Wood or Cork

[unfrozen]

I made my first rod while taking a class from Bill and Al at Midwest. I decided to turn my own handle using Cocobolo wood and was very pleased with the results.

I've heard some people claim that cork will transmit vibration better than wood and others claim just the opposite. Since wood is more dense that cork I would believe the wood handle would provide the angler with more feel.

What do the rest of you believe and what has been your experience?

Thanks,

Unfrozen in Prior Lake

[upnorth]

It is all about weight. If you use heavy wood you are going to dampen the feel of the rod, if you use lighter wood it will be comparable to cork or maybe better. If you are using a graphite seat and something like a foam arbor that will darn sensitive too.

I use light weight woods for grips and no one has ever complained about the sensitivity.

[crazyice]

I also use wood on all of my rods, I personally feel that wood is more sensitive than cork. One other thing to keep in mind, is line though. No matter what handle material you use, wether it is cork, foam, or wood, nothing will make a bigger difference in transfer of energy than the line. I personally use braid for darn near everything. Now if you were to use braid with a wood handle and compare it to mono with a foam handle, there would be a huge difference in sensitivity. I think that there is a bigger difference in how the bite feels with a line change than with a handle material change, but there is still a difference between wood and cork. Just like unfrozen said, wood is more dense.

[harvey lee]

I built a sensor grip so really no grip hardly at all. This way, one can feel the bite while holding onto the blank by the reel seat. No loss of feel. It will be my new jigging rod.

Now, add braided line to this rod and it has the utmost in feeling.

[Cooter]

 Quote:

Now, add braided line to this rod and it has the utmost in feeling.

....to compensate for your lack of, no doubt

[harvey lee]

no doubt. Tom needs every little advantage he can get to catch a fish.

[drowned minnow]

Cork will give you a better grip than the wood when wet and also feels warmer when air temp starts to get cold, and is easy to clean up. As far as sensitivity goes....line type/rod blank/guide set up/reel seat/handle set up (split grip/no fore grip or short fore grip with cut out) IMO.

[upnorth]

Wood being slippery when wet is a fallacy. And it is no less comfortable than cork when cold either. I have fished with both.

[drowned minnow]

Yup, this could be kicked back and forth that's why I put IMO.

I also have fished with both and prefer cork.

[upnorth]

No doubt, the which is better thing is strictly a personal preference item. And yes it could go back and forth forever. Same as the Ford vs Chevy thing.

[Northlander]

I have cork, wood and split grips where my hand is mostly on the rod blank. I did find the wood to be a "colder" and more "Slippery" feeling handle. I like a cork tennesee handle best and then the split grip second overall. I much prefer the split grip for jigging.

I prefer the cork handles when its cold and wet out like spring and fall on the rainy river. BRRR!

If I were to build a rod today it would probably have a cork Ten. handle.

[Cooter]

I thought the Ford vs Chevy debate was resolved????

[Cooter]

Speaking of cork, I put a coat of polyurethane on my grips when new and if they get dirty a light sanding job and another coat and they are good to go.

[upnorth]

Guys that is why they are called custom, cuz everyone has a little something that they like that the other guy doesnt' and vice versa. If you build it yourself or have some things specified in the build you get it customized to your wants/needs.

[jwhjr]

I have 3 custom rods with wood handles and I've had no issues as far as comfort or slipping. I did just pick up a couple of rods with cork handles at the sports show, and the big difference I noticed was the weight.

[JohnMickish]

Just to mix things up a bit, lets not forget to mention the new syncork that's out there. Lighter than cork and less slippery than cork. Only comes in one color for now...black.

[upnorth]

jwhjr, not all wood is created equal. I have done a few with birch and maple and I will not use either of them on lighter rods, just too heavy. I have been using walnut, box elder and several flavors of cedar the most lately. The cedar is pretty comparable to cork.

[uffdapete]

I built my first (and last) rod with cork just recently after building over a hundred with wood and a dozen with eva foam over the past several years. Just didn't like working with cork at all! IMO eva is the easiest to work with and wood is advantageous in many respects but would also like to try syncork.

Because of physical issues, weight of rods and reels is a huge concern for me so I've tried many different species to find the right ones and prefer catalpa and red cedar without burl or knots. The knots and burl usually add character and beauty but also weight.

[upnorth]

One thing that has been an issue as of late with cork is getting quality cork. I was talking to a guy who build very high end bamboo rods and he says he just cannot find what he terms high grade cork any more. He now pays about $3 per 1/2 inch ring of cork and it is not the quality he used be able to get.

Take a good look at the cork you buy and all the voids and pits. Some try to get by with filler but that is not a permanent fix. The has also be some discussion on a rod building web site that I frequent and their has been discussion on the quality of cork there too. You are going see a lot more cork substitutions as the quality continues to drop.

[jwhjr]

upnorth - The difference in weight is very slight from the wood to the cork. The wood handles are made from either butternut or walnut. I believe they are lighter woods, but I could be wrong.

[upnorth]

I have used Walnut and that is not too bad, I have not used butternut so I am not sure how heavy that is.

The thing is about handles and their weight is if it is in your hand it has no where near the impact of on the tip of the rod. As a matter of fact on longer rods a little more weight in the handle area may help to balance the rod better.

[Bassman55]

I got a custom rod built this winter and he had to add weight to the butt of the rod to get it to balance out nice, alot of weight actually, but then again it is a XHF 7'10" Flippin' Stick so...

[unfrozen]

I just finished a wooden handle using butternut. It seemed to be of average weight, not real heavy, not real light. I did have to add weight to the handle to get the balance where I wanted it.

What I did was get some tire balancing lead weights..you know...the clips. I pulled the clips off and hammered the remaining lead weight into a tube shape so it would fit into the end of the rod. It works great. To prevent the weight from sliding up and down the rod I first put some epoxy into/onto a sponge and placed that up into the rod followed by the lead weight with epoxy. The epoxy holds everything in place.

I'll be using it later this week. I drove past O'Dowd yesterday and there were four boats on the water although they did have to break some ice to get to the open water!

[drowned minnow]

unfrozen

I found some lead at Gander, comes in a roll and is about 1/4" diameter, think I paid $4.00 or $5.00 bucks, but so far haven't needed to use any.

[unfrozen]

I was going to try Gander but the guy at the tire store down the street has many of these tire balancing clips and he just gets rid of them. So he gave me as many as I wanted. Might be a good source if I ever decide to start pouring my own jigs.