Daiwa introduced the Interline Rod in the 90s. Interline rods do not have guides; lines run through the blank. However, they limited this concept only to their casting/baitcasting rods, which in my opinion, is poorly adopted as line contact inside the blank creates friction, a disadvantage when distance is a crucial factor for casting rods.
Tip wrap is a prevalent issue in traditional slow pitch jigging rods, causing damage to the smaller guides and, in a bad case, a broken rod tip. Nearly 80% of our warranty claims for SPJ rods were due to this. Therefore, we needed a solution to this issue.
We decided to adopt this guideless concept because we can eradicate the dreaded tip wrap issue entirely. Moreover, there is increased sensitivity with the line in constant contact with the blank. Without guides, the blank will flex in its most natural manner, without stress induced by external components.
This concept is a godsend for jigging and slow pitch jigging rods – no guides, no tip wrap, no fuss, and full contact blank sensitivity.