Joe C.
photo by jgestar Very early Fenwick FF84 |
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Cornmuse |
Garcia 2535C HCH 6 1/2' fly rod |
Lead | |
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My fishing partner and Fly Fish Ohio compatriot Jim Stuard managed to get two of these little guys off eBay lately for cheap. While obviously a much less
expensive grade of Garcia than is normally discussed here, I'm really curious about this model. A 6'6" 6wt with serious "oomph" in the
bottom end, it's not a half-bad caster with a bb taper 6wt to 40' or so. Very tippy with little flex below the metal ferrule, this seems like it would
be a really neat candidate for a sinking level line, long mono leader and a bit of trolling around the pond from the canoe. Kind of punchy to cast, this rod
could also serve well for bigger 'gills and small bass in dense lakeshore standing timber or wooded, slow creeks. History, age and opinion eagerly
sought...
Joe C. "Live each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the
drink, taste the fruit,
- Henry David Thoreau
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bulldog1935 |
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HCH is a DT7 - this sounds like an inexpensive version of the 2070, but I'm sure the ferrule also affects the taper.
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flyfishing4goldentrout |
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Hi Guys, you have found one of my favorite little Conolons for fishing under cover while walking the river, you hit it on the nail as far as casting, it's
excellent for 20-40ft casts. This little rod began life around 1965 as the model 2027 of the Deluxe, thats right the later to be 5 star line of Garcia Conolon
rods. The first listing and rod is a natural finish tabbacco brown glass rod with brown and gold wraps, two pieces 6 1/2ft and then listed as HDH, wieght give
as 3 oz, one stripper and 5 snake guides, machined brass ferrule, the rod only being in production that one year, I have one I will have to post some pictures.
Next came the light brown with cream under the wraps for trim and a foil signature wrap in 1966, the ferrule is changed to long used brass plated and total
overwrapped model that Conolon used for decades. Eye placement is the same, number of eyes the same, however this time its called the model 2535 B (marketing
seems to have been drawn to Bass fisherman and drawn away from trout marketing that year) and listed as for HCH lines, same rod same taper, feels identical to
me now its in the brown series, fourth in line from the top (Custom, Deluxe, Gold, brown, blue, green, black). In 1967 it undergoes another change, strickly a
color thing to a darker brown, I like this color and I guess Garcia did too they kept it threw many years of brown series rod production. Anyway as the 1967
model its given the model number 2535 C again listed as HCH, but also shows the new 6wt line size too. Again guide placement, number of guides and ferrule are
the same as the previous year. Taper is the same for all three years. In 1968 the marketing stays the same rod stays the same but its now called a dry fly
action and lists 6F 7S as its designated line sizes. In 1969 its called the 2535 D, now its listed as dry fly action strickly as a 6wt, same number of guides,
same guide placement, same taper, same ferrule. In 1970 the year of the introduction of the Wulff rod the Custom series of rods is dropped, the Wulff and Ritz
becomming the premier Custom rods of Garcia Conolon. That same year the star rating series is adopted. the brown series becomes the 3 star rods, (Deluxe being
5 star, Gold being 4 star). Our little shorty morfs again, this time its had a face lift, it now sports a staggered ferrule, a nice agate stripper being just
below the same ferrule as before, however guide spacing, number of guides stays exactly the same, the big change is that all the snakes are in the tip section
and the ferrule is moved down three inches, but it does improve the rods action quite a bit not having that big long ferrule in the middle of the rod. They did
this to the brown series big brothers too, a major improvement in felt action on those rods as well. Our little rod is now called the 2535 D with three stars.
In 1971 it was continued to be marketed but not produced from the 1970 model. In 1972 it was dropped from the line when the whole model system went under a
consolidation, the brown rods became the 4 star and gold four star rods were incorperated in a new 5 star combined group.
