Upper Cork handle or lower Cork handle?

[texastroutbum]

I am wondering if the anglers here in the forum use the upper place of cork handle or the lower part. I am also wondering if some of you have experimented the different places of the corks to figure out the fly rods when you purchased them.

I thought about this question as reading the recent thread "too much wrist." The thread addresses pros and cons of different grips such as thumb on top and key grip and so on). (I tip my hat for the great contributions of all the advanced anglers in the thread.)
As watching short video clips of many experts, I notice that some are using the top part of the cork and others placed their thumb about one inch below from the top of the cork. I want to know whether their choices of the places of the cork are intuitive or more deliberate. I am guessing that experienced casters intuitively move around the cork handle depending on how far they cast and what types of rods they are using. For me, the use of the top end of the cork gave me a different feel about a rod. Different enough to keep a rod.

I am also wondering if the purpose of Sage's introduction of snub-nose, half-wells cork handle is to make casters to use the north of the cork handle.

I would like to hear more from you guys.

 

[bigjim5589]

Never gave that much thought. I just do what's most comfortable.

 

[marky3130]

Never gave it a thought. If we're polling the forum, my answer is thumb on top near the top of the cork. I'm a pretty good caster and that's what feels good to me.

As an aside, I love the snub nose half wells Sage is using. The standard western grip seems odd to me now, though I still have it on 25% of my rods.

 

[wjc]

I am guessing that experienced casters intuitively move around the cork handle depending on how far they cast and what types of rods they are using. For me, the use of the top end of the cork gave me a different feel about a rod.

I do exactly the above. The different feel about a rod is closely linked to the different feel in your arm if you are casting a heavy wt rod for an extended period, as in surf fishing or repeatedly casting to the shoreline for bass, say.

Using even the same rod over an extended period, my hand position may change from the pinky jammed against the reel initially, to my forefinger wrapping the blank toward the end of fishing. So, in effect, I am shortening the rod by 5 inches or so. This is nothing more than combatting fatigue and nothing else.

I will also roll my hand to a full palm forward grip with heavy rods and long casts from a more traditional V grip with lighter rods and not so long casts. This is all done without me even noticing it really. The full palm forward grip extends the "hand print" on the handle, and, consequently, the leverage.

Both the above grips are ergonomically compatable with wide casting arcs - especially the full palm forward. The thumb on top I have not used since I first started casting. It is allright, for me, for short casts that must be very accurate, but the forefinger on top works better in that regard, for me, on straight casts to a spot when no slack line or curves are necessary.

But everyone has his own preferences. Those are mine - no thumb on top.

 

[runningfish]

Never gave a thought about it either. I also like the snub nose grips from Sage and used them on the rods that I built.

 

[rockriver]

I use what ever position feels the best at that time.

 

[jjc155]

I hold the cork handle where it balances best in my hand. Some rods its higher, some its lower.

Basically I find the balance point of the rod with the reel and line attached. That is the point at which the center of my palm grips the cork.

J-

 

[mike_r]

This is interesting to me because I have often sold off rods in the past because the feel of the grip, position of the swell, or density of the cork were such that they deterred from otherwise, favorable actions of their respective blanks. I naturally tend to utilize a V-grip with a bias of thumb position toward the top of the grip. I would say that I have slightly larger than average hand size relative to my modest stature. I am certain than rod designers have some demographic mapping data on hand size a in order to determine optimal grip size. Either that or they are merely following current trends in design/diameter. I thought the new Scott Radian freshwater rod grips to look peculiar until I finally cast the 9' 5wt recently. The grip appears much larger in diameter in the photos, and the swell seems too far forward compared to typical "full wells" style grips. Interestingly enough, the grip felt very natural to me: enough so that I immediately forgot about its characteristics, and fell right into focus on the rod's unique casting qualities (completely different topic). Hard to judge a grip by its cover: it has to be felt by the prospective caster/purchaser. I can NOT stress this enough! If you are thinking of dropping 850 clams on the latest and greatest, you not only should spend some time casting the rod, but also take the time to focus on how the grip feels to you initially, and after a casting session; multiply that times the normal amount of hours you would spend in a given fishing outing, and imagine if that rod would cause you discomfort or fatique. Trust me, if a trout rod is tiresome to fish all day, you are going to hate it. A grip shape that works for you should be high on your priority list of fly rod attributes when weighing the final decision to purchase!

 

[cab]

There just seems to be a "spot" where my palm matches the swell on the grip. Works OK, I guess.

As the day wears on, and I get a little (or a lot) tired, things just aren't going right. Casting is off, maybe some tangles, and I'm not catching fish. Stop. Take a breath. Relax, set the feet right. Get a good, positive GRIP on the rod. Always helps.

HTH,
CAB