How do you builders decide on rear grip length?

Use a bunch of different rods for different uses, and find which length suit you for the different rod lengths and uses.

Years ago, I was very big on having an exact length rear grip and would add weight to the butt of the rod to achieve a better balance. Yes, it worked, but it caused the rods to be heavier.

Now, I have reverted what manufacturers have done for years. If you have a long rod and want to better balance the rod, make the rear grip longer. It works well and the rod stays light.

But as a general rule, I use an 8 inch grip for shorter rods to 6 1/2 feet and then gradually let the grips get longer as the rod blank get longer. For 8 foot rods, I will go out to a 12 inch grip.

Some folks like to work with what some folks consider a bit shorter rear grip to keep the rod butt out of the elbow area.

On the other hand, with long heavier action rods, many folks like to keep the rear grip longer, so that they can purposely tuck the rear grip under their arm to help to fight the fish.
For rods of this nature, some folks will go to grips as long as 15 inches or so.

Your choice.

If you simply make the rear grip longer to help balance a longer rod, you might as well have bought a shorter blank to begin with.

Typically, outside of special use rods like those for surf, long distance plugging, etc., most common rod types use a rear grip length that puts the butt under the area from the meat of the forearm to about the elbow. This varies, of course, but is a good general length in terms of allowing the fisherman as much fighting leverage as possible. Rods such as those where the rear grip concern is primarily for casting, such as surf, may have much longer rear handle lengths.


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I think it is personal preference. I have found for me that an 8-9" rear grip is perfect. I always ask customers what they
want and some have to try a couple of rods to see what "feels" right. Most however go with a longer grip vs a shorter one.
JMO

Dan,
Due to the difference in the way you hold the rod, and the hand position, the reel grip length will change. Palming a casting reel vs the hand gripping the rod behind the reel will make a difference, though small one, as will the completely different grip you put on a spinning reel and the different angle of your hand. My spinning handle for the same job are a bit shorter because of it. My salmon/steelhead rear spinning grips are 12 inches, closer to 14 inches on casting rods, depending on the reel size and where I hold the rod.

Dan,
Due to the difference in the way you hold the rod, and the hand position, the reel grip length will change. Palming a casting reel vs the hand gripping the rod behind the reel will make a difference, though small one, as will the completely different grip you put on a spinning reel and the different angle of your hand. My spinning handle for the same job are a bit shorter because of it. My salmon/steelhead rear spinning grips are 12 inches, closer to 14 inches on casting rods, depending on the reel size and where I hold the rod. They both end up on the same place near the end of my elbow.

When fishing out of a kayak, a shorter handle works better. 7 to 9 inches works well.

John

Hello Dan.

The way I do it is to take my butt cap and set it on a flat surface, then run the real seat (with Reel on it) onto the blank.
Stick the butt of the blank into the butt cap, holding the reel the way I fish it, with my other hand I mark where the bottom of the seat is on the blank and that gives me the length for any grip I want to install, be it split or single piece, the length is the same.

Tight Wraps & Tighter Lines.

Bob,

New Bern, NC.

I let the travel path of the butt determine my rear grip length. At least for rods that I use for the bass fishing techniques of flipping or pitching.

If I were building a rod that I was going to use strictly for pitching, I can use a longer rear grip, than I can on a rod that I would use for flipping. The reason being, the travel path of the butt is different for the way I perform each technique.

Pitching the butt travels outside of my forearm. Flipping it travels inside my forearm. With the butt traveling inside my forearm I have to be cognizant of the butt catching on clothing. Especially during the months when I'm wearing bulky clothes, or if I'm wearing rain gear in the warmer months.

Excellent question. My guess would be leverage for fighting fish and leverage for casting distance should determine grip lengths. If you do not expect to catch fish over 15-20 pounds in weight and you weigh over 100 pounds the leverage for fighting fish is not too important.

Thanks very much all.

I'm relieved to see that my intuition luckily put me in the right ballpark. I fixed the rear grip length such that the butt cap touches the thicker part of my fore arm.
Was curious how much the length of the rear grip, and hence the placement of the reel seat, affected the balance of the finished rod.

Dan, I think you'll find that you can do more with the type of rear grip you use and the material it is made of, than you can by moving the reel seat. It takes moving the reel seat what I would consider a considerable distance to overcome weight that is placed behind or on the reel seat. A distance that could affect rod usage.

If you're interested the link below is to a post I submitted in a thread about bass rod balance. In it you'll see the results of of an experiment I did on my last build. It could give you some things to think about.

[rodbuilding.org]

Edit: the thread was about handle weight.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/20/2016 08:01AM by David Baylor.