Looking for a rod blank to mimic an older Garcia Conolon rod. The rod is labeled to be 9' medium action, fast taper, 10-25 lb line. People around here love this type of rod, however when found in good condition is expensive. Looking for an economical alternative that I can offer as new.

I know there are plenty of blanks out there which would be suitable... They all seem to be in the $100+ range. This is a float fishing rod so there is no need to purchase a rod made of the latest materals. A quality fiberglass rod would due nicely.

Any thoughts?

Okay I may have answered my own question but would like an opinion.

I just ran across an MHX blank I had not seen before.

[www.mudhole.com]

Looks to be a heavier power than what im after but im hoping that the moderate action will compensate a little. Its the right length and pretty light considering the size and price.

anyone build with this blank before... any thoughts.

Hello Casey.

What is the lure wt, the butt & tip dia. what is the model#, CCS numbers?
More info is needed for a question like that to be answered.
The more information the closer you can get to a good answer.

Good Luck & Tight Wraps.

Bob,

New Bern, NC.

Robert A. Guist Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hello Casey.
>
> What is the lure wt, the butt & tip dia. what is
> the model#, CCS numbers?
> More info is needed for a question like that to be
> answered.
> The more information the closer you can get to a
> good answer.
>
> Good Luck & Tight Wraps.


The Conolon rod is a 9' medium action fast taper rod rated for 10 - 25 lb line. guys using it will be float fishing with 1-3 oz of weight / bait/ float. Very routinely will guys use these rods to pull fish weighing 1-4 lbs onto the bank. the MHX rod I listed below seems to be pretty close to the specs I have from the Conolon. Or at least I think so just from the specs listed. THe MHX might be a little on the heavy side when it comes to power.

I just dont have any experience with this blank.

Any thoughts.

Length

9'0"

Pieces

2

Line Weight

15-30

Lure Weight

3/4-4

Power

X-Hvy

Action

Moderate

Butt OD

.771

Tip Size

6

Color

Slate

Recommendations

DR, SP

Product Description

Downrigger

Application Index

Side PlanerDown Rigger

Hello Casey.

For the money: go for it, but it is not a Conolon.

MHX are fine rods and as you say it should do a good job for you, but...

Fish on, I'm outta here.

Bob,

New Bern, NC.

Robert A. Guist Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hello Casey.
>
> For the money: go for it, but it is not a
> Conolon.
>
> MHX are fine rods and as you say it should do a
> good job for you, but...
>
> Fish on, I'm outta here.

Explain what you mean when you say " its not a Conolon" Im a rookie and would love to learn anything you may know about them. I know they are gold around here.

thanks

Hello Casey.

You said you wanted a blank to mimic a Conolon but you never answered the questions I asked, so from what you did answer (10-25# line, 9', medium action, fast taper) the MHX although a very good blank the action and taper are both going to be different than the Conolon, but if you could give beter information as I asked earlier you could get a beter match.

In short the more matching numbers (information) the closer to the Conolon you will get, I have no personal experience with these exact rods as I do not use two piece rods, but matching is done by compairing ALL available data and measurements point for point.

If you want real close measure the circumference of the Butt, Tip, 1/2 way between Butt & Tip, 1/2 way between Butt & Middle, 1/2 way Between Middle & Tip, plus measure the Length.
Even when all these match you still have the I/D to match and there is allways the material it is made from, so "Matching" is no E-Z task.

I hope this helps you find what you are looking for!

Tight Wraps and Happy Math.

If you hang an equal weight on them while they are side by side and they match there one or more of the other datem may not match, so it is a lot of different data that needes to be looked at.

Bob,

New Bern, NC.

Robert A. Guist Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hello Casey.
>
> You said you wanted a blank to mimic a Conolon but
> you never answered the questions I asked, so from
> what you did answer (10-25# line, 9', medium
> action, fast taper) the MHX although a very good
> blank the action and taper are both going to be
> different than the Conolon, but if you could give
> beter information as I asked earlier you could get
> a beter match.
>
> In short the more matching numbers (information)
> the closer to the Conolon you will get, I have no
> personal experience with these exact rods as I do
> not use two piece rods, but matching is done by
> compairing ALL available data and measurements
> point for point.
>
> If you want real close measure the circumference
> of the Butt, Tip, 1/2 way between Butt & Tip, 1/2
> way between Butt & Middle, 1/2 way Between Middle
> & Tip, plus measure the Length.
> Even when all these match you still have the I/D
> to match and there is allways the material it is
> made from, so "Matching" is no E-Z task.
>
> I hope this helps you find what you are looking
> for!
>
> Tight Wraps and Happy Math.
>
> If you hang an equal weight on them while they are
> side by side and they match there one or more of
> the other datem may not match, so it is a lot of
> different data that needes to be looked at.