Its one of my favorite little rods, they seem to turn up time to time with little interest so often you can pick them up for under $50. Watch for condition though, they seem to run either near mint closet examples, or really well fished ones that should be avoided. The taper is not the same as any of the Wulff series, they had their own special Master blanks with built up ferruling stations for the internal stainless steel ferrules, however the two piece Wulffs seem to share the same Master Blanks as the late 4 and 5 star two piece rods with internal s.s. spigot ferrule. Because of their low cost I like these little rods alot for walking the slimmy rocks of the river bed while working in under the undergrouth to find the pocketwater and pools. Fun little rod that works equally well for just about every gamefish and line style. I carry mine with the reel spooled with s 6wt floating sinking tip mostly but have a spool with a vintage Wulff tt7floating and yes Joe, a Sinking 7wt LL hahaha, your not the first to find it makes a neat little boat (canoe, etc) rod. Richard |
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JimatFFO |
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Jim Stuard here,
Richard, thanks for the great info. I think both rods are mid period models. I picked up the first one for around 50 bucks and the second was in a group of three with a shakespeare wonder rod and a South Bend deluxe. The latter two rods having looked like they'd been used for machete's in a orienteering class. The first Garcia probably qualifies as 'minty' but not so much for the second. The first one feels softer to me than the second one too. Not sure if there's an action difference and I'm probably not the one to ask about glass anyway. This is more of an experiment for me. I'm looking at it as a way to improve my casting by having to deal with lots of rods with drastically different actions. Being used to casting fireplace poker, fast-action rods, I find the slower rods more challenging to cast, but I'm not entirely sure I'd be willing to fish with all of them. I love this little garcia and the TL Johnson 4wt but the big rods absolutely wear me out casting. Amazing how a few ounces make such a difference in your endurance. -Jim |
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jgestar |
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Jim,
Welcome to the Fiberglass Flyrodders! Any friend of Joe's is a friend of ours! You need to make Joe go deep into his closet for some of the other glass he hasn't told you about yet. It's hidden behind his tube amps! Tom |
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flyfishing4goldentrout |
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Welcome to the FGFR's Jim,
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JimatFFO |
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Thanks for the warm welcome and Richard, thanks for the great pics. To date, I've been mostly trolling here but, I just love the bling on these olde'
rods. Some of these things would make Snoop-Dog weep with joy. The wacky angled reel seat on those 'swanky' level Garcias is the bomb. My 2535 is the
'B' model. The one I gave Joe was the 'C' model. The latter being much darker. I can't believe how good the condition on my B model is. The
C still casts well but has seen much harder times. BTW, I have a well cared for, Ocean City #76 spooled up with a Orvis Silver Label WF6F line, hanging off the
reel seat of my Conolon. Casts like a bullet and up to 50', it's a target gun. Like you said, perfect for those intimate, hard to reach creeks where
you may need your rod to double as a brush clearing tool.
-Jim |
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flyfishing4goldentrout |
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Hi Jim,
Well the little 2027 is shown but its not one of my toss and carry rods, its quite collectable so its not a toss away like the others. I like em so well I have minties tucked away should I have to loose any. By the way the old blue colllar Ocean City #76 should balance perfect, I like that one and the larger 77 quite a bit, once you clean them properly and pickup a couple extra spools you can get several liftetimes out of them. Also your drag is indepentent of the clicker so you can turn the clicker off for some silent fishing. The angled hoods were used by Garcia Conolon and Heddon too early on, they first came along in 1962 are made by the Allen Company and show a patient pending logo. Garcia switched to inhouse produced reel seats in 1966. I like those Allens and often use them on classic fiberglass fly rods I make for line weights above 5wt. Frankly a good solid aluminum reel seat add's little to the rod weight and Ive never had a well made one fail on me. I can't say that for the best wood insert models and heaven forbid on a sliding ringset model on a heavy reel using a 6 or 7wt. Just before I retired 8 years ago I was walking the river bed and slipped in the slick rods, had an expensive graphite rod and reel with me so I saved the outfit and tour the ligiments in my upper thigh. I couldn't go fishing at all for almost a year. Had to use one of those Walkers the Elderly often use for nearly 6 months, then on a cain for nearly a year afterwards. I was a year before I could stand on the lake front and fly fish again, nearly two years before I could put on the wadders and walk the river, and four more years before I nearly completely recovered. Its still a weak spot and most likely will always be. So now I take rods and reels into that slipery slimy mush that I can not worry about and just have fun and get out alive. There are places where a decent little rod and reel really shine, and in such places these little short rods have a home on the water and in my heart. The little 2535D with the staggered ferrule (more of a mid to tip flex medium action glass rod is my bullet thrower, its coupled with that Orvis WF6F bonefish which is a little overweight, sort of a Bass taper 6.5wt and you can target shoot to around 50ft or so with it for sight casting all day long. Of all the little 2535's the 1970 and 71 models with those staggered ferrules and the genuine Elgine Agate stripping guide is the hottie and my favorite. While Im not in the same water, I will bet these little rods would be just perfect in a canoe float fishing down a slow lazy flatland river on a warm spring or summers day or heck for a week long trip even. I remember quite a few rivers like that in the south and southeaster part of the country. They would be great too in any kind of swamp country mangroves were a flat boat could float along too. Short enough to be able to cast easily setting down, casting far enough and with precision for fun sight casting to Bass or just about anything else you spot along the float. Richard |
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dudley |
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As usually excellent information
Even though the decal on mine is mostly gone, I now know my rod to be a 2535D I use mine for bushwhacking on little brooktrout steams and after all these years it's been well used Richard.. I'm curious why you said that the "well fished ones should be avoided" ? |
