No Foregrips On Modern Rods

[scaleface]

I.m with WRB . I require a foregrip because thats where I hold the rod . No substantial foregrip is a deal breaker .

[contium]

On 6/2/2015 at 10:17 AM, 00 mod said:

Here is what I am talking about.  Video at around 38 seconds

 

I've never seen anyone cast like that. I might give it a try to see how it feels.

[contium]

On 6/2/2015 at 2:08 PM, WRB said:

Baitcasting;

I hold the rod with most of my left hand holding the foregrip, the reel side by the base of the thumb, my index finger and thumb tips feeling the line, the trigger grip rod handle against my forearm. This allows me to detect strikes with ease and get a leveraged hook set. When landing a good size bass I tend to hold the rod by the foregrip so the rod doesn't move in my hand to have more control of the fish. Casting the foregrip doesn't matter.

PS, keeping a finger on your line during the retrieve will improve your strike detection, catching more and bigger bass.

Crap. I just bought 2 Phenix rods without foregrips. Didn't even think about this but I hold a rod similarly. Guess I will see how it works out. 

[bigfruits]

i think i would like a baitcaster with no foregrip. although i think it looks better with.

for spinning i like a medium foregrip. all fingers go above reel foot.index and thumb are on the blank, other three are wrapped around the foregrip. sjr - way too long, nrx - a little short but works well, bsr - just right!

[Airman4754]

I like a foregrip on my salmon, steelhead, and trout rods because I use it to lay back into the fish and wear them out. They are absolutely pointless with bass. 

[scaleface]

7 minutes ago, Mosster47 said:

I like a foregrip on my salmon, steelhead, and trout rods because I use it to lay back into the fish and wear them out. They are absolutely pointless with bass. 

For you . 

 

[Columbia Craw]

Fore grips served a purpose at one time. Early baitcasting reel designs has a cast control knob sticking out and palming a reel that large with a roll of lifesavers poking out was not that comfortable.  The Hank Parker/Joe Thomas school of rod holds became popular.  I for the world cannot stand to place the line between my thumb and forefinger. If it works for others that's great, just not for me.

As reels became flat sided with PALMING PLATES, and their profiles became lower, that technique lost it's popularity.  Finger on the blank is in vogue and you have to admit, it's practical.  All the rods I actually use at this point have no foregrips.  It works for me. It's comfortable, like my recliner and Hane's no tag sport boxers.

[WRB]

3 hours ago, Mosster47 said:

I like a foregrip on my salmon, steelhead, and trout rods because I use it to lay back into the fish and wear them out. They are absolutely pointless with bass. 

It depends on how you hold the rod and reel. You obviously don't use a 8' swimbait rod and round reel that can't be held by palming the reel. You don't run the line over your index finger using a casting reel unless your hands are very large, mine aren't. For me I rely on my index finger and thumb to feel the line to detect the slightest strikes. No rod ever made can transmit the feel strikes better then your finger tips on the line. The foregrip allows me to hold the rod in a position where I am in control, the rod is balanced, the line going over fingers during the lure retrieves and know exactly what the lure is doing, even in total darkness.

Tom

[Airman4754]

2 minutes ago, WRB said:

It depends on how you hold the rod and reel. You obviously don't use a 8' swimbait rod and round reel that can't be held by palming the reel. You don't run the line over your index finger using a casting reel unless your hands are very large, mine aren't. For me I rely on my index finger and thumb to feel the line to detect the slightest strikes. No rod ever made can transmit the feel strikes better then your finger tips on the line. The foregrip allows me to hold the rod in a position where I am in control, the rod is balanced, the line going over fingers during the lure retrieves and know exactly what the lure is doing, even in total darkness.

Tom

False and false. I have small hands. You could only jump over the high bar head first until you couldn't. That's a 400 Calcutta with a No Ratz handle. 300E on an 8' rod, etc. 

People fish however they want, but the word "can't" should have been retired a long time ago. 

[Tim Kelly]

When I used to do a lot of Pike and Musky fishing my standard outfits were ABU 7000 and 7'6" rods, casting up to about 8oz. I used to palm that outfit no problem and thought nothing of it. It's just a matter of what you get used to. I expect I'd find it uncomfortable at first if I went back to that gear, but would soon acclimatise again. A lot of musky guys used to hold the foregrip which I never liked as the rod would always feel like it was wanting to twist with the big reel on top.

I hate spinning rods with foregrips and as I make my own rods I always use American Tackle Aero reel seats, with a modified fuji SK reel nut on it, cut down threads and no foregrip. I hold the rod with two fingers either side of the reel stem, and this works best for me. I really dislike the Japanese style spinning seats with a massive foregrip and an uplocking reel nut. Total fail for me, though could be OK if it was on the rod the other way round!

[WRB]

Picture tells a thousand words! It looks like you have very little control of the rod when reeling and would be very difficult to get a good hook set holding the round reel as shown.

If you are comfortable holding rod as shown and it works for great, I couldn't do it for several hours and would take advantage of the swimbait rods foregrip.

Peace, it's your technique in joy it.

Tom

 

[MikeWright]

I've never had a foregrip, therefore I don't know the difference....still catch fish though!!!!

[Turkey sandwich]

I like not having one, though I kinda understand why people would like them when fishing big, round casting or trolling reels.  When fishing saltwater and truly big game, I've enjoyed them from a leverage standpoint.  Landing shark, grouper, tuna, etc without that leverage would be d**n near impossible.  Still, for every bass technique that I use and most that I can fathom, having no foregrip and direct access to the blank is a large advantage.  I can only understand wanting one if you prefer big reels like a Calcutta (and even then, I see it as negligible), but I see no other advantage.  

The post about casting, to me, was silly because casts should involve one hand engaging the reel.  The other hand, if on the rod at all, should be towards the butt to leverage longer casts.  

I think, ultimately, watching B.A.S.S. and FLW and seeing a strong preference for exposed blanks further justifies this.  If pros we're seeing a substantial benefit from having a sizable foregrip, more rods (at least the mid to higher end rods that we mostly fish) would have those same features.  

[scaleface]

There you have it Tom , you fishing the wrong way . LOL

[WRB]

The foregrip doesn't need to be longer than 2" to 2 1/2" to accommodate 3 fingers to hold the rod, the reel rests against the palm and thumb. We are only discussing retreiving the lure, not casting.

A few high end rod makers offer rods with fore grips like Loomis and  St Croix, the trend is towards lighter weight rods and removing the fore grip, split handles and using micro guides reduces weight. Bait casting reels are getting smaller and lower with 50, 75 & 100 size low profile to reduce weight. The combination of smaller reels and rods without fore grips allow anglers to hold the reel in lieu of the rod. By doing this you miss strike detection, if you don't feel the line.

Tom

[fishnkamp]

Thankfully custom rod builders can give you everything you want still.  The  OPs rod can be redesigned and a nicer reel seat and any style grips can be chosen for a minimal amount of money. I just did these changes to two G Loomis rods of my own. One was a "no questions asked"  warranty replacement of an IMX SJR 721. The factory has begun using an all plastic reel seat and nut setup. It would allow the reel to loosen up all of the time. My old rods had been built using the all metal reel seat and nut setup that never gave me trouble in the past.   My custom rod builder stripped the entire full cork handle, the reel seat and the cork fore grip. In its place we chose an American tackle Comfort seat and a set of  split grips along with a fore grip, all from Winn. I have come to really like fishing with the feel the Winn grips give you and since we chose the "natural" color it still looks kinda like cork.  The rod is lighter, it is better balanced and feels so much better than it originally did.  I had him redo the other G Loomis rod that had the "all metal reel seat" setup that I had always liked.  Today the OP could have a custom rod builder strip his rod and build it up with any reel seat he likes, and choose a full handle and choose between a couple of different length fore grips. He can choose a full handle and fore grip made of either high quality cork, high density eva or a set of grips from Winn. All of this can be done fairly reasonably economically. DEEP you live in VA. My rod builder lives in MD and does a lot of work for guys in MD, VA, and DE. Check out Toms Custom Rods he can fix you right up.   http://www.tomscustomrods.com/custom-rods-galley  Good Luck

[WRB]

My custom rods are made by ALX, Aiken SC, the jig & worm rods are very similar to Loomis NRX with 2 1/2" long fore grip that fit my style if holding the rod. The NRX fore grip is about 2" long.

Definately in the minority with fore grips as the title indicated.

Tom

[Big Bait Fishing]

i also do not like foregrips as they serve no purpose to my style of fishing , i don't have one on any of my rods including my swimbait rod , i use a low profile baitcaster for my swimbait rod ( St. Croix Legend Tournament Big Nasty 9' Heavy/Fast ) and can palm it ( Revo Toro 51 )

[scaleface]

I got a heck of a deal on a 6'10" Falcon Bucco pitching rod  with micro guides . Snagged it up as fast as I could without noticing there was no fore grip . I put  a reel on it and tried it in the back yard . Nope dont like it . I guess I have a rod to trade now or figure out a way to add a fore grip . Have any of you ever added a fore grip to a finished rod ? It does have micro-guides .

[Hulkster]

Quote

Kinda debating if I want to install a foregrip on the 893 NRX

I thought all Loomis rods have foregrips?
 

that's part of why I love them, they are not going the 'mainstream' route of no foregrips and EVA foam handles. they all have foregrips and nice comfortable cork grips. At least all their bass rods do (NRX, IMX, E6X etc) Baitcasting and spinning. Please Loomis, don't you ever change lol
 

[Tim Kelly]

50 minutes ago, scaleface said:

I got a heck of a deal on a 6'10" Falcon Bucco pitching rod  with micro guides . Snagged it up as fast as I could without noticing there was no fore grip . I put  a reel on it and tried it in the back yard . Nope dont like it . I guess I have a rod to trade now or figure out a way to add a fore grip . Have any of you ever added a fore grip to a finished rod ? It does have micro-guides .

 

You could get some of that Winn tape and wrap it round to make a foregrip. If you have some rod building skills you could probably get a foam foregrip over the guides and if you built up the blank with masking tap arbours it would fit, but you'd have to do an epoxy ramp or something at the front of the grip to make it look neat.

[LxVE Bassin]

I wouldn't need a foregrip with how I fish. I feel like it would ad weight to the rod. I feel like choking up on your rod take away some leverage on hook sets.

[WRB]

26 minutes ago, LxVE Bassin said:

I wouldn't need a foregrip with how I fish. I feel like it would ad weight to the rod. I feel like choking up on your rod take away some leverage on hook sets.

Every heard of a lever? The more you move the pivot point towards the rod butt the more leverage the fish on the rod tip.

Fore grips do add about 1/4 oz of weight and more rods are being offered agian with short fore grips like G. Loomis NRX and Daiwa Tatula Elite for example have 2" fore grips.

This is a 2015 thread, it's good to see Winn Grips being discussed, good product.

Tom