Has anyone ever tried using EVA for a fly rod grip?

Some have tried it but it tends to give quite a bit and you tend to grip it to tight causing fatigue. Cork has a firmer feel letting you relax your grip a bit. You will feel better at the end of the day. You can give it a try and see what you think. By building a custom rod you can do anything that suits your needs.

Bruce Young
Landing Gear

That's exactly right. It will give under your thumb at which point you overcompensate by gripping tighter. It's hard to make accurate and controlled casts when you're holding a fly rod by an EVA or any type of cushiony foam grip. Cork and wood end up being the only really practical grips types for fly rods.

In addition to that, the Fly police will get you!!
(Kidding! No flames, please)

Mike

Mike,
The Fly Police will probably get me anyway since I use single foot guides and don't wear a vest.

John Tebbits who posts here & has posted pictures on the Photo Page uses EVA, and disagrees totally with the above responses. He blames teh casting deficencies on the fisherman not being a good caster & looking for something to blame his lack of expertise on...and as a result EVA is shunned.

THEre are a few posts i the archives regarding this, do a search for "Tebbits" in the author.

Maybe you should try a thin layer of eva over a slightly reduced diameter cork handle - thereby maintaining most of the firmness but getting a little cushion. Haven't tried flocking yet, but might be similar.
==dave==

Anything less than about 90 durometer is not suitable for good casting qualities in a fly rod grip. You'll have a hard time getting EVA in that hardness. I played with it for several years and in my experience EVA is about the worst thing you can use on a fly rod grip. It's just not firm enough. The old Lew's Speed Grip fly rod grips were passable, but barely.

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I have a bunch of rods built with EVA and except for the black color, have no complaints at all. I still turn Kork-a-lon ice grips for use on ultra light rods to save weight. I do not use the thumb on top of the grip, which may account for the lack of a mushy feeling. E-mail me if you want to borrow a rod to test.

The slight softness of EVA is only a problem on fly rods - it's the only rod type where you rely directly on the grip to apply your casting pressure/motion to the rod itself. On other types, you're pretty much holding the reel seat when you cast.

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We at Neal's Have great pricing on the EVA fly rod grips just go to
[www.nealsfishingtackle.com]

We also have one in a brown/black wood grain in the EVA fly grips

Neal Cissel
Neal's Fishing Products
www.nealsfishingtackle.com

The old Pac Bay Corkalon EVA was firm enough to use on fly rods. But it was also darn heavy! Cork just ends up being the best material available for use on fly rod grips.