I am building a short, very stiff trolling rod for high speed trolling very large crank baits for musky fishing. These set ups use braided line.
Has anybody ever used cork tape for the butt grip for heavy trolling rods? I am concerned that the high trolling speed and heavy lure weight will really put strain on the EVA grip.

Is this something I should be concerned about or am I micro-analyzing?

Thanks,
Buzz

Cork tape will work, but has to be replaced from time to time. A heavy trolling rod can be hard on an EVA rear grip. I prefer to use a slick-butt sleeve mounted over brick foam(graphite) arbors. Light and almost indestructable.

The problem you are going to run into with the eva butt grip is after a while it will aquire a "dent" where it rests on the lip of the rod holder and when you get a fish on it is hard to pull it out of the rod holder due to friction. This is why hard butts are on your better trolling rods. Now if the rod is going to be "hand held" all the time then you won't have any problems with the eva. Jesse

Thanks for the input guys. The rods will not be hand held but in the rod holder. I will go with the slick butt. for the butt grip.
Buzz

Shrink tube works great for this as well. Sometimes I build it up a little with a layer or two of cork tape first, depending on the size of the blank and the reel seat used. Works great and is easy and durable.

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I use multi piece (300+) EVA grips on Great Lakes trolling rods...& put a piece of hardwood ( ash ,in this case)where the grip rubs the lip of the rodholder ( 12" for Canon downrigger holders). Adds a touch of class,too.

Use a slick butt for ease in sliding the rod in or out of the rod holder. If you have to use foam I'd use hypalon - it doesn't dent as easily as eva, but the ease of movement in / out of rod holder is not as easy as with a hard butt.

Lou