When I was getting close to finishing graduate school, I decided that a custom bamboo rod was an appropriate way to celebrate. There is something inherently “product of the American education system” about spending a lot of money right as all of those student loans kick in. Regardless, I met with a local builder and picked out a taper, hardware, and finish. A few weeks later, I went to his shop to check on the progress of the rod, find the perfect agate stripping guide, and shape my handle.

I was pretty excited about that last part. With the cork glued and the assembly lined up on the mill for lathing, he began to rough out a half-wells shape. We then identified some of the contours that fit my hand, and he wore it down accordingly. It was pretty amazing; like a biometric scan linking my fly rod only to me.

I regret it.

It isn’t that I don’t love the rod. It is a smooth little 7’9” 4 weight with enough backbone to toss a little streamer, but the delicacy to float dries down with hardly a whisper. The aesthetics are perfect, and I’ll trip over streamside trail obstructions while looking at the wraps and reel seat instead of where my feet are going. I just should have gone with a more generic handle.

Aside from some wild-looking and boundary-pushing designs that have hit the market in just the past few years, fly rod handles have been pretty straightforward. In your single handed rods, you’ve got your half wells, reverse half wells, full wells, and cigar. Smaller manufacturers deviate slightly from time to time, but there is a reason for an industry standard. Those traditional shapes and tapers allow for not only a wide variety of anglers’ hands, but a whole gamut of grip techniques for the individual fly fisher.

My customized-to-the-digit grip fits my hand perfectly – if I am casting with the textbook thumb-on-top hold. If I want to switch it up, say to a position where my hand is rotated inward and my index finger is on top, I find that digit awkwardly sliding down to the winding check.

This might sound like an exercise in complaining about minutiae. In my opinion, if you spend a certain sum on a fly rod, and then utilize said fly rod regularly, such observations are acceptable. But I can see how I brought it on myself by getting cute with the whole custom-grip thing. What can’t be written off is the importance of knowing and employing different grips for holding a fly rod during the cast.

While there are certainly may be some wild and very useful options for big game and saltwater fly casting, the following are catered more towards trout, bass, and general freshwater grips.

The aforementioned thumb on top grip is usually where instructors start. There are a few reasons for this. First, and most importantly, it somewhat forces the wrist, forearm, elbow, and the rest of the arm to assume the proper casting form. That is often an understated reason for teaching or achieving a proper grip. The hand is the first and primary connection that the caster has with the fly rod, and a faulty connection can cause problems down the line. Just like small errors in the hand can have a ripple effect in the overall movement of the rod tip, they can also amplify problems up the caster’s arm. A few inches of movement at the grip means a few feet at the tip.

Of course, the exception proves the rule. The index finger on top grip is a favorite of many small stream fishermen. The reason being that there is a perceived increase in accuracy when we can “point” to where we are casting. Although there is definitely some legitimacy to that concept, I believe that the index finger grip forces many anglers to abandon a common casting flaw: squeezing too tight. With a thumb on top grip, fly fishers can clamp down on the cork like a pilot trying to pull up from a nose dive. A grip that is too tight leads to hand fatigue, rigidity in the stroke, and a reduction in the transfer of sensation (“feel”). So while pointing at a target is beneficial, shifting your hand also moves part of the palm off the cork and imposes contact with the more sensitive fingertips.

A third popular grip is the rotated or V grip. Here, the hand is rotated outward and the thumb and forefinger pinch the front of the cork. The “V” created between these digits is what is oriented forward. This kind of splits the difference between the two previous approaches. There is less torque on the index finger than a grip where it is on top, but there is also more fingertip-to-cork contact than the thumb on top grip. You’ll not be able to press down with the thumb to punch flies into the wind or have the same “feel” as you would when leading with the index finger, but it is a good compromise for most trout fishing applications. This is also actually the most ergonomic grip, and what is often used for distance casting.

Furthermore, if you have a preferred way to hold a fly rod that may influence your choice in purchasing a rod. If you throw weighted flies and lines, or fish where wind is common, having the flare of a full or reversed half wells to press your thumb against can make casting more comfortable. Some rod builders will put grips traditionally found on heaver weight models on five and six-weights to meet these anglers’ needs. If you are always on a small stream, a rod that allows you to “point” with a relaxed index finger and hand will be a much more pleasurable investment than one with clunky cork.

I wholeheartedly believe that casting is a pragmatic practice. Can you put the fly where you want to? Then your cast is fine. Problems arise when a caster is having difficulties with distance or accuracy, but they are set in a flawed technique. Grip is where fly casting starts, and while it can be a tough habit to break it can also be a quick diagnosis and fix for some common problems.