I have two rods that I absolutely love, but with the reel mounted, there is about 1.5" of exposed threads in front of the reel hood thing. How would a wrap of cork tape to cover them work? The reels will almost never come off, so it could be semi-permanent.

Its pretty dang annoying to have your index finger rubbed raw from those things after a long day, 'specially on $250 rods >

Jay,

If you are talking about covering the excess threads, cork tape will not stay on. My suggestion would be to get some colored electrical tape and wrap it very tight until it smooths out the threads and stops irritating your fingers. You could then cover the tape wrap with a soft rod grip wrap (see this link).

http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_94037_999034012_100000000_100004000_100-4-2

I hope this helps you.

You can use grip tape.  Go to anywhere that has baseball bats and tennis rackets.  They usually sell the tape for around $5 - $10 a roll depending on the brand.  Wal-Mart has it here.  

Like Alpster said .... it would be cheaper on your part to fill the void with electrical tape, and make the last application with a 3" strip of tape.  That way you don't waste the whole roll on a rod.  

Thanks guys!

I actually have been using electrical tape for awhile, and in the rain it is awfully slick, which scares me just because of the kinds of bites you get on these rods, and it is often raining when you do.

looks like the rod wrap over the top of the tape would be the way to go. thanks!

4bizz, you might look into some heat-shrink tubing. If it's a casting rod, you should be able to find some that will slip over the guides, and still shrink down to fit to the threads. I don't think you'll find any that will do that for a spinning rod. You're not gonna be able to buy just one piece, so you'll have enough to last for several years cause you'll be cutting it off to get the reel off for service.

Cheers,

GK