Twenty years ago I realized that weight affected the performance of even the best-designed rods.

At the time of our introduction into the market the available snake guides used primarily two wire diameters with no consideration to reducing weight in the upper end of the rod. With this in mind I performed an Industry First by assigning each guide a wire diameter that complimented its location on the fly rod. The guide sizes and wire diameters are as follows:

My goal in making guides has always been, and still is, to make the very best guides possible. I have made another improvement on our light wire guides by making them even lighter than they were by reducing the wire diameters up to 20%. This results in a very lightweight guide set on fly rod tips which is very light yet strong and durable. Knowledgeable rod designers like Tom Morgan are always looking to reduce the static weight on their rod designs, particularly on the tips, to minimize the effect of extra weight changing the light, lively action they are seeking with their rods.

Snake Brand now offers sizes 1/0 thru size 4 in light wire to optimize the rod taper design. We offer these guides in two finishes Black Nickel and our new ECOated finish. Our patented Universal Guides can now be purchased in light wire. The guide feet feature a concave radius on the entire length of the foot for better contact to the rod. We also feature a convex radius on the top of the guide foot and a tapered toe to allow the thread to ramp onto the guide foot. As the result of these innovations, lower epoxy build-ups can be achieved thus also reducing weight. The new light wire guides use the following wire diameters:

The ECOating is a proprietary coating that offers the smoothest finish in the market with a superior surface hardness. Our test results from two independent laboratories can be found on our website.