Half Wells vs Cigar Grips

[DavidFin]

Do you think one is better than the other? I know with heavier setups a half wells grips is nice to push against, but with lighter setups I think they sacrifice a bit of the lever of the rod. I was instructed by an old timer to hold the rod as close to the reel as possible to use more of it, and another person I respect pointed out to me that most rods that really excel have shorter handles to force you to use more of the rod. I think half wells grips are very comfortable but lead you to hold the handle higher.

If you have a used rod with each handle look at where they show their use.

What do you guys think?

 

[Bamboozle]

It is strictly a matter of preference.

In the days of downlockers, a straight cigar grip was the norm with most eastern builders and full wells was what you found on "western rods".

It seems like the half wells grip became popular when the uplocking reel seat became the rage as it gave the builder somewhere to hide the upper hood of the reelseat. These days it's hard to find a grip that doesn't have slight rise in the rear of the grip since many builders use pre-formed grips and it is easier to stock one shape than two if you offer downlocking reelseats.

I personally hate the rear rise because at times I like to slide my hand down as close to the reel as possible to gain a little more “rod” when casting longer distances. It can be done, it just isn’t as comfortable to ME as a straight cigar grip when I do it.

BTW – It ISN’T a necessity to move your hand up or down when casting, I just have a habit of doing it unconsciously.

As far as an advantage, Orvis and many eastern builders made BAMBOO rods from 8', plus 9-10 foot bamboo salmon rods with cigar grips. If a half or full wells grip had a 'fishing" advantage, that would have been the place to implement it.

My personal preference: downlocking reelseat with a thin, short cigar grip only because I like the way it feels in my big mitts and I like the way it looks too.

Buy what feels good to you and if you like the way it looks, all the better!

 

[redietz]

Bamboozle wrote:

It seems like the half wells grip became popular when the uplocking reel seat became the rage as it gave the builder somewhere to hide the upper hood of the reelseat. These days it's hard to find a grip that doesn't have slight rise in the rear of the grip since many builders use pre-formed grips and it is easier to stock one shape than two if you offer downlocking reelseats.

I believe that a swell toward the rear is a actually a reverse half wells (and I'm with you that I can't stand them.) I'd rather have a cigar grip, especially on smaller rods. I do like a (non-reverse) half wells grip (like on a Heddon cane rod, or the comficient grip on South Bends and some PHY rods) in larger sizes though.

Definitely personal preference.

 

[Bamboozle]

redietz wrote:

I believe that a swell toward the rear is a actually a reverse half wells (and I'm with you that I can't stand them.)

You may be right although Winston & Tom Morgan Rodsmiths call them "cigar grips" and I've seen then referred to as reverse wells, half wells, "ultrafine" and WESTERN reverse wells....Jeez!

I call them "those grips with the swell in the back that I don't like"... ;-)

 

[afishinado]

http://www.examiner.com/article/get-a-handle-on-fly-rod-grips

 

[DavidFin]

Great article, thank you!

 

[FarmerDave]

Here is my take on it, and I have rebuilt several old bamboo rods. But it likely applies to the plastic rods as well.

For the light weight rods, cigar grip is great. For a heavier rod, you may want a half wells or whatever the heck they are called. Something longer. The idea IMO is to have a balanced cast. If you are casting a 9 foot 8 weight bamboo rod, you likely won't want to grip it close to the reel. You can, and I often do without thinking about it, but it will wear you out after a day of casting. But gripping it further forward for better balance and it isn't a big deal at all to cast a heavy rod all day.

So, IMO, it depends on the rod, most of all.