Obtained an Abu Garcia Conolon rod, model no. CNS662M. Guessing this dates to early 2000s. How do you tighten/loosen the rod seat where the reel is gripped? I am assuming you turn the knurled rubber ring right below the lower seat hood. You can see where this hood appears to have "tracks" on either side to allow it to move closer or further away from the front hood, thus allowing for tightening or loosening. However, this ring does not move on the rod I have. Am I wrong? Something jammed? Any insights appreciated. Seems like a decent rod. I have seen info in a 2003 ad relating to an "exclusive" -type handle on AG rods of that era, but no further details.
Frank
I wouldnt trust any reel I like to a setup like that. At least to me it needs a new (preferably fuji) seat.
Quote from: JasonGotaProblem on June 13, 2023, 08:14:41 PMI wouldnt trust any reel I like to a setup like that. At least to me it needs a new (preferably fuji) seat.
Agreed!
I don't know how it works (or doesn')t either.
If it is the one I am thinking of, the entire back handle rotates to make the hood slide back and forward. - john
Quote from: Brewcrafter on June 14, 2023, 01:55:37 PMIf it is the one I am thinking of, the entire back handle rotates to make the hood slide back and forward. - john
I'm thinking the same thing. Wish we had a photo of the entire handle. Is there a model name on it anywhere, Frank?
The model number is as I previously stated. Rod also notes "Carbon Alloy Technology IM7 Modulus Graphite System." There is no noted model name. I am familiar with some old AGs where the reel seat is tightened by turning the butt cap, or a ring right next to/attached to the butt cap, but this isn't one of them. The handle below the knurled rubber ring is cork, with a 1/2 in. thick foam butt cap and a 5/16 in. ring which separates the cork from the knurled ring.
Frank
No twist to tighten is interesting, never seen anything like this one. I agree a full handle pic would be helpful.
Maybe you put the rear foot of reel in and pull backwards and then slide front front forward to snap in place?
Here's a pic of the full handle. At first glance, there is no front cork grip to match the rear grip, and no visible threads to where the rear hood would tighten to grip the foot of the reel. It does not appear there ever was a traditional foregrip; on the underside of the seat where the reel foot would sit, there is a hard rubber-like knurled grip right where the palm of your hand would rest as you gripped the rod with the reel leg between your fingers. Two narrow chrome trim rings bracket a 3/4 in. knurled rubber ring that I took to be something that could be turned to tighten/loosen the reel seat, but the ring does not rotate (either stuck, or it never was meant to turn or....)
Been researching and it's obvious ABU has put in some time looking for alternatives to the old-fashioned and still commonplace metal or plastic tube with a spot for the reel foot to sit on, two hoods and one or two rings to tighten the seat down. Those old seats could use some improvement; when you grip the rod with the reel in the seat, all your hand feels is the metal/plastic of the seat, hoods, reel foot, tightening rings, etc. ABU currently has something called a "Grip Lok" fitting, but this rod we've been looking at doesn't have one of those. Pretty sure other rod building suppliers have their own ideas about improving grips, and, or course, custom builders have come up with a lot of alternatives too.
ABU, being a well-known name, I was hoping somebody had a rod like this one & knew how it "operated".
Frank
I have to think it's that knurled rubber ring. It looks a little cocked. Tap it a few time to see if it'll straighten and try a strap wrench to loosen it. Maybe wrap it with tape and try some channellocks on it.
It looks like that ring was twisted too far down and is now biting on cork. Like someone was using it for a reel that barely fit, and left it in the "all the way open" position. Thats why it's stuck.
It also looks as though it had some pretty rough use at some point. The metal rings look sprung or cocked and the knurled rubber ring looks like it got twisted. I'd do like a Mark says but also use something like a butter knife to gently pry forward on the metal & rubber rings while working the knurled ring back and forth until it breaks loose.
Thanks for the advice folks. I'm not one to force anything without being pretty confident that it's the only way to go, so I like the ideas about a few taps on it and gently prying/twisting. That knurled rubber ring has to be the answer; can't see any other way the thing would work.
Frank
Well, I think I have it figured. That knurled rubber ring is, indeed, the answer. Followed some of the ideas expressed & baked in a few of my own & finally got that ring to turn. I rinsed the whole seat off/out, figuring maybe there was some dirt down inside somewhere and also guessing there was nothing inside that would get rusty (that was pretty much true, except for a tiny coil spring, about the diameter of the lead in a pencil, which sits upright, on one end, in a matching hole drilled in the threads on the movable rear hood and, and the other end, into the threaded part of the knurled rubber ring -- not sure what it does). Dribbled a bit of Teflon lube down the back of the rear hood and around the rubber ring. Tapped all around on the rear hood and the ring. First attempt to try twisting the rubber ring again led to the whole seat coming loose on the rod blank! No sweat; just grabbed the seat in one hand and the knurled rubber ring in the other, and the ring finally started turning. In the pic below, you can see where the rear hood has moved forward (compared to the first pic that started this post) to the max tighten position, as well as the threads on the base of that hood that engage similar threads on the rubber ring. Total travel of the rear hood is about 3/4 in. I'll refasten the seat to the blank in the proper spot, and put a little more Teflon lube on the threads and hopefully, all will be well.
I guess this seat would be a little more comfortable in the hand than the old-time type of seat. Always liked aluminum seats compared to graphite, but the graphite seems pretty popular on newer rods, and this one, with the knurled rubber on some of the parts the hand would touch should be fairly grippy.
Thanks to all who commented on the original post and gave me some tips on this seat and getting it working.
Frank
At this point, "First attempt to try twisting the rubber ring again led to the whole seat coming loose on the rod blank!", I would have removed the the whole seat and looked for a different one. IMO, that setup looks like it's going to be an issue. I wasn't impressed with the front hold down, but perhaps the picture didn't do it justice.
As "JasonGotaProblem" said "I wouldn't trust any reel I like to a setup like that. At least to me it needs a new (preferably fuji) seat."
However, I'm glad you to see you got it working.
Here are a couple pictures (before and after) of a Conolon rod that I picked up a while back (on the cheap) with a reel seat that needed some help. I opted to remove the reel seat because it wasn't positioned onto the blank correctly.
To do so, I removed the foam grips which were already breaking down and leaving particles in my hands. Then, I applied some heat to the aluminum seat and twisted the seat off the rod. Once off, I cleaned off the old epoxy with some sand paper, applied new epoxy and slide the seat into place.
If I had new foam or cork grips I would have added the to the seat before hand, but I was being thrifty and had a plan to use paracord as the grips so I skipped that step.
While the the epoxy cured, I asked my wife to get some paracord that matched the rod color as I didn't trust my eyes (I'm red-green color-blind).
A couple of days later, I wrapped the grips and I think it turned out good for an everyday fishing rod.
The front hood is the least of my worries on this AG reel seat. It grips the reel foot to a depth of 3/8 in. or better, which is at least as deep as most of the rods I have. Picture first posted doesn't show this very clearly. The thought expressed that it might be worthwhile to replