Whatever happened to pistol grips?

[white03]

I know you young guns are gonna say "what's that old guy talkin about?"

Us old farts remember when 90% of all rods had pistol grips!! I particularly remember having about a 6' rod with a pistol grip that was one fine rod for spinnerbait fishing when you were casting between brush or whenever you wanted to make a relatively short cast into a tight area. That pistol grip really shinned for that type of casting!! I still think it was better at that type of casting than the stright grips we have today. Not as sensative feeling, but you sure could drop the baits on a dime with them

[ecu daniel 14]

my dad still uses his OLD medium light pistol grip paired with an even OLDER abu 5000...he throws mostly top waters and jerk baits on it...i really like the rod its pretty convenient and like you said it will land your lure on a dime.

[Smalleyez]

I fished those ol' pistolgrips. Like them, too!

There are both sides to consider.

Sensitivity and pure fishability.

The pistol grip rods had all that fishability in spades.

I still have an old 6' Lunkerstik 2000 and a 5 1/2' Fenwick somewhere in the garage. Caught a heck of a lot of fish on those outfits.

[Bronzeye]

They were heavy enough to help balance the rods of the time. I wonder how, say, a 6-foot IM8 would balance with an old Lew's grip?

And I agree that the grip gave an advantage in precision casting.

[Pen3]

My only pistol grip is a MB Pagani rod

[Johnny A]

My first good rod was a Fenwick Eagle something like that was a 5 1/2' pistol grip rod I bought in 1976. I had for 13 years until car door incident.

[Reel Old Geezer]

What mainly happened to them was Graphite. With the introduction of graphite rod blanks, it was found that longer rods could be made that were still lighter than bamboo or fiberglass rods. A 7' rod is very difficult to handle with a pistol grip.

Eight to nine foot straight grip rods were very popular in the 1800s for bass fishing. Then as the 1900s began, pistol grips and shorter rods came into vogue. These "plug rods" or "Chicago Frog Rods" were popular for over 50 years for several reasons. The offset handle allows the reel to sit lower on the rod and is thus more comfortable than straight grip rods to many people.

[mike304]

I still have a Fenwick HMG pistol grip rod and a Daiwa Magforce reel from the first year they came out with that reel. haven't used it in a long time, was thinking about using it to teach my 11 year old how to use a casting reel, except he's a lefty!!!

[dragon1]

They went the way of the West...and the gunslingers!

What mainly happened to them was Graphite. With the introduction of graphite rod blanks, it was found that longer rods could be made that were still lighter than bamboo or fiberglass rods. A 7' rod is very difficult to handle with a pistol grip.

Eight to nine foot straight grip rods were very popular in the 1800s for bass fishing. Then as the 1900s began, pistol grips and shorter rods came into vogue. These "plug rods" or "Chicago Frog Rods" were popular for over 50 years for several reasons. The offset handle allows the reel to sit lower on the rod and is thus more comfortable than straight grip rods to many people.

I agree 100% here...I have owned two pistol grips, one Daiwa and one Bass Pro Shops. I really loved them for rollcasting spinnerbaits and cranks into tight spots and working topwaters, but they were not great for long casts or hard sets on plastics and jigs. Matter of fact, I snapped my Daiwa pistol grip at the seat (no blank through build) on a big bass while flippin' on the Delta.

Luckily, the single-thingie-action pistols have been replaced with IMO, more modern rods that are more applicable for many other techs.

[DavidSA]

They went to Goodwill with the burmuda shorts

[Smalleyez]

They went to Goodwill with the burmuda shorts

You wore Bermuda shorts??

[USA-RET]

I too had a dozen of the pistol grip rods (1970's through the early 80's) I still have 6 of them. I also jumped on the boron bandwagon when BPS introduced their Boron High Velocity pistol grip models. More "show than go" IMO.

I recently handled one of my 5'6" Berkley Lightening Rods and still find it to be surprisingly light and sensitive. Just for fun I mounted a Daiwa Sol on one and hit the pond. The outfit still performed great. Amazing for close in work and can still throw a bait a good long way.

As stated by others, the short pistol grip rod were extremely accurate and great to use around cover (and overhangs ).

I noticed the pistol grips dropped in popularity when the pros started using longer straight grip rod, and the Bassmaster magazine articles started to sing their praise.

For all of us that use and enjoy fishing the Loomis CR721 and 722 rods, we are in effect fishing a 5'6" rod. (6" added to the handle length behind the reel seat).

[bimmer]

Pistol grip rods are very popular in my country (Argentina)

[21farms]

yup, back in the day, all my rods had pistol grips and 5'6". in fact, 6'0" was considered long! pistol grips started fading in popularity as rods got longer and longer and you needed two hands to cast.

but, if you still want a short, pistol-gripped rod, bass pro shops has their bionic blades: http://www.basspro.com/Bass-Pro-Shops-B ... 9/-1749575

[GARRIGA]

Somewhere in my garage is my 5 foot something Berkley Lighting Pistol Grip rod. Loved throwing spinnerbaits on it. Great for walking the shoreline in the afternoons. Might get a reel for it and take it out one of these nights. I wonder if Hank Parker wishes he could still fish his trusty postal grips?