I am building a 6'6" fast action, light power, spinning rod and would like some opinions as to the appropriate length for the butt grip. The rod will be used for bass up to 5 pounds or so. It seems to me that a lot of spinning rods have an excessive butt grip length and I can't see any reason for it unless it is used to balance the rod.

Larry

I don't see any reason to have it extend any farther back than the rear of the forearm. That is usually where you have it to fight a fish and to allow for two handed casting. If you make it any longer, it is just wasted rod blank that isn't really being used for anything. Make it much shorter though and your wrist takes most of the fight. 8 or 9 inches total behind the seat should be plenty I would think. Others?

Larry,

Personally, I like them shorter than the 'standard'. I want the rear grip to be just long enough to lay along my arm a bit to give some support to my wrist during a fight.

Bass aren't hard pulling fish, so I keep my bass spinning rod butts short, about 7 inches or so. That's plenty for support, and, while you seldom need to make a two handed cast in bass fishing, you can with this length if you need to.

Using this shorter butt grip length gives you more blank to do the work, making it fish effectively 'longer' than the standard 'long' handle spinning rods. That results in longer casts, better hooksets, more leverage on the fish (and thus more control), and better line management.

It also makes it easier to work certain lures, just about any that require constant rod tip manipulation like topwater baits, soft jerkbaits, or 'hard' jerkbaits. Those longer butt grips have a bad habit of hitting you back, either in the inside of the muscle of your arm, or in the side/belly (if you are a bit rotund like me). I've gotten some nasty and sore bruising from fishing with the 'wrong' rod and a jerkbait through a long tournament day.

I understand that a longer butt that you can stick in your gut is wanted for longer rods used for hard fighting (mostly saltwater) fish. I don't do that type of fishing personally.

Good Luck!

Buddy

Larry:

I am no expert, but would tend to agree with Buddy Sanders about a shorter than "standard" handle length. The trend today seems to be towards longer and longer handles. In fact this is one of the reasons I started custom rod building on my own. The handle on a 6-6 factory spinning rod is generally so long it is hard for me to fish. They "hang" on my forearm or gut when trying to work lures which is very awkward and annoying. A 7" handle would seem to be a good compromise to me. Not enough to get in the way, but enough to give wrist/forearm support when fighting a fish. Of course this is personal preference and will vary with body size, arm length, etc..

Lee..

Larry,

I am glad that you raised this point. I would like to get input regarding the same issue but on casting rods.

I am thinking of building a 6'6" casting rod on a Loomis MB782 IMX blank. My desire is to end up with a high-end rod specifically built for open water smallmouth bass fishing with topwater baits (chug-bugs, pop R's, etc).

The factory built rod, and all casting rods over 6', for that matter, seem to have long butt grips; for 2 handed casting, I presume. I would like to build my rod with a much shorter grip but am concerned that I will encounter problems with respect to balance both during casting and retrieve.

I'd appreciate getting input from anyone who has built a 6'6" casting rod with a shorter than "normal" butt grip so I can decide if it is a good idea to proceed with my plan.

Thanks.....Dave

Buddy,

You confirm exactly what I have been thinking about on the the butt grip length. I am going to try 7 inches and see how I like it. Thanks for all the input.

Dave .. I use a 9 inch butt grip on just about all my bass casting rods but I think this is more of a personal preference. I like the butt to just fit under my forearm -- makes the rod feel like an extension of my arm to me. Long ago I made a bunch of rods using the "Lew Fuji Speed Grip" pistol handles and have used about every lenght between that and the 13 inch butt grip I use for striper rods. It took me a long time to decide that the 9 inch grip was best for me for bass fishing.

Thanks all
Larry