I'm building two rods one a 6wt fly the other a bait caster. The grips are going to be made out of purple heart and bass wood, which do you prefer the half wells or the full wells grip?

Also if anyone has a template, paper that can be emailed to me for ether one or both, would be great.

The fly grip is 7" long.

I don't know much about bait casters, but I do quite a bit of fly fishing. I like the half wells because it allows me to easily put my fingers on the blank, which makes it easier to finesse a dry fly presentation. I also like to be able to keep my fingers on the blank when nymphing, so that I can detect a take a little better. I think that a full wells keeps you too far away from being able to feel the rod. My technique is probably not text book, but it works for me.

Full wells for this cat!

I put full wells on all my personal fly rods.

I like a straight grip for the baitcaster. You can reduce the OD if you want to reduce weight and increase sensitivity. Another technique would be to use a split grip since the reel-hand stays on the reel moswt of the time anyway.

Uncle Russ
Calico Creek Rods

Hello Tim,
This topic has been explored on this forum before. I bought my first fly rod from a custom builder in Santa Monica California about 1961. This builder used a half-wells, but used a raised region in the front of the grip to place an indentation to rest my thumb. I found this grip comfortable when I use my thumb as a lever to apply more force during a cast. However, when I would try to place a finger in this position it was uncomfortable. As a result, I have always used the reverse half-wells design for grips until very recently. The length of my grips varies from 7 inches to 8.5 inches on long saltwater flyrods.

The last four flyrods I have built for customers this year have had a variation of the Ritz-Gordon grip. I came across this grip in Rodmaker Volume 8 Issue 2. I have varied it a bit by creating a more graceful curve at the butt of the grip. I recommend either the reverse half-wells or the Ritz-Gordon grip because they feel very comfortable when I cast with these rods during the test casts. They both allow a smooth transition at the front of the grip and allow various hand positions while casting.

Having said that I also acknowledge that full-wells advocates can probably say the same for their choice. Good luck with your builds.

Mike Blomme

I prefer a full wells on 6wt and up.It looks good and is very comfy in the hand.

I use reverse half wells on lighter line weights.

For my use the full wells grip is more comfortable to me BUT it is probally due to my old age and arthritis. I use it on 4, 5 and 6wt fly rods.

I’ve seen some applause now and again for a ‘Fenwick’–style grip, also seems to sometimes be referred to as a Struble–modified Wells. Is that (are they?) a somewhat–modified half–wells ?

– smc –

I use a full-wells with the same dimensions on all my fly rods. It has very little curvature almost a cylinder. It fits my hand and lets me move my finger position in very little increments which helps keep it from getting tired/cramped. My basic philosophy is similiar to golf clubs. I keep the grip consistent across all rods because my hand size doesn't change when the rod does. Nothing better or worse imo with this approach, in fact the extra weight on light line rods is a technical negative, but it just works for me because of the comfort.

The Fenwick is more like a full wells without the back swell. I also like them especially on the rod with a A-7 or 8 type reelseat. They transition very smoothly to the forering on those reelseats.