Lessons Learned (or not)

[hooker-of-men]

The folks at Orvis said the wax was the problem, so 🤷‍♂️. FWIW, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with graphite, just that it hasn’t worked for ME, because after the third break I was more concerned with breaking the rod than fishing with it.

All of my spinning rods are ugly sticks. I tried some fancier rods from other brands, broke them, and went back. My experience with the Clearwater felt like history repeating, so I made a change that I’m happy with, and as I like the look and feel of vintage glass, I don’t see going back.

Did it break 3 times at the ferrule??

I don't mean to judge, but if it was 3 separate breaks in different ways (so not caused by the wax), either something was severely wrong with the blank or you're doing something pretty radically wrong on the water. Not that it has any bearing on your preference for glass, but a graphite rod exploding every third outing? That ain't normal.

 

[FisherOfMen]

A bunch of late 60s/early 70s Fenwick and Browning Silaflex rods from 5-8wt and 6-8.5ft, three cheap but still nice aventik s-glass rods in 3, 4 and 5wt, and an Orvis SFG 764. After I settle on my favorites I may release some back into the wild, but I don't see that happening anytime soon. Favorite so far is a beautifully rebuilt green and gold wrapped Fenwick FF855 with modernized guide count and factory downlocking reel seat, shown next to a stock FF855. They weigh and cast the same, but the rebuild is better looking and (to me) has a better reel seat.
View attachment 1641254703View attachment 1641254704

Nice you'll be hard pressed to find a more fun glass rod than a fenwick.
The FF855 is one of the few glass rods I let go and regretted it.

 

[Kms]

Did it break 3 times at the ferrule??

I don't mean to judge, but if it was 3 separate breaks in different ways (so not caused by the wax), either something was severely wrong with the blank or you're doing something pretty radically wrong on the water. Not that it has any bearing on your preference for glass, but a graphite rod exploding every third outing? That ain't normal.

No it didn’t. I snapped the first section twice, and I don’t blame Orvis for anything but the ferrule (which they covered).

 

[Bamboozle]

The folks at Orvis said the wax was the problem, so 🤷‍♂️. FWIW, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with graphite, just that it hasn’t worked for ME, because after the third break I was more concerned with breaking the rod than fishing with it.

All of my spinning rods are ugly sticks. I tried some fancier rods from other brands, broke them, and went back. My experience with the Clearwater felt like history repeating, so I made a change that I’m happy with, and as I like the look and feel of vintage glass, I don’t see going back.

Despite what Orvis told you, I think the outsourced Clearwater blanks are/were the issue, not the wax and Orvis just didn't want to admit it...

FWIW - I'm STILL fishing my 8'6" 6wt 2pc Orvis graphite Limestone Special that I bought new in 1980 or 1981 and I've waxed that ferrule since day one.

I also am still fishing my 9'0" 8wt 4pc graphite Orvis Power Matrix rod, a demo rod that I bought on the cheap from a dealer in the early 1990's. Those ferules have also been waxed since day one.

Besides the wax, the common denominator is both blanks are old as dirt and were rolled by Orvis...

Buy hey, there is nothing wrong with vintage glass or glass in general. I fish a ton of glass but the only vintage stuff I own is my very first spinning rod, an Eagle Claw Trailmaster and a 6wt Fenwick FF85-3.

 

[Mike]

Buy hey, there is nothing wrong with vintage glass or glass in general. I fish a ton of glass but the only vintage stuff I own is my very first spinning rod, an Eagle Claw Trailmaster and a 6wt Fenwick FF85-3

What happened to the Garca Conolon? My 5.5 ft Conolon was my first spinning rod when I was about 11-12 yrs old and it’s still my go to spinning rod for trout and panfish today. Do you know whether or not they made fly rods from that same glass and resin material?

 

[FisherOfMen]

What happened to the Garca Conolon? My 5.5 ft Conolon was my first spinning rod when I was about 11-12 yrs old and it’s still my go to spinning rod for trout and panfish today. Do you know whether or not they made fly rods from that same glass and resin material?

