The Magic of

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the best material for fishing rod handles is natural cork.

And do you know you are not onlymaintaining a traditional industry by insisting on cork for your fishing rod handle, you are helpingthe conservation of cork tree forestsin the Mediterranian regions.

Cork is actually the bark of a certain strain of oak tree. After the bark is stripped off, it will grow again. The best cork comes from Portugal and although they have tried to grow it in other parts of the world, it has never been successful.

It would be hard to imagine a fly rod handle made of anything other than cork. Duplon has been tried without much success. And not because of traditional values either. Cork, being not so easily compressable, transmits the movement and sensitivity of the rod blank to the anglers hands better than any other material I know. Cork stays warm in winter and cool in summer. Cork does not become clogged with dirt and slime as easy as duplon and is so easy to clean.

Cork must breath however and it is important to remove any plastic covering the handle may have before using the rod, or moisture will get up inside the handle and the cork will rot.

But who wants to have the cork covered with slippery plastic when you can handlethis wonderful sensuously beautiful natural material.

Appreciate and insist on the magic of cork.

I prefer cork handles too,

and it is blooming important we keep on using it. With the advent of plastic corks and screw top wine bottles the demand for cork from Portugal has plummeted.

This means that the farmed cork oaks are no longer profitable and there is a huge danger of a unique wildlife environment being dug up for more profitable crops.

Unfortunately my FM concept rods get some stick and the handles are always covered in oil, cheese paste etc and the mice like my cork handle rods. Yes, I do put rat poison down and we’ve got two very good cats, but the little sods still manage the odd nibble now and again.But you are right Ron, I also like the feel of cork, lie you say it’s also a very warm material to handle in the winter, not that we’re likely to get those really nice frosty days any more, just cold damp miserable ones.

/forum/smilies/smile_smiley.gifHERE HERE! I couldn't agreemore.

One of those rare moments, Ron my lad, when I wholeheartedly AGREE with you.

And keeping the polythene sleeve on encourages a mildew to form and it's that which causes the rot. Takes time, but the mildew stinks and stains the cork for good.

STRIP IT OFF AS SOON AS YOU GET THE ROD - /members/images/6812/Gallery/DSCF0590.JPG

'The best cork comes from Portugal and although they have tried to grow it in other parts of the world, it has never been successful.'

Having just returned from Sardinia where they have a thriving cork industry and acre after acre of cork bearing trees I'd have to disagree.

I do also much prefer it to duplon or anything else.

The best cork for some reason comes from Portugal - well I suppose that's what the Portugese say.

I used to deal with a vendor of cork and other items to the SA wine industry. When it came to certain red wines which were very expensive and meant for laying down for many years, the wine makers of the estates involved insisted on the very best Portugese corks for the sealing of the bottles.

"Flor" grade cork, used for top name fly rod handlescomes mainly from Portugal too.

They tried to grow cork trees in South Africa, but it was unsuccessful.

Many wines, notably SA, Australian and American wines are now using a plastic cork!

"Many wines, notably SA, Australian and American wines are now using a plastic cork!"


Three of the most known oxymorons on this planet:

1. Military Intelligence

2. Australian Wine

3. American Wine

If you need a forth . . . . try . . . Swiss Cheese!

I used to do a lot of business with the SA military. I dealt at length with a certain Colonel van der Spuy, who quite honestly was as thick as a blinking plank. How he got to be a commissioned officer I will never know. His Leading Sergeant however was a good guy who knew what he was doing.

But it seems to be the same in all armies. It's the senior NCOs who run the show, not the thick officers. This is particularly true of the British Army.

But I digress.

The Aussies would certainly not agree with you Peter.

I might tend to agree with you regarding American wine.

I fully agree with you reagarding Swiss cheese. The only things the Swiss can make are clocks and watches, and they are not as good as the Japanese.

Ah, now my daughter says, having lived in California for over a year now, the finest Californian wines don't leave America's shore. What we get here are all the dregs, the crud, the lees and bits left over and they're shipped in Gallio bottles with Portuguese corks in them.

Gallo use those manky foamy thingy corks /forum/smilies/sad_smiley.gif

Don't break off in the bottle though /forum/smilies/smile_smiley.gif

I have not bought a new rod for years but the last time I did the rod did not have cork handles so perhaps the problem lies with the rod making industry!

I know the top of the range rods would normally have cork and if one has a rod purpose-made cork is always used but is the trend toward some crap alternative Ron(as with plasticwine stoppers discussed above?

I agre 110% with what you say-cork is the material for handles BUT what happened to split cane/tonkin,that wonderful material from yesteryear?Yes,it was heavy and had its faults but who can deny the feel it gives when under the strain of a good fish,yet it disappeared(apart from the lucky few who can afford a Barder rod).

We gladly(?)accepted the alternatives-first fibreglass then carbon(and the rest that ended with'on')so why should cork not go the same way,and do we actually have a choice regardless of the alternative being inferior or otherwise??

Once upon a time I used split cane rods but they eventually failed due to mis-handling and I ended up with glass-the two I use most by Bruce & Walker-Avons x 10/11'6"and they are still a pleasure to use with feel down to the butt rubber.I wouldn't change them for the world and they still get comments of admiration from other anglers on the bank.More importantly the cork handles are still as good as they were 30years ago!!

I truly hope cork stays with us but will anyone notice its passing-todays up and coming anglers probably dont really care one way or another about the handle as long as its the'latest'material above it and lets face it the modern reel lock mechanism has advantages over the reel falling off the cork handle!!

When I win the lottery...............................

Perhaps Ive gone away from the thread slightly but I believe its only a matter of time regardless,although a rod maker might like to offer his thoughts on the subject....

must agree with you Ron ...........I love my Hutchy Legends

As someone who had first hand experience of the move from cane to glass, to carbon fibre, I can assure you that this progression was always going to happen.

It actually began with fly rods when anglers got quite fed up of handling 8 oz split cane wrist breakers as recommended by Tom Ivens for reservoir fishing. **** Walker obtained a passable American hollow glass rod in the late 50s and fished with it quite a lot. It didn't take long for him to design a lightweight still water fly rod, the Grafham Ghost.I had one and like an idiot I gave it away. These rods are worth a fortune today.

And of course at that time split cane became terrible. It took enormous sets and often smashed at the least provocation. By 1972, most anglers were using hollow glass. The biggest selling glass rod ever made was the Hardy Richard Walker Superlite #7/8 9' 3" reservoir rod. Second would come the Hardy RW "Little Lake" #6/7.

But then came carbon fibre.

Strewth, what a revelation. The first carbon rod I ever handled was a Shakespeare 9 foot #6 rod which was incredibly light. Then I made a 9 foot #7 rod from an American Fenwick blank.

But I would like to see a material that is superior to cork for the handle of a fly rod?

interesting notes there ron.side stepping slightly look at all the rods made today.they still get compared to rods of yesteryear and for good reason,

best selling rod of all time?john wilson avon quiver.i have a pair of these with full cork handles none of this half cork half duplon stuff.but this rod itself would never have been made had it not been for the mark iv avon.

I am aware that the John Wilson Avon Quiver may have outsold the Superlite, but from the information Ihave been able to glean, the Superlite outsold everything, coming as it did with the huge expansion in reservoir trout fishing.

The best selling rod of all time?

I seem to remember a 5 1/2 foot carbon/glass composite Roland Martin baitcasting rod that sold over 15 million units in the USA during the 80s. And the Shakespeare Ugly Stik baitcasting rod didn't do two badly either. It was advertised by the famous American wrestler - Hulk Hogan who tried to break it.

But I could be wrong.