I want to pace a small foregrip on a 12 wt fly rod for a breast cancer survivor whose heart is bigger than her strength. It is our hope that this will increase her ability to guide king salmon to shore in fast water without breaking the rod.

The question I have is what should the distance be between the regular grip and the fore grip on a 9', 2 section rod. The lower grip is 7" and the fore grip is 5 1/4".

I also want to epoxy in between the cork grips a pink ribbon that I had made at a sign shop of vinyl. I have never used vinyl before is there anything I should know specific to vinyl labels?

Has anyone made custom rods for individuals with chest or shoulder injuries of the right (dominate) arm? If so I would really like to hear your experiences.

I had a custom rod maker in Minnesota make a Sage RPLXi 9wt for me several years ago with a fore grip. Since Sage only puts foregrips on 12wt and above, he warned me not to reef too hard on it, only use it to rest my arm. It has a small Sage type fighting butt and it is 12" exactly from that butt to the top of the full wells grip. There is a full 5 1/2" space between the grip and the 5" foregrip. I didn't specify where to put the foregrip, this is where he felt it should beand it's very comforable at that distance. If you look on the www.sageflyfish.com website and view their XI2 rods, you will see the 12wt with a foregrip. However, their's looks a bit less than 5 11/2". If you don't get a lot of responses, you can call them and ask what distances they use. I would get her input as to where a foregrip would feel comfortable for her. Good luck.

What I've done for my 8,10,&12 wgt fly rods that has worked very well for me is as follows. I make a fore grip 5 -6 in. long out of customgrip 2 with a hole about the diameter of the rod at the place where it will go. I then make a cut down the length of the grip. I then put the grip in my pocket so that I don't have to cast the extra weight. When I hock a fish & get it on the reel, I just get it out of my pocket & snap it on the rod to help me fight the fish. I haven't caught that many big fish, but I haven't broken a rod yet. Dick