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majicwrench |
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Richard,
I'm thinking there was a 2535-T. Am I mistaken?? Keith |
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flyfishing4goldentrout |
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Good Easter Morning,
Hi Dudley, well because of their low cost and the fact it seems they were either closet rods or rods really used for hard fishing, the ones Im referring to tend to need new ferrules and rewraps, as such they are just not cost effiecent to buy right now unless you can pick them up for under $10, just because near mint ones can be had on an annual basis still for around $50. These rods are the forerunners of the conolon rods for short handy tools, and guys who knew that really got their money worth. Hi Keith, Actually the very first rod, the 5 star Deluxe to be series, the 2027 most likely in 1965 had a decal with a T suffex, however not all rods had the rod model number decal, mine doesn't. I have seen one with that suffex though. Because they were the only short rod ever produced at that point in time by Conolon and they were part of the Deluxe line and called a pack rod along with the 4 piece 2040, they were quite expensive. The 2040 I have from that year has the model decal and T suffex, the 2025 and 2026 I have from 1965 all have the model decals and T suffex. The much more premium Custom models from 1965 both the 8 1/2ft 6wt and the 9ft 7/8wt both have T suffex's, The 2000 series models with decals from 1964 I have have the model decals and T suffex's however the only year a 6 1/2ft rod in the 2000 series Deluxe rods was produced was 1965 and mine doesn't have the model decal and doesn't look like it ever did as to where it would be located. The 2535 came out in 1966 as part of the brown lineup and started with the B suffex, at least from the catalogues I have and the examples I have. Although Conolon did produce alot of rods as OEM for alot of sporting goods retailers, so its quite possible that a 2535T is out there, logic would dictate it would have been made the next model year (1966 brown series) after a retailer had ordered based on the 2027T he had seen as a salesmans sample. Ive seen that alot in OEM stuff that Conolon made, thats a pattern that goes back to around 1962 when Garcia took complete charge and started their catalogues, and continues right up to 1981 when some of the 81 catalogue rods carried over into 1982 as OEM retailer models just before the factories closing. Richard PS for Keith, the bread and butter rod for Garcia Conolon from 1963 onward was the brown series, in that series the 7ft 10in rod, of which we chatted quite abit about perhaps a year ago had a T suffex, the 2537T. A very fine Trout rod rated 6/7wt. The late model 2537D had that same staggered ferrule and was the best of the litter with the Elgin Agate stripping guide as well.
Last Edited By: flyfishing4goldentrout
03/23/08 15:42:18.
Edited 1 times.
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JimatFFO |
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Loads of great info Richard. I see a author waiting to happen. In my recent 'research', I've gotten much more interested in the old reels than the
old rods. I'm not going to debate the rods. I fish mostly plastic and have a hard time adjusting my stroke to slower materials. That said, the old rods are
far nicer to look at than the newer sticks. The reels, on the other hand are an additional history trove as well. I have to be careful because this drains
precious funds away from my pocket knife collecting jones. I like that I just tripped over the Ocean City reel, on ebay, and it turned out to be a great budget
alternative to the crazily overpriced large-mid-arbor-cork-delrin-zero start up reels of today. They just put a great, classy touch on an otherwise bland,
modern rod. I spend what I consider to be big money on reels bigger than a 7wt. Stripers and Lake Erie denizens can put a hurtin' on you fast and the old
line holders of the past would suffer, for the strain, where I've never seen a smallie take me to my backing with my sub 7wt reels.
-Jim |
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flyfishing4goldentrout |
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Well I remember what Lee Wulff would do alot and how he related the relative value of the reel in the overall picture of tackle. Somehow when a guy puts the
reel in his pocket and goes fishing that pretty well puts the reel in proper perspective. Everything in the chain of fishing came before the reel in
Wulff's Opinion. I know when I grab one of those little shorty Garcia's to go slip and slide threw the mossy rocks and slick clay based banks I put
whatever reel I have available that was low cost, works and catches fish on. If something happens IM gonna toss the rig and look for it later while I save
myself next time. On the other hand my 1 and 2wt graphite midge and nymphing rods for winter have some pretty pricey reels, as do all the remaining graphite
rods I still have. Crazy as it seems, it doesn't hurt near as much to put a $600 reel on a $700 rod, but its like squeezing a nickle for change to get us
to unload alot of big bucks for best quality cain and glass era reels to put on our glass. Guys that are into bamboo seem to be far more willing to cross the
line. About half my glass rods have what I consider to be great reels, like the Marryats and Forbes etc, but those are amoung my best glass rods too, not ones
Im about to distroy on the next slidy walk in the river. Guess what Im saying is I like the good stuff, just have always seemed to like the better period reels
on good bamboo and the better modern reels on graphite. Glass at least the moderately priced stuff gets the blue collar reels mostly, and alot of them work
just as good as the jewelry for men models. Ive fished some big Salmon and such both on bamboo with some of those big Young twin pawls with big adjustable
drags and on glass with some equally big Martin disc brake models and both have the works to put the brakes on a downhil bound freight train. I used to fish
one of my first glass rods, a conolon (8ft 6/7wt) with an equally period hardy knockoff (like the heddon daisy's etc, a 3 1/2 inch) one of the Garcia GK-44
reels for really big Spanish Mackeral and Bonita along the California offshore coast, those tuna family guys would run run run, it was kinda fun hearing that
pawl system screem while they stripped the reel until they finally turned. Wish today I have been more savy and had picked up a period Young mutipliers for
those long retrieves after then turned and headed back or just as good a Young Landex so my knuckles wouldn't get so bruised during the run. Wonder if
anyone ever made an anti reverse multiplier?
Richard Richard |
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JeffSod |
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Wonder if anyone ever made an anti reverse multiplier?Valentine |
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