rod handles

[farmer56]

farmer56 here ..  question i was looking at the american tackle co. site and saw their G2 16" saltwater handle ....  has anybody used their stuff .  also another really dumb question what fills in the space between rod blank and the handle material on that style of grip ... dennis

[farmer56]

farmer56 here ... woke up and watched a youtube video now i get it

[farmer56]

OK i'm back .... so has anybody tried these ...  might look cool ..  but will they be too slippery ,  compared to    cork . eva . ?  ...  my new surf cast rod has a small ball on the end and i like that extra bump so i don"t throw the rig in the ocean .. with my arm  extention on the cast the follow thru  of the rod slides to the butt "hoping" to get more distance . the rod i have is a century steaith spinning rod with some sort of tape grippy stuff on a slight taper to the butt end. the ball lets me know hey stop now or cry and buy new rod if surf is too rough and swimming is not an option .. or should i learn new casting style ,,,  NEW to SURF casting boy ,,, dennis

[Jeri]

I'm assuming that you are fishing with your surf rod, built 'reel up', say about 20-24" above the butt end of the rod. This is fairly typical for most surf anglers, and the essence is to get a span between the hands that is comfortable enough to get some good leverage into the cast with both hands holding on - a bit like using a sledge hammer. However, in surf casting, keeping the hands in that start position is fairly essential for what could be called the follow through. Top hand is at the reel, and perhaps interlinking a couple of fingers around the stem of the reel will help a lot with maintaining this hold. The rest of the handle down to the lower hand really is just a decorative element, until you get to where the lower hand holds during the cast, where a handle material needs to be small enough to get a firm grip, and not slide about. From the sound of things your Stealth has a shrink grip type handle, and this can be slippery when moist or damp. To avoid this problem we used to place small sections (1/8"wide) of shrink grip at 1"spacing, before placing the main shrink grip handle over - this provided a more tactile surface to stop hand slippage. A more recent material that we are using a lot of, is Winn Grip tape, a wind on one side adhesive material that is excellent for tactile grip, even when soaking wet.

Hope thsat helps, and gives you something to think about for this or your next surf rod project.

[Glos]

I find those really long rod ends unnecessary. Hindrance.
They only bother me from casting ( because I cast faster and further with shorter ones ), to manipulating and placing the rod in tripod.

[Cuttyhunker]

I remember as a little kid, still small enough to curl up on an engine box,  my father, and another Cuttyhunk guide Carl Veeder using long surf rods with Squidders or Surfmasters to cast from the bass boats across the long  boulder fields in the south side of the island for stripers.  The lure of choice was the hollow plastic Reverse Atom modified with about a quarter inch hole drilled into the body to load up on water as to fly long, straight, and true through the wind.  The rod would take a deep bend when they leaned into their casts with the water filled plugs and the long handles for those nights were mandatory for the leverage to get the job done. A different time and lost technique.

[Gfish]

I like the look and description of those G2 handles/seats. Cork is nice and natural, but seems to be a bacterial substrate. Especially if you are using bait. Maybe there's somethin for better grip that's removable to attach, to prevent slippage.