| Here is a classic half wells grip made from "flor" quality natural cork. As good as this cork is, it still required a significant amount of patching. When I have to patch, I use a blend of Rod Bond and natural cork dust. It always turns out darker than the cork but it won't pop out after a short period of use like a factory patch that was designed to match the cork and look great on the rack. |
| Dave Crowther 31 Diamond Basin Road Cody, Wyoming 82414 Home: 307-587-3950 Cell: 307-250-3118 Email: dave-crowther@hotmail.com |
| This is standard freshwater half wells grip on a G Loomis GLX Classic 9' 4wt. It's constructed from natural colored burled cork with rubberized cork ends and no fighting butt. The rubberized cork ends produce a grip that is extremely durable. At the time of this photo, this rod is about 4 years old and has had a lot of usage with only minor cleanup. There is no visible wear. |
| This is also a half wells grip on my Dan Craft FT 9' 2wt. The grip is constructed completely from brown burled cork. The fighting butt is a custom wood and burled cork combination that matches the Burled Rosewood reel seat insert. The thread wraps are Sunburst with Silver trim. |
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| My favorite material is burled cork, which I use on my personal fly rods. It's a man-made blend of natural cork pieces and a colored bonding compound. Beyond adding that uniquely custom look to a rod, it's far more durable than natural cork, requires virtually no patching, has a similar feel to cork, and will look newer far longer than natural cork. It weights only slightly more than natural cork and is in a position, on the rod, where that difference in weight is unnoticeable. |
| This is a full wells grip on my Dan Craft FT 9' 6wt rod. It's constructed from natural colored burled cork with rubberized cork ends for maximum durability. The fighting butt is another cork and wood composite that matches the seat insert. This rod has also received a large amount of usage in it's 6 year life. |
| Another full wells grip on my new Dan Craft FTXL 9' 4wt. Constructed from brown burled cork with rubberized cork ends. The fighting butt is built from the same materials and is supported by a custom configuration of the reel seat's standard butt cap and an aluminum rod. As unconventional as this 4wt's grip and fighting butt configuration is, a full wells grip is a superior grip style for casting and fish fighting, which is why it's used on all saltwater rods. This is another reason for a custom fly rod. |
| This is a Switch Rod grip and fighting butt configuration. The 5" bottom handle is built on a threaded support bar, is removable and can be interchanged with an aluminum butt cap or shorter fighting butt. It's constructed from brown burled cork with rubberized cork ends. This is also a very unconventional configuration because it's installed on my Dan Craft FT 10' 4wt rod that I use for nymphing. It's very useful in spots where I have no room for a back-cast. You won't find a 4wt fly rod like this in any fly shop. |
| This is a rather specialized grip and fighting butt on a Winston Boron II MX 9' 12wt, designed for casting and fighting very large strong fish. It's essentially two grips in one 12" length, with a lower casting position that balances perfectly with the customer's Tibor reel and an upper fighting position that provides maximum leverage during the ensuing fight. It's constructed from brown burled cork with rubberized cork ends on the grip and on tip of the fighting butt. |
| This is a 2/3" custom fighting butt, built on an Amtak AW12T reel seat. It is supported by 3/8" solid aluminum bar stock. The transition metal between the brown burled cork and the reel seat is the standard butt cap modified to accept the aluminum rod. I hope you notice the superb fit and finish of this custom butt. I can build most any configuration of permanent fighting butt. |
| This is the 5" custom rear handle & fighting butt from the above Switch Rod grip. Please notice the superb fit and finish of this custom butt. Due to the few reel seats that the female threaded adaptor will fit without significant modification, removable fighting butts are more limited in their application. |
| I can build any style of grip for your custom fly rod, from a variety of materials. |
