Saturday, March 22, 2008

Getting a Grip...


Photo of grip shapes I used on my glass rods (L to R): Full Wells, Superfine, Half-Wells, Garrison, Cigar, Ritz. I sometimes get little bored with the Reversed Half-Wells shape, which is prevalent on contemporary graphite trout models.

8 comments:

BLUEANGLER said...

What a collection! Vlad
Very nice! I love the Ritz and cigar grips... they are stylish and classical looking!The Garrison are just cute! I have one cigar grip from the Golded Wrench, it is a cute rod for tiny mountain creek! Mark

flyfishingunlimited said...

Hi Mark,

My current favorite is Ritz and I agree with you... It works so well with "V grip" and "thumb on top" grip. The Superfine is favorite among casters with "index on top", but I rarely cast that way and like to use it in cold weather with gloves (it is smaller diameter-with the glove it feels perfect) :-).

BLUEANGLER said...

Ha... Nice explanation Vlad...
Indeed, it's all depends on the casting style. I found myself switch from Rajeff's up and down to Lefty's side arm cast which is now my dominate cast style. I think for fiberglass "softer" rod, the side arm cast seems do a better job to prevent tailing loop. So my thumb always on top. The Ritz would be a perfect match. : )

Mark

flyfishingunlimited said...

I like Lefty's style too-very comfortable... Oval/Belgian style also works well with glass rods-I like it for small streams around here.

Cameron Mortenson said...

Vlad...those are stunning. Each and every one of them.

flyfishingunlimited said...

Thanks Cameron. Some rodbuilders really go for a single style of grip, which is really cool approach, sort of a "signature". At this point I like the motto "variety is a spice of life." Old makers had so many neat grip ideas, and I respect that.

BLUEANGLER said...

"Variety is a spice of life" That is right! Vlad's signature is the rhythm flow through them... seriously!

flyfishingunlimited said...

Mark, I really appreciate how you connect musical terms with fly fishing or rod building. I see the things exactly the same way, because it is all in the freedom of the mind -whether you write or improvise a piece of music or build a rod, or tie a fly...

The river of life runs thru it all!