Wire roller rod

[goldeneye]

I would like to have your opinion, I currently have dipsy rods with springs for my wires. I was wondering if I would not be better off with wire roller rods?

[rolmops]

If by "springs" you mean guides, then it would depend on the material that the guides are made of. As long as the guides are made of a hard material that the wire does not cut into you should be fine.

Wire roller rods come into play when you use them 3 or 4 days a week, but for the occasional weekend warrior it is less important.

[goldeneye]

I would like to know if it is more efficient

[rolmops]

A wire rod will last longer and the rollers will have less wear on the wire. You can call that more efficient. I love my wire roller rods. It seems to make my setup more complete.

[fish whistle]

I fished divers with a few different rods and twilli tips (springs) for over 25 years with no real issues and then  i bought a pair of high-end Daiwa rods with roller eyes and roller tips  for 500$...  I couldnt stand the roller tip, it rotates about 180 degrees but the wire kept 'pigtailing' so  much I ended up cutting the tip off and put twilli tips back  on  . I  love the action of the rod and the roller eyes are fine but the roller tip sucked in my opinion  .  With the roller tip its hard to keep any tension on the wire when your done fishing unlike a twilli spring  tip . Im sure some guys   love the roller tips but my experience was a bad one.   

[TyeeTanic]

You mean you have a twillie tip at the top, with normal line guides?  What are the guides made of ... are they black or a chrome metallic finish?

[Lewis863]

Ive run rods with twilleys and roller tips...I vastly prefer the roller tips, comes in easier especially with fleas the roller tips grind right through them.  I am a charter and use them a ton.....still have to watch your guides even with rods set up for wire it will gouge them and eventually cut your wire so get a dremel and flatten them if they start a groove.

[GAMBLER]

I run rollers and they are more efficient.  The rollers take all resistance off the wire on the guides away.  The only downfall is keeping the wire in the rollers.  Make sure the rods you buy have guides that the wire cant jump behind.  You also have to put the rod in the rod holders with the top of the reel facing the front of the boat to keep the wire in the roller and not the wall of the roller frame. On the left side of this photo you will see the diver rod and the position the reel needs to be in to keep the wire in the rollers.  

 

Edited July 15, 2022 by GAMBLER

[Sk8man]

I've used roller rods for over 50 years and a variety of them at that. I also use twilli rods as well. There is a marked difference in roller rods, guides, and tips. less expensive rods often feature tips with aluminum side plates while quality roller tips are stainless steel, alloys, or titanium A problem encountered with the cheaper aluminum ones is that stranded wire cuts through them and allows the wire to reside within the cuts when at a certain angle. I use SS roller tips that are fixed rather than ones the revolve as it is easier to keep them and the wire at the right angle in the rod holders. As mentioned roller tips offer less resistance than twilli"s and you can usually roll through fleas unless real thick. The roller itself  has to be really close to the side rails to prevent narrow diameter wire (e..g. 30-45 lb test) from nesting in between the roller and side plate where it can actually sever the wire and there is often a screw and nut that can be tightened slightly on the side plate to adjust. There is usually more spacing in that area on the aluminum type roller side plates. I even have an 8 1/2 ft downrigger dipsy wire rod set up with a SS roller tip with usual guides (eg ceramic?) and no problems after several years as the wire seldom if ever rests on the guides themselves. I have another with a twilli and no real difference in their performance. My shorter dedicated medium weight roller rods do roll in easier though than both of the other rods as there is less bend in them at the tip allowing the roller to function better. Again, these are all fixed roller tips not the swivel type.

Edited July 15, 2022 by Sk8man