Fenwick Grip

[dunfly]

A while back I became intrigued by the old Fenwick Grip design, which seems to have fallen out of favor. I decided to try it on a Tiger Eye 7'6" - 3/4 wt rod built as a gift to my brother in law. The first problem was pattern. It is not just a reverse half wells put on backwards, but a subtly different grip. Thanks to a sample provided by Brian (Rovercat from Rod Building Forum), I was able to get the form right. The next problem was the reel seat. The rear of the cork is too narrow for a recessed seat or a typical flush mount. The solution to this problem was privided by Steve (Midwest Custom Fly Rods). While he used a BUL5, I decided to use the same technique on a UL3 since I wanted to use a gold color.
While I had to overcome some very bad cork rings, here's the results.




The grip feels very good in the hand. I really like the classic look of the grip. It is ashamed it is no longer used.

[Lotech]

I used a traditional Fenwick grip on a 7 1/2 foot, 3 piece, 4 weight, Lamiglas Honey colored fiberglass blank and it fit perfectly. Almost wish I had that rod back, but I sold it to "Onemorecast" here on FAOL. Man, that was a nice stick.

[Midwest Custom Fly Rods]

Looks great. Them Fenwick grips are really nice. I remember before I had ever felt one saying that I would never use one of them funky grips, then after trying one I couldn't believe how comfortable it was!

Steve

[cheffy]

I too love the Fenwick grip and have used it on most of my rods below 7wt. the style is very similar to the grip that Heddon used on it's cane rods. The Heddon version has a little more flare at the top.

[billknepp]

cabela's I believe is the only place I know of where you can still find these pre-made, used to turn em myself right on the rod, But it's just simpler to buy em n cheaper with the price of cork rings these days... All rods I make for my own use get em, I do tend to knock an inch or so off the rear end as they do tend to run long for my tastes.. great grips! Nice work on that one N I like the burl accent rings!

[Greg F]

Dunfly,
Nice work on the grip and the rod looks pretty fancy, too.

Greg