I did a search from the photo page on split grips and found some nice grips. I noticed from all the pics that the 2 rear grips varied in length, be it cork, eva or wood. My question is how do you decide what length to use, the length of the rod or the type of fishing you will be doing or by feel. I wanted to try a split grip on my next build which will be a flounder rod (7') fished around pier pilings and rocks.

Roger
Greensboro, NC

Personal preference. What ever suits you. Some just use an epoxy ramp behind the reel seat. I usuallu use between 2 1/2-3 inches behind the seat and 2 - 2 1/2 on the butt

I should have mentioned that I build about 90% spining rods!!!!!

Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/03/2009 02:08PM by Mike Barkley.

Roger-
If building a spinning rod you can get by with less grip behind the reel-your hand is very seldom in contact there. Like Mike said-a ramp is sufficient. On a casting rod you will need a longer grip behind the reel-in the 3"-3 1/2" range because it is what you are holding on to when casting. If you have big hands even that length may not be enough. I recently built a rod for myself that in the interest of lowest finished weight I used a grip of 1 1/2" behind the seat of a casting rod. Too short-very uncomfortable to cast as many times as I do in the course of a fishing day. The grip section on the butt of the rod can be whatever length gives you a good grip for 2 handed casting. If you intend to use either type of rod in a rod holder a full one piece grip is your best bet.

Chris

My casting rods generally have a 3.5 - 4" grip section directly behing the reelseat and a 2" section at the butt....Just build what is comfortable for you.

Scott Sheets
www.smsrods.com

the length of the grip is mostly personal preference. a good place to start is 2.5-3" . anything longer is usually wasting material. if you are in greensboro you should stop by and see me i am in clemmons nc. i will try to get you going on some handle work or you can at least look at some and get some ideas. i am making some split grips now for some rods for flounder, redfish, and specks.
jp timberlake
336-778-1308

Mine is the same as Scott's. I've had several clients switch over to split grips once they had one about 4". The only experiences they had previously were in that 2.5" to 3" range and complained about comfort over a long day of fishing.

One of the rodmaker issues identifies handle ergonomics. I took that a step further and often measure the client's hand for grip length on a split grip handle unless they ask for something different. Easy measurement... I have them hold a rod and measure from the back of the reel seat to where their hand ends. End up with just the right amount of grip.

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A bigger issue than grip length is grip diameter. For a spinning rod, depending on how the person using the rod fishes it, you need very little beyond the reel seat. Casting, as mentioned, depends on the hand size. But the real kicker is diameter. Many builders don't know the options they have and how those options can affect how the rod works.

With spinning, I believe the ergonomics guidelines published in Rodmaker are valid, leading to diameters of reel seats of 18 or 20 mm. Or more. They are more comfortable than 16's and cast very well. As you get bigger, weight may become an issue.

Where I don't go along is with the diameter of casting rod grips. For my hand size, according to the guidelines, the grip should be much larger than the traditional straight line off the casting reel seat, and I did a couple rods that way. They were very hard to grip, tended to twist out of my hand when casting, and I've reworked both of them (smaller diameter, finger slots to effectively make them smaller) making them much better, more comfortable, but most importantly, more stable in the hand when casting.

I never had a problem with the Bass Pro Shops "power hump," which is interesting since it is really a large diameter. But what it did was to provide essentially a bulge that didn't carry all the way back on the grip. It could be that the bulge of a larger diameter, fitting into the center of the palm, as long as it tapers quickly back down, works fine too. I think there is more to learn about ergonomics with casting rods.

I typically use 1 1/2" -2" behind the reel seat and about the same for a foregrip. I do use a little longer butt maybe 2 1/2" on my spinning rods. Casting rods are typically about the same.