Hello all!
How long should the butt grip be on a casting rod (6'6" 3/8-1oz, 10#-20#, MH), for someone who ALWAYS casts 2-handed? I'm thinking it should be 3" to 4" to fit the width of a hand. Does that sound about right?
Thanks,

George Forster
Fort Collins, CO

hi mate,

pardon me for the dumb question (extreme newbie here) but what does 10# & 20# means?

thank you

10-20lb test I would imagine..

Butt length is to your personal taste. Personnaly, I like 225mm from the reel stem.

I should have been more clear. It's a split grip, and I am looking for recommnedations on how long to make the butt grip to accomodate the caster's left hand, for the purpose of 2 -handed casting. His right hand will be on the reel seat and rear grip. There will be roughly 4" (102mm) of exposed blank between the rear grip and the butt grip.
"#" means pound test of the line that will be used. This is a bass rod for casting spinnerbaits. 10-20 pound test line is pretty standard for this kind of a rod. 10# = 4.54Kg.

If he's a two handed caster that grips the butt...then yes...3 to 4 inches.

I'm also a two handed caster, but I don't grip the butt of the rod. I really sit the butt in my palm. So 2" is more than enough for me.



..........................

Better to have and not need than to need and not have.

George-If you can-make several grips of different lengths, put the rod in your customer's hand so together the two of you come up with what works for him. Tayloring grip length along with his input on rod length, action, quality of components, guide wrap colors, etc., are some of the variables that make it a custom rod. Put him in the driver's seat.

I make my butt sections quite short, 3 rings or 1.5 inches plus a solid butt ring or balance kit. Shape and diameter are more important than length, I make mine at least 1.125, and taper it down to the blank. If you close your hand like you are holding the butt grip and look at it you can see it is a small diameter where your thumb and fore finger meet, then gets significantly larger as you move down away from your thumb.

I almost always use 2 hands for casting and these are by far the most comfortable grips that I have used. Here is a picture of one that I did, the front of this grip is larger than I prefer them because this is on a 7’6” Flippin Stick with a quite large diameter blank. [www.rodbuilding.org]

if my memory serves me correct i believe Rich Forhan advised the rear grip to be at least 2 5/8" long. i would look at your clients hands and see what feels best for him, if that isnt possible i would look to go 2.5-3". diameter is important as well and i would err on the large size.

Personally I can't stand for my hand to be resting on the blank. It's uncomfortable. I usually use a 3.5" handle and about a 1.5" butt. That 1.5" includes whatever butt cap I install.

I like a 3" front and 2" rear. For me, the front size is much more important because I fully grab the grip. Like Mike and Matt, I put the rear section in my palm and find as little as 1.5" to be acceptable. The only time I use a large butt grip is when building a heavy rod like a swimbait rod .

Many rodbuilders, more than one manufacturer and several thousand fishermen think these are just right!

[www.swamplandtackle.com]

George, 2 1/2 inches (5 rings - 4 cork, 1 rubberized cork) has stood the test of time. Make it shorter or longer if your client so requests. Here's something to try - take the intended blank - slide the reel seat into position - now take some white modeling foam and form the split grip on the blank - keep re-doing both grips until they feel perfect - then do it in cork. 2 1/2 + 3 1 /2 open + 2 1/2 rear - would be my starting point for a 6 1/2 ft. rod - I make changes to those numbers based on the client.

I agree with Bill. Their grips are great quality and a price. I haven't turned any cork since ordering their grips for the first time a few months back. I may do it again for special sizes, but the Swampland grips fit nicely for most people.

George,

If you cast with two hands 3" lenght of the butt grip is the right size.I have building many spinning rods( 9'-12') with split grip using 3" butt grip and for me is the most comfortable size for casting with two hands.

Jean

Thank you for all of the sugestions!
Rich, I really like the modelling foam idea. Unfortunately the client lives about 1200 miles away from me. However, I'll be using your suggested grip set-up, at least as a starting point. I've asked him to go cast his rod, taking note of how his left hand actually grabs the end of his current grip. I know that his right hand is not very strong, due to numerous surgeries. It could be that he really needs to be able to help support the rod, with his left.
John, you mentioned diameter. What do you guys think is a good diameter for this butt grip?

1.1" seems to be fairly standard as that's what matches the reels seats. If he has very large hands, you can build in a power hump of 1.25".

George,
In spite of the other posts: I respecefully disagree.
When casting, I always like to feel nothing but cork in my hand. No rubber, no blank, no aluminum.
I also want to be able to quickly move my hand to the butt of the rod and assume a comfortable grasp. The width of my hand is 4 inchs and I like to not have to worry about not hitting the butt in a quick cast, so I don't want any butt section that has less than 6 inchs of cork.

If the butt section happens to be 7 inches long, it is not much of a split grip. If the butt section happens to be 10 inches long as is the case for longer rods, then there is a nice 4 inch gap.

My preference for holding only cork, is one of the reasons that I personally don't fish with a lot of split grip rods. I t hink that a split grip looks much better with about a 1 1/2 inch section of cork - but for two handed casting, that amount of cork is simply unacceptable.

If your client always casts two handed, I really wonder about the wisdom of making a split grip.

Talk with your client, and if nceessary send him a few mock ups to evaluate.

Remember, the client is always right, so make the rod to meet HIS specifications and expectations. Just remember to ask the right questions and get his honest answer; not an answer that you are getting from him based on YOUR preferences.

Lots of clients have really not thought about how some of these things will affect their fishing. Sure, they answer your questions to the best of their ability and they think that they are getting the rod that they really want. However, when they actually get the rod; they find that they really don't have the rod that actually makes them happy. They simply didn't know what question to ask you the Custom Rod builder to satisfy their unspoken desires.

Take care
Roger

George, - you mentioned "I know that his right hand is not very strong, due to numerous surgeries." - if he cranks left, a spiral wrap will ease the wear on his right hand when he is catching fish - use it - he will be grateful. Go to my web site and print out the advantages of the Revolver style - discuss them with your client and incorporate those elements he wants. If you're not sure how - past articles in RodMaker cover all aspects of the Revolver Rod style.