Hello every one .

How many of you folks use burl cork on fly rod grips,

Do customers like - dislike it in general or does the price of the rod dictate its use. ive heard many custom builders state that burl has no place on a expensive fly rod "top grade clean cork only". others have said they use burl on low-medium price projects to spruce things up. I know that customers dictate many things but what is the general consensus among builders.

Happy wraps "John"

Customer preference! I show them pics of rods I have done with and without burl. The only thing to consider is good placement of the burl rings because they are harder and change the feel of the grip. I try to ensure that where the index finger and pinky finger grip the rod that natural cork is located there. If you experiment with the locations of the burl I believe you can make the grip "feel" more comfortable. Burl giving support in the palm area and fore/aft of the index and pinky fingers. It encourages the caster to grasp the grip in the same position every time. This is just hypothesizing and experimenting. The only grips I have NOT liked with burl is alternating every other ring and when the burl was located in the area where the above mentioned fingers grasp the grip. Remember not to make the burl ring the last ring on the grip and not the first if you don't taper into the winding check or blank. Burl chips, chunks etc.. easier.
My .02 cents.
Elrod

I have used both burl and composite cork rings in my fly grips for about 20 years now. The customer response has been overwhelmingly postitive. Those who say it has no place in fly rod construction have set themselves and their personal opinions up as some sort of legitimate regulating authority on fly rods. They are not.

There are smart ways to use burl cork rings, and ways that are not so smart. Whether you are dealing with true burl rings or composite type burl rings (the most common now) you have rings that weigh considerably more than regular cork rings. Thus, if you make a grip entirely out of burl rings, you have a pretty heave grip. On longer rods this can be a plus, on shorter rods a minus. On very short rods where I wanted to use a full burl grip I have often bored the entire grip out large enough to place over a smaller grip of regular cork and then shaped accordingly. The look of burl with the weight of regular cork.

Burl cork can be used in an alternating fashion (March/April 2001 RodMaker cover for instance - see it on the back issue page on the site if you don't have that issue). It can be used as the front and back rings only, or interspersed in any number of ways to give the grip a bit of distinction. The next issue of RodMake will feature a fantastic article on some new ideas in cork composite grip construction.

Don't overlook it for reel seat inserts. On shorter rods it may balance better than a heavier wood insert but still gives some figure to the seat that regular cork will not. You can even give it an oil finish to bring out the figure even more.

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I'm about to use burl in the first and last rings on a fly seat. As per Elrod's suggestion is this bad due to it being a less resilient material and might not hold up as well?

Preston

If it's good quality, it is actually tougher than regular rings. I have done it for years and no problems thus far.

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Tom,

Thanks for the help, Im glad to hear your thought on using burl or composit burl on the end rings.

One always hears not to use burl on the ends but I see photos of the like and one of the sponsers told me last week that the burl now days is tougher than most regular cork. This sponser puts burl on the ends of his full wells grips. he says the burl rings do not split like regular cork does when he puts preasure on the flared ends.

Im good to go now, And ill ignore the FRP (Fly Rod Police) Thanks.

Happy wraps and thank you all! "John'

Elrod thank you too for always helping me out Your advice is always noted and most welcome !!!

I have to take a shot at Elrod here, about grabbing the grip the same way every time. I know Dale Clemmens discussed this advanced custom rod building, and I kind of have to agree that this is not altogether a good thing, as far as fatigue is concerned, I think it is better to change your grip throughout the day, especially if you fish a lot. Never changing your grip will definetly lead to fatigue, and at very worst maybe for a full time guide or someone fishing nearly every day, carpal-tunnel. I do not mean to criticize the selection of cork and burl, and I even think the burl looks really good. I Even want to play around with some of the diffrent color burls, like the green and blue. But maybe it is possible for a grip to be TOO custom? I am sure I just opened a can of worms here, so go ahead, let me have it!

I don't think it's a can of worms, but... Last week I was up at the fly shop, I'm building a 4 wt. for one of the guys who works there. He took a factory rod off of the wall and using it's grip as an example, he showed me where he wanted his grip larger, smaller, longer, shorter... His reasons were, where he has his hand in the morning, where he puts his hand after it gets fatigued, where he puts his hand to cast. So, this is a valid concern.

Bill Doherty

First, I don't take things as "jabs" or whatever so feel free to constructively challenge any of my posts. That is how we learn. Now, I do want to clarify a little. THe way I make my grips does allow changing positions of the hand. Example: a current grip I made (going from the reel seat) had natural, then burl, nat., then burl. then natural until get to top of grip. I turn down the natural ring sandwiched between the burl rings. THis provides a rest as the same LEVEL everytime for my pinky. It still allows repositioning of the hand as related to grip, but does encourage the same level. I too have stayed away from the extreme custom grips (hand print grips, maiform etc..) due to the above posted reasons. I do grip the rod differently when roll casting as opposed to double-hauling. The pinky rest doesn't prevent that. I haven't noticed increase fatigue, but I may very well notice that in the future. When I have turned different diameter towards the top of the grip it is simply leaving a bigger or smaller "swell" at the level of my middle and forefinger. I like it so far, but have not tested enough to answer the fatique question here. Ultimately it is up to the caster, I would recommend anything to a customer if I thought it would hamper or haven't tested myself. The "pinky rest" grip I feel comfortable recommending, the other, not sure yet.
Isn't this fun.
Elrod

In regards to the initial question, I love burl--entire grips or just bits of grips. I think it looks especially good on green rods and sometimes brown rods. Where I have difficulty with it, is when it begins to clash with a highly-figured reel seat. I like to use a burl grip whenever my reel seat is fairly basic, then use regular cork whenever I'm using a highly-figured reel seat. Having a highly-figured grip right next to a highly-figured seat is just too much for me.

Regarding the shape of grips, I've decided that the basic straight cigar-style grip is the overall best for me for long days of fishing. It seems that the more curvature there is to the grip, the easier my hand gets fatigued. The only exception to this is during the cold weather, when I'll be wearing gloves all day. When I have gloves on, I really like the "tapers" of a full or half-wells to help keep my hand actually ON the grip. (Since I can't feel much in my palm area through the gloves, I've occasionally ended up with my hand around the winding check because there was no taper on the cigar grip to stop my hand from moving any farther forward.) Guess I need a warm-weather rod, and a cold-weather rod.

I like the standard half wells for most of my fishing and the full wells for the heavier saltwater rods. The regular cigar is a great all-around grip too. I find it comfortable to change my hand grip a bit during the day, but this sometimes causes problems in my casting.

As I tire during the day and my casting gets a bit sloppy, I sometimes look down and see that how I am holding the rod is really not condusive to good casting. A grip which forces me into a proper hold might be better, although I'm not sure I could ever get used to such a thing.

The "Maniform" fly rod grip is one example. Some love it and some hate it.

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