The word, grip, implies that the fly rod should be held tightly. Don’t. During a cast, I try (and I’m really working on it of late) to support the handle with a relaxed hand, in part, to avoid fatigue. And when the bony parts of the hand press against the cork – not because of a tighter grip but because of my body’s movements to rotate the rod – energy transfers to the rod efficiently. (See “Grip… Part 1: Defining an Efficient Grip” for a more detailed explanation.)
A relaxed grip primarily allows my hand and the rest of my arm and shoulder to remain relaxed, absorbing and dampening the rod’s unwanted counter flexing at the end of each stroke.
The importance of the grip cannot be overemphasized. Efficient fly casting starts with an efficient grip.
The Key Grip
Ben Hogan’s introduction to his book, Power Golf, is very apt for fly casting: “When you grip a golf club to take your first swing at a golf ball, every instinct you employ… is wrong. Absolutely wrong.”
The key grip is definitely not intuitive. It’s also not particularly comfortable or uncomfortable. These two reasons explain why it isn’t a popular grip – at least, not yet.
Try the key grip. The worst that can happen is that you don’t like it. Hold the rod between your thumb and index finger as if it were a key, and hold the rest of the handle the way that you would hold any remaining or dangling keys away from the keyhole.
The Five Keys
I used to place the handle in my open hand and wrap my hand over and around it. The problem was that the shape of most fly rod handles was too big, and the rest of my hand didn’t end up in the right locations. It’s less of an issue now since I sand my handles to specific diameters, but initially, most casters will have the same problems that I initially experienced.
Even now, when I setup my grip, my hand approaches the handle from above. What follows are the five aspects to which I pay particular attention.
Epilogue
In many ways, the grip performs two opposite functions: during the cast, it must transfer energy efficiently from the caster to the rod, yet at the end of the cast, it must help dissipate that energy and insulate the line from the counter flexing of the rod to prevent slack. These two roles hinge on grip tension and exquisite timing.
During the cast, grip tension might increase, but at the end of the cast, it must be completely relaxed. The change in grip tension is smaller for casters who hold the rod in the bony parts of their hand, and it is much more extreme (and thus more difficult) for casters who hold the rod in the fatty parts of their hand.
Ultimately, the caster chooses the grip. I use the key grip after much contemplation and experimentation. May your journey be much shorter.