Sea Guide was born in China in 1997. The company, Sea-Guide Metal Manufacturing, is based in Weihai. It designs and makes parts for fishing rods. Its core market is still the factories that build rods for other brands.
Sea Guide chose to make everything itself, without reselling another maker's parts. Its industrial site covers more than 76,000 m². Guide frames, plating and ceramics are all made there. This control over each step also lets it cut lead times for its partners.
Sea Guide later opened a warehouse in Irvine, California. It holds several hundred thousand guides for the American market. For the first time, the brand then sold its parts to rod builders. Today its range covers spinning, casting, fly fishing and boat fishing.