Wire Line Rods- Roller Tip Experience

[tyler.woodard04]

Morning, ordered some new rods for my wire divers and they came with the roller tips already installed.  Went out last night for the first time with them.  Other than being a bit stiffer than i thought they would be they worked good.  I did set these up with mono backer/wire/braid/fluorocarbon leader.  This worked well.  The Dipsy was clipped to the braid with a offshore clip with peg by wrapping the braid around the clip once.  Lets us adjust the distance behind the diver as well as remove the diver one handed for ease of netting fish.  They tripped as they should on clearing lines.  But my concern is on the roller tip.  They swivel a bit in each direction off the centerline of the rod.  On clearing the last line i had the braid jump the roller and get off to the side.  Was a easy fix and did not damage anything but if the wire did it not so good.  The braid and wire are only 0.001" different in size.  Used the Twilli tips in the past and am not opposed to it again just curious if anyone else has had line jump the roller and get between the roller and guide and if there is a easy solution to using them without that happening.  

[Ecto2]

I recently picked up some new rods similar to your description...and I was too scared to try the roller tip for the reasons you mentioned.  I went right to twilli tips on them.  There must be some merit to roller guides and roller tips because I see some pretty high end rods come with them...too good for me I guess.

Good luck and thank you for the post.  Your not alone.

[spoonfed-1]

59 minutes ago, tyler.woodard04 said:

Morning, ordered some new rods for my wire divers and they came with the roller tips already installed.  Went out last night for the first time with them.  Other than being a bit stiffer than i thought they would be they worked good.  I did set these up with mono backer/wire/braid/fluorocarbon leader.  This worked well.  The Dipsy was clipped to the braid with a offshore clip with peg by wrapping the braid around the clip once.  Lets us adjust the distance behind the diver as well as remove the diver one handed for ease of netting fish.  They tripped as they should on clearing lines.  But my concern is on the roller tip.  They swivel a bit in each direction off the centerline of the rod.  On clearing the last line i had the braid jump the roller and get off to the side.  Was a easy fix and did not damage anything but if the wire did it not so good.  The braid and wire are only 0.001" different in size.  Used the Twilli tips in the past and am not opposed to it again just curious if anyone else has had line jump the roller and get between the roller and guide and if there is a easy solution to using them without that happening.  

I have had that happen a couple times on some Okuma roller rods in the past. Upgraded to Shimano Talora roller rods probably 15 years ago and never had it happen again. Very little friction with the roller rods and the wire lasts a long time if it;s not damaged or kinked otherwise.

[Sk8man]

I have used roller tip rods for the past 50 years or more. I do not use the swivel type because I like to angle the rods in the rod holder so that the tips remain in a 45 degree angle or so. I don't know what roller tips yours are but a lot of the less expensive ones have more spacing between the roller and side plate so that smaller diameter braid and 7 strand wire wire nests between the side plate and the roller and it can actually snap the braid or wire if a big fish hits or you snag up on something if the wire is in that position. Another thing is that the cheaper roller tips have aluminum side plates which the 30 pound 7 strand wire can actually cut through like a hack saw, One solution is to purchase better roller tips but they can be quite expensive. Another option is to look around for some of the older Allen brand stainless roller tips (sometimes on older freshwater Seth Green rods or salt water rods). For years I have used these tips and moved up to 60 lb wire on my Seth Greens and problem solved but the wire has more "blowback" (from water resistance) which I have learned to live with. When using braid it is necessary to move up to much larger pound test than the 30 lb to avoid the problem. I quit using braid on wire setups for that reason after losing an entire Seth Green rig years ago. Another potential option is to switch to 19 strand wire as it doesn't cut through the side plates of the cheaper aluminum sideplates and just use straight wire to the fluoro leader dispensing with the braid. I have rods with twilli's as well and they work fine so that is another cheaper option but the rollers tend to be smoother when reeling in big fish.

Edited July 20, 2023 by Sk8man

[GAMBLER]

I run the Daiwa Great Lakes roller rods.  I have been running roller rods for divers for years.  One tip that is important when running wire diver rods is reel position.  Do not have your reel facing up.  Make sure the top of the reel is facing the front of the boat keeping the wire on the rollers and not off the roller on the roller frames.  If you do not run them in the right position, you can be cut off by a king on the hit.  If you look at the photo I provided, this is the proper position a roller rod reel should be in (red arrow is pointing at the rod).  

Edited July 24, 2023 by GAMBLER

[Gator]

High end rollers are expensive, as salt guys know. They work great. From what I've seen with the lower end stuff that ends up on most great lakes rods, I prefer to stick with Twili Tips. They've never cost us a fish, and they make cleaning fleas off the line easy with a quick pull by hand. I know some guys aka Brian love their rollers, but not me. 

[Sk8man]

The position of Brian's rod in the holder in the pic is just what I was talking about and depending on how many rods in the holders that position of the holder may be different but the position of the reel facing should remain the same as he captured in the pic.

[tyler.woodard04]

thanks guys, will be running them again this week at some point.  mine are just roller tips what swivel about 45* each direction.  will try different positions in the rod holders as well