Yes, Garcia Conolon used the same proprietary fiberglass material for both their fly and spinning rods.
i have a 1 pc 6'6" 3wt custom made from an old Conolon blank i purchased from fiberglass flyrodders.
Its a great caster and an all around fun rod to fish. Transporting not so much but I do love the rod.

 

[Bamboozle]

What happened to the Garca Conolon? My 5.5 ft Conolon was my first spinning rod when I was about 11-12 yrs old and it’s still my go to spinning rod for trout and panfish today. Do you know whether or not they made fly rods from that same glass and resin material?

The Garcia Conolon rod operation ended in 1982.

However the Garcia name is a brand name only. Garcia was basically a large marketing distributor, importing foreign products like Mitchell and ABU, Rossignol skis, Beretta and Sako; and it owned majority portions of some American companies like Conolon and Kingfisher braided lines.

https://wiki.fiberglassflyrodders.com/wiki/Garcia_Conolon

My Conolon rod was a Garcia 4 Star Conolon 2111-D 7ft 2pc Medium Spinning Rod purchased at Hermann- Brooks Sporting Goods in Upper Darby. It was a really nice looking rod, light gold color with a unique rolled steel male spigot used for a ferrule.

(Not my rod, but image of same model on eBay):

I don't remember much about the fit of that ferrule or how or if the steel spigot effected the action, but I fished that rod a lot with a Garcia Mitchell 300 reel.

I later cashed in on a deal with a local fly shop where they gave you a 20% discount on a new fly rod if you traded in any other rod in good condition with the rods going to the Boy Scouts.

That 20% discount went towards my graphite Orvis 8'6" 6wt Limestone Special which I still own and fish.

 

[Mike]

The Garcia Conolon rod operation ended in 1982.

However the Garcia name is a brand name only. Garcia was basically a large marketing distributor, importing foreign products like Mitchell and ABU, Rossignol skis, Beretta and Sako; and it owned majority portions of some American companies like Conolon and Kingfisher braided lines.

https://wiki.fiberglassflyrodders.com/wiki/Garcia_Conolon

My Conolon rod was a Garcia 4 Star Conolon 2111-D 7ft 2pc Medium Spinning Rod purchased at Hermann- Brooks Sporting Goods in Upper Darby. It was a really nice looking rod, light gold color with a unique rolled steel male spigot used for a ferrule.

(Not my rod, but image of same model on eBay):

View attachment 1641254707

I don't remember much about the fit of that ferrule or how or if the steel spigot effected the action, but I fished that rod a lot with a Garcia Mitchell 300 reel.

I later cashed in on a deal with a local fly shop where they gave you a 20% discount on a new fly rod if you traded in any other rod in good condition with the rods going to the Boy Scouts.

That 20% discount went towards my graphite Orvis 8'6" 6wt Limestone Special which I still own and fish.

Thanks for the link and thanks to Fisher of Men for the other info on his Conolon fly rod. Based on the Conolon spinning rod action, I would thought that a Conolon fly rod might have been a good wet fly rod.

As Bam did with his longer, med action rod, I paired my Conolon 5.5 ft light action with Mitchell 300 that came in a small tackle box with some quarter oz ABU spinners.. It would have been better matched with the smaller 308, but I think that reel appeared locally about a yr or two after the 300. I think the 308 was more expensive too and I was a kid who kept close watch on his limited $ from live rabbit trapping for the PGC, lawn mowing, snow shoveling, strawberry/raspberry picking w/ door-to-door sales, door-to-door insurance pamphlet distribution, and newspaper delivery assistance on two friends’ routes on heavy newspaper days.

As for lessons learned, I rarely leaned my rod against the side of my car as I was finishing preparations to close doors, lock ip, and walk to a stream. I don’t do so at all now. At the time you are closing the door, the door is in mid-swing and the rod slides along the side of the car and is snapped by the closing door.