Okay I see what you are saying now. Off hand I just do not have the info you are requesting. I will see if I can take some measurements when I get home tonight. I think for the money I may just buy one and see how it feels.

Hello Casey.

Are you going to the ICRBE this year?

If you go you will be able to see and shake measure or whatever you want tons of blanks, every year I make a list of what I want to look at and what I want to buy and since I live in Bridgeton NC (4 hrs from EXPO) I save on the shipping and just carry it home in my truck, or on my truck (1pc 11-15' Surf Rods).

Bob,

New Bern, NC.

Robert A. Guist Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hello Casey.
>
> Are you going to the ICRBE this year?
>
> If you go you will be able to see and shake
> measure or whatever you want tons of blanks, every
> year I make a list of what I want to look at and
> what I want to buy and since I live in Bridgeton
> NC (4 hrs from EXPO) I save on the shipping and
> just carry it home in my truck, or on my truck
> (1pc 11-15' Surf Rods).

No im sure not... I live in KY so it would be quite a long haul for me. I just dont build enough to justify the expense of traveling up there. It is however on my list of things to eventually do

not familiar with the float fishing thing but looking at the specs for the mhx and your fish size the mhx looks a bit too heavy.being that its a downrigger rod(walleye?) its gonna be kinda stiff.am i getting this right?

www.southriverrodsllc.com

chris stevenson Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> not familiar with the float fishing thing but
> looking at the specs for the mhx and your fish
> size the mhx looks a bit too heavy.being that its
> a downrigger rod(walleye?) its gonna be kinda
> stiff.am i getting this right?


It may very well be too heavy im unsure... I was hoping since the action was moderate and the lure weight was 3/4 - 4 that it would be acceptable. Both of those specs are inline with what they would need.

Ok - trying to help. When you say Medium - that is the power of the rod not the action. Fast is going to be the action. For slinging bait and float moderate or mod fast is probably better than fast. I'd check out some of the Batson 2 pc. glass blanks listed for salmon steelhead - either the RX4 blend or RDR glass blanks. Probably will end up with 8'6" in these. The RX4 is a little lighter and faster, the RDR may work great and really fit the budget.

Thanks - Marc

Keep it simple - that's all I can handle!

Marc Morrone Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Ok - trying to help. When you say Medium - that
> is the power of the rod not the action. Fast is
> going to be the action. For slinging bait and
> float moderate or mod fast is probably better than
> fast. I'd check out some of the Batson 2 pc.
> glass blanks listed for salmon steelhead - either
> the RX4 blend or RDR glass blanks. Probably will
> end up with 8'6" in these. The RX4 is a little
> lighter and faster, the RDR may work great and
> really fit the budget.


Yeah thats why im hoping this MHX blank will work... the power is listed as Xtra heavy which is not needed.... but the action is listed as moderate. The lure size and line capacity is all in line.

Anyways I ordered one and it should be in Sat. So hopefullay it all works out... If not ill do something with it.

A

Well I received the blank.... This was my first MHX purchase and have to say the quality of the product seems to be great. It came well packaged without damage. Finish was great and if it were the action I was looking for would be awesome.

The action was moderate which is just too light for what im looking for. This was my main concern when ordering the rod in the first place but thought maybe since the rod was an extra heave power that the moderate action would be okay. Its not too far off but I wont build the rod as is.

My thought is to cut roughly a foot off the tip which I hope will make the action a little faster.

On another note im surprised that the rod has an extra heavy power rating... I assumed something rated that high would have been super stiff in the lower section.. I guess I have some things to learn when it comes to ordering rod blanks.

Anyways ill do something with it lol

Casey, you seem to have some terms/concepts confused. I'm going to try and help but I have a tendenacy towards being long winded so bear with me and don't let me insult you.

"My thought is to cut roughly a foot off the tip which I hope will make the action a little faster."

Action is where the blank mostly bends. A fast action blank would bend mostly in the first third of the rod (only). A slow action blank would bend well down into the middle of the rod. Imagine you take a 2" by 4" by 9' and attach one foot of 1/8" dowel to the tip. Total length of your "pole" is 10 feet but only the last foot (10% of total length) of it bends so you have an extra fast action blank. Now cut five feet off the butt. Total length is 5 feet and only the last foot (20% of total length) bends. You have made the blank somewhat slower in action by trimming from the butt. Now cutt a foot off the tip. Now it hardly wants to bend at all but if it did it would bend at the halfway (4 1/2 foot/50% of length) mark. You just made it a very slow action blank with a very stiff tip. Moral of the story? Trimming a rod blank always makes it slower in action. Trimming from the butt reduces the blanks power. Trimming from the tip increases its lure rating. The only way to make the action faster is to extend it.

"The action was moderate which is just too light for what im looking for. This was my main concern when ordering the rod in the first place but thought maybe since the rod was an extra heave power that the moderate action would be okay. Its not too far off but I wont build the rod as is."

From the example above I hope you now see "moderate action" has nothing to do with "too light". A nine foot piece of 2" by 4" is very slow action but hardly "too light". A rod labeled as "heavy power" is only relevant within that family and type of blank. A heavy power crappie rod is nowhere near as strong as a light power shark rod. To make matters even worse most "lure ratings" are casting weights but some are trolling weights. Downrigger and hot shot blanks are examples where lure ratings may be trolling and not casting weights. Big difference there and I suspect that is where you ran into problems.

It isn't hard to do the CCS thing. A table top, a tape measure, a bunch of pennies, a zip lock baggie, and a paper clip will do.

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

Russell Brunt Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Casey, you seem to have some terms/concepts
> confused. I'm going to try and help but I have a
> tendenacy towards being long winded so bear with
> me and don't let me insult you.
>
> "My thought is to cut roughly a foot off the tip
> which I hope will make the action a little
> faster."
>
> Action is where the blank mostly bends. A fast
> action blank would bend mostly in the first third
> of the rod (only). A slow action blank would bend
> well down into the middle of the rod. Imagine you
> take a 2" by 4" by 9' and attach one foot of 1/8"
> dowel to the tip. Total length of your "pole" is
> 10 feet but only the last foot (10% of total
> length) of it bends so you have an extra fast
> action blank. Now cut five feet off the butt.
> Total length is 5 feet and only the last foot (20%
> of total length) bends. You have made the blank
> somewhat slower in action by trimming from the
> butt. Now cutt a foot off the tip. Now it hardly
> wants to bend at all but if it did it would bend
> at the halfway (4 1/2 foot/50% of length) mark.
> You just made it a very slow action blank with a
> very stiff tip. Moral of the story? Trimming a
> rod blank always makes it slower in action.
> Trimming from the butt reduces the blanks power.
> Trimming from the tip increases its lure rating.
> The only way to make the action faster is to
> extend it.
>
> "The action was moderate which is just too light
> for what im looking for. This was my main concern
> when ordering the rod in the first place but
> thought maybe since the rod was an extra heave
> power that the moderate action would be okay. Its
> not too far off but I wont build the rod as is."
>
> From the example above I hope you now see
> "moderate action" has nothing to do with "too
> light". A nine foot piece of 2" by 4" is very
> slow action but hardly "too light". A rod labeled
> as "heavy power" is only relevant within that
> family and type of blank. A heavy power crappie
> rod is nowhere near as strong as a light power
> shark rod. To make matters even worse most "lure
> ratings" are casting weights but some are trolling
> weights. Downrigger and hot shot blanks are
> examples where lure ratings may be trolling and
> not casting weights. Big difference there and I
> suspect that is where you ran into problems.
>
> It isn't hard to do the CCS thing. A table top, a
> tape measure, a bunch of pennies, a zip lock
> baggie, and a paper clip will do.


Russell,

Thanks for clearing up a few things for me. What are you referring to when you say "css"?

thanks

Look on the left and pick the link for "Common Cents Info". The amount of cents required to deflect the blank is the power. At first you will likely concentrate on that. I suggest you give a lot more attention to action angle. Begin by measuring a few favorite rods....especially if you have some that you think are about the same.

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

Russell Brunt Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Look on the left and pick the link for "Common
> Cents Info". The amount of cents required to
> deflect the blank is the power. At first you will
> likely concentrate on that. I suggest you give a
> lot more attention to action angle. Begin by
> measuring a few favorite rods....especially if you
> have some that you think are about the same.


WOW..... that is a lot of info

thanks