Regardless of brand....

When i was a kid you weren’t a big time fishermen til you had a nice enough rod that had cork handles.


Now it’s back to foam grips / handles.


I’d rather it that way. Picked up a dobyns colt today.

Though Winn grips may be where it’s at.

I just put Winn grips on my Falcon bass fishing rods. Only fished them a couple times so far but they feel better to me than the EVA handles.

I prefer cork. I hate the foam handles.

Is it an over wrap? Or cut cork off?

Muskie guy checkin in here....

St croix rods, full grips and cork for me.

It's the over wrap.

I prefer cork for bass rods, have some that are smooth and polished from hundreds of bass’ worth of slime being rubbed into them and drying in the sun. Cork on my crappie and trout rods as well.

For catfish rods I like foam or 550 cord since they get torn up and scuffed getting jerked out of rod holders.

It depends on what you are fishing for. I've had trout take a bait so gentility that I'd never have felt the bite without a very sensitive rod and handle. A foam handle feels good in the hand, but you had better have a fish that wallops your lure to know to set the hook. I've seen a lot of the newer higher end rods with no handle material in places so that you can feel the carbon fiber rod material. Another thing is the carbon fiber itself. You can get a carbon rod at Walmart, but it isn't the same as the higher end carbon fiber rods. If you can see that symmetrical woven texture through the clear coat, you have an envelope wrapped cheaply made carbon fiber rod. The best ones are filament wound and the wrap angle makes a difference in their stiffness as well. Then there is the tensile strength of the carbon fiber itself. There were five different tensile strength carbon fibers when I was working with industrial rolls. A pultrusion is another way of making an inexpensive rod and it is stronger than an envelope wrap, but not as good as filament wound.

I've got cork and foam handles and really don't have a preference. I've got foam handled rods I like and others I don't and same for cork. Limited out on trout in an hour opening day with a cheap foam handled rod this year. Sure as fugg don't need an expensive rod or reel to catch a mess of fish.

I prefer cork. The foam handles get really slick after a lot of use. Handling them wears them slick and then add a little water and I've nearly thrown them out of my hands making a hard long cast. Thus my reason for the Winn grips. The feel of the Winn wrapped grip is much better, nice and grippy even when wet. I used different colors for my different rods so I can tell at a glance which rod is which. My only complaint is that they obviously add some girth to the grip.

I like both handle materials but, if I had to choose, cork would win.

My gripe about rods and I as just mouthing it while fishing today . . .
Plastic reel seats.

Come to think of it one rod had foam, one cork on the trip.

In my world there is only one handle material....cork.

on my trolling rods I like foam because they are less maintenance and we're just pulling baits anyway. don't need sensitivity or "feel"

All cork, even my ice fishing rods.

Depends on the rods and their usage.
rods I'm holding and need sensitivity, I like cork.
Trolling rods I like carbon fibre handles. They clean up great and don't get torn up getting pulled in and out of rodholders.
Big saltwater rods have slick butts and foam grips.
Ultralight rods have spit grips, cork with no foregrip.
flyrods better have cork or I'm not touching them.