Questions About Garcia Conolon 2537-d

[zander]

A couple of years ago my cousin gave me an old looking flyrod and reel that he had found in the attic of his recently purchased house. I have been wanting to get into flyfishing for years so I went ahead and took it and it has been riding around the Ozarks with me in my truck ever since. I recently took it out to figure out how to use it and I realized I know absolutely nothing about fly rods, rating, or anything. It is a brown Garcia Conolon 2537-D three star eight and a half foot rod. On it, it says dryfly action, fast taper. Below that there are a few letters "G" "A" "A" "something?" "D-maybe"

From what I have seen on the net this fly rod is maybe for bass but not trout? If anyone has half an idea please let me know as I am totally ignorant of flyfishing stuff. Thanks in advance.

Phillip Taylor

[Danoinark]

Phillip

The old Garcia Conolons were a mass produced fiberglass rod with metal ferrules. The rod rating GA based on the old alpha aftma line designation means it would be a 9 wt. Could this be what is on the rod?

GAG GAF

If so it means that it would handle a 9 wt forward or 9 dt.

As for trout, sure it would work and it would work for bass. Heck take it out and play with it and notice how smooth fiberglass will cast. It being a progressive taper means that it will flex deep into the blank, so slow your casting down considerably. I actually have a couple of the old Conolons too.

Dano

[zander]

Thanks for the input Dan. I took it to BassPro today and the guy there was so helpful. You hit it right on the head. He said it would be ok to put 8 wt line on it and I bought a Hobbs Creek large arbor reel. Lots of little things to learn doing a new kind of fishing. I bought a couple little bass flies and I'll pratice at Lake Springfield before I go down to Tanycomo with it. I'm glad you told me to cast slow though, I probably would have tried to whip it around like I was a lion tamer.

[Crippled Caddis]

Looks like Dano pretty much nailed it. The 3 star rating puts it just above halfway on the Garcia quality scale so it is a pretty good rod if it's been properly cared for. If you're young enough that a heavy duty rod won't make your body hurt it would be fine to use as a learning tool and it's a great rod for hauling bass out of heavy cover. It's capable of just about anything you might want to do with it including saltwater fishing and, being fiberglass, is much tougher and harder to wreck than graphite.

Watch for sales this time of year and you should be able to pick up a line at a bargain. It will work, if Dano correctly interpreted the line rating, (try cleaning that area and examining those letters under a light and magnifying glass and get back to us on it) with a Weight Forward 9 Floating line. (WF9F) A 'Bassbug' taper, or 'Saltwater' taper or any number of other 9 weight lines would work fine. Just avoid the cheap level lines as a level line will make learning to cast much more difficult. So find a new line and someone who can give you a few hints on casting and get out and start having fun. Just one warning: after you catch a few fish with the long rod you may never want to go back to spinning.

[jjtroutbum]

Bet that rod would pull a few nice heavy streamers and or the night giants roaming around Taney that would eat em.

JJ

[Danoinark]

Jon

I was thinking the same thing. There is not one fish in Taney that that rod could not handle..maybe even the giant squid. Sure won't break it.

Dano

[zander]

All good stuff to hear. The day after my cousin gave it to me I took it to Lake Springfield and caught a couple of bluegill and a tiny bass on it. And to tell you the truth they fought pretty good on it. I guess the fight on a flyrod and on a regular pole are two different animals. I'm glad to hear that it is a good pole though as I need all the help I can get sometimes.