Adding a 2" foregrip to a rod?

[pauldconyers]

I am not sure I would want to do it to a specific rod I own but I have read on here about guys wanting to add a 2" foregrip to a rod. How is this done? Does it look bad or feel "cheap"? Really ruin the balance/characteristics of the rod?

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

What’s a 2” foregrip supposed to do for you? The results would vary depending on the rod and more importantly who does the work 

[diehardbassfishing]

Well, I'll raise my hand.

I can't palm a reel. Started with Abu round reels - mounted on rods with foregrips. Palming a classic 4000 or 5000 Ambassadeur was never even a thought. Sure I now have low profile baitcasters, but old habits die hard. Being so accustomed to holding the rod on retrieve using a foregrip, it's natural and comfortable, and continues to be that way with low profile.

 

There's still a pretty good selection of rods with foregrips, but certainly a dying breed. Rods that I wished to buy but didn't have a foregrip - I modified. Usually not a rod with no foregrip, but with what I call a "token" foregrip. 

 

Either way, it can be done. Not with cork, which I prefer - but built up the rod with double sided mounting tape. It's thick and dense enough to just do the job. Then wrap over that with golf club/tennis grip material. If done very carefully, the look is not bad, and it really works well. Have done this with many rods, and glad I could make a stick that is unusable, and a pleasure to fish.

 

Karl

 

[WRB]

Very difficult to do correctly without removing then replacing larger size giudes to replace the reel locking ring with a foregrip locking ring. Better off selling the rods and replacing them with rods that have a 2"-2 1/2" foregrip/ reel locking ring.

You can build up a fore grip using Wynn Grip tape, I did this with IRod's Swimbait rod and it works OK.

Tom

[pauldconyers]

On 2/7/2020 at 11:12 PM, Delaware Valley Tackle said:

What’s a 2” foregrip supposed to do for you? The results would vary depending on the rod and more importantly who does the work 

I am totally new to jig fishing. I just bought a Dobyns Champion 735C as a jig/frog rod. Read a ton on here about jig fishing and what Tom talks about holding the line in between your thumb and pointer finger makes a lot of sense to me. I imagine that would be a lot easier/comfortable to do with a small foregrip. So I need to start thinking if this is important to me, and if so do I need to get a new rod or is it something that can be "added" if that would be a bad idea.

[diehardbassfishing]

6 minutes ago, pauldconyers said:

Tom talks about holding the line in between your thumb and pointer finger makes a lot of sense to me.

Yes, that's one good thing. On top of feeling the line for bites, retrieving line between fingers helps keep a little tension on the line as it goes on the spool - good. And, with this line contact, you can feel any nicks. I've avoided countless brerak-offs by discovering line damage.

 

Last reason; I like feeling connected to the rod because I'm holding it directly. 

 

Karl

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

4 hours ago, pauldconyers said:

I am totally new to jig fishing. I just bought a Dobyns Champion 735C as a jig/frog rod. Read a ton on here about jig fishing and what Tom talks about holding the line in between your thumb and pointer finger makes a lot of sense to me. I imagine that would be a lot easier/comfortable to do with a small foregrip. So I need to start thinking if this is important to me, and if so do I need to get a new rod or is it something that can be "added" if that would be a bad idea.

I see, since you’re unsure and this is all preference, I’d go with the suggestion of building up a wrap of tape. Athletic tape or tennis racket wrap might be worth a try. Easy to experiment with size and shape and easily removed if you don’t like it at all. 

[pauldconyers]

41 minutes ago, Delaware Valley Tackle said:

I see, since you’re unsure and this is all preference, I’d go with the suggestion of building up a wrap of tape. Athletic tape or tennis racket wrap might be worth a try. Easy to experiment with size and shape and easily removed if you don’t like it at all. 

Would that great affect the balance of the rod, though? I'm considering doing this, getting a new rod altogether or just fishing this one as is.

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

You’re way over thinking this. Why replace a rod over some idea you don’t even know that you’ll like? Balance as a whole is way overrated and misunderstood. The amount and location of weight we’re taking about is negligible. 

[pauldconyers]

11 minutes ago, Delaware Valley Tackle said:

You’re way over thinking this. Why replace a rod over some idea you don’t even know that you’ll like? Balance as a whole is way overrated and misunderstood. The amount and location of weight we’re taking about is negligible. 

The whole reason I am "overthinking" this is because at the moment I still have all the stickers and tags on this to where I could return it or sell it as new. If I use it for a while and all that yes I could sell it but it would not be as new and I would lose money on this deal. So I am at this moment just considering my options. That means putting a reel on an old rod I have that has a foregrip on it and simulating what I would be doing and see what I think. It also means I need to figure out what rods I should consider if I chose the different rod route. It may be that I stick with what I got as it certainly would work just fine. I just want to pursue this idea a bit, gather information and see what's best for me.