some fish that wanted to play, so I got to give the rod and reel a pretty good workout.

 

First off it is a very nice looking rod, as you can see in the pictures below with a very nice looking reel seat and smooth finish on the cork. I was fishing with a pretty heavy nymph rig this morning and the rod handled the weight no problem. The longest cast I made today was around 50 ft, but I cannot imagine it would have any trouble really stepping out (not that I think that is a big deal on the bow!) I'm probably not the best judge of castability, cuz I fairly well suck. But it performed as well as any rod I've used to date. Most importantly to me, it handled fish very, very well. I caught 5 fish between 17 and 20", with lost of feistiness, and I had no trouble turning their heads when I needed to. The rod has nice power!

 

The reel is made of aluminum and has a nice easy drag control. I purposely adjusted the drag many times during the fights and the drag responded very nicely, with a satisfying scream to boot.

 

I'm not sure of what the retail will be individually, but I think the package will sell for around $250. Hanson's will be getting some of these, and you can contact them for price. I wish these had been around when I was just starting out. It will be an absolutely outstanding bang for the buck.

 

 

Next up will be one of their more advanced rods. Goody, goody!!

 

By the way, I have no vested interest in these rods. I'm just an unpaid, but happy, tester!

[ÜberFly]

Rick, off hand do you know the weight of the rod and of the reel? Is it 2 piece or 4 peice, tube and sock included? What about warrentee?

 

Cheers,

 

P

 

I'm sure many of you have noticed the Guideline banner on the website lately. I had the pleasure of fishing with their Explorer package this morning which consists of their EXP3 rod and Reelmaster reel, which is their "entry" level equipment. I was fishing with the 6 wt. Fortunately for me, I found some fish that wanted to play, so I got to give the rod and reel a pretty good workout.

 

First off it is a very nice looking rod, as you can see in the pictures below with a very nice looking reel seat and smooth finish on the cork. I was fishing with a pretty heavy nymph rig this morning and the rod handled the weight no problem. The longest cast I made today was around 50 ft, but I cannot imagine it would have any trouble really stepping out (not that I think that is a big deal on the bow!) I'm probably not the best judge of castability, cuz I fairly well suck. But it performed as well as any rod I've used to date. Most importantly to me, it handled fish very, very well. I caught 5 fish between 17 and 20", with lost of feistiness, and I had no trouble turning their heads when I needed to. The rod has nice power!

 

The reel is made of aluminum and has a nice easy drag control. I purposely adjusted the drag many times during the fights and the drag responded very nicely, with a satisfying scream to boot.

 

I'm not sure of what the retail will be individually, but I think the package will sell for around $250. Hanson's will be getting some of these, and you can contact them for price. I wish these had been around when I was just starting out. It will be an absolutely outstanding bang for the buck.

 

 

Next up will be one of their more advanced rods. Goody, goody!!

 

By the way, I have no vested interest in these rods. I'm just an unpaid, but happy, tester!

 

[reevesr1]

4 pc. Can't find a wt. Feels pretty light though. Judging by there other rods, I'd say just over 100 gm.

The reel is 164 gm.

 

 

[ÜberFly]

Grams?! Rick, seeing you are from the 'ol U S of A, I'm expecting ounces, man, ounces!! LoL

 

 

 

4 pc. Can't find a wt. Feels pretty light though. Judging by there other rods, I'd say just over 100 gm.

The reel is 164 gm.

 

[reevesr1]

Spent the last couple of days fishing the Guideline ACT 4 piece 6 wt. This is the newest rod (I think) in their line, so I couldn't find any description on-line, but I should have something in a couple of days, and I'll post pics later. Here is what I thought after a dozen fish or so....

 

This rod is a definite step up from the explorer. It certainly seems a bit faster. I was fishing some seams a bit further out than I usually do and was having no trouble hitting them with this rod. My trouble with it seemed to be underestimating how far the cast would go and getting a big bounce back at the end of the cast because I hadn't stripped enough line! Also, when nymphing I had to slow my casting a bit because the loops were too tight and I was crashing on the line. But after I opened the loops up a bit, everything was great. I did get a chance to toss dries with it as well and really liked the action, but both times the wind was blowing pretty hard in my face. I wish I had brought another rod to compare it with as the wind was making testing the rod difficult.

 

As to fish fighting, like the Explorer the rod has plenty of backbone so turning fish is no problem. I also like the deep bend when fighting fish!

 

I'll post price information as I get it. Next up-ACT 4wt and cutties!

 

[speyman]

I do not have the data on the weight.

They come 9' 4, 5, or 6 and 9'6 7 or 8

They are all 4 piece and have a moderate/fast action

Lifetime factory defect warranty. If you break it you pay cost for the piece, about $30 or so depends on ther piece

 

Folks that are trying them are raving about them and buying them

 

I know Wayne has some you can try and Southbow will have some shortly