Rod Handle Design

You get so much handle design now that revolves around cosmetics — little rings, screw-lock covers, all that sort of thing. Occasionally that means a rod is uncomfortable to hold in the way I'd suggest holding it: not unbearable, but not ideal. When the wrong components end up in the wrong order, chosen to look cool or to be different, comfort suffers. That's where I see a fault in the rod design. They've tried to be clever or different without thinking about anglers — and it's not going to make me change my grip, because the grip is correct.

When brands don't think about anglers and actual fishing — which sounds stupid given they're fishing brands — you get items that are thrown together and not properly considered. That really annoys me, and that's where I'd blame the manufacturer. Not because it disagrees with what I believe: what I believe I know to be factually true from a physics point of view. It's because they're breaking a level of trust we should all be able to have with people who are apparently professionals at what they do.

For anglers who've reached the level of knowing what they want, what they need, and even understanding design, it matters less — you can work around it and find rods that do what you want, the way you want. What concerns me is everyone else. The vast majority of anglers don't have the confidence to know the difference. They're told by the manufacturer that “X rod is the best thing for what you do,” so they buy it — and then find it unenjoyable. That angler could very well stop being an angler at all. That's what upsets me: not a spec on a page, but someone put off the whole sport because a rod was built for looks instead of for them.

None of that is a reason to be nervous about handle design — plenty of brands get it right, and the ones we deal with think hard about how a rod is actually held and fished. It's just worth knowing what you're feeling for when a handle doesn't sit right in your hand. If one's putting you off a rod, ask us through the Rod Finder and we'll talk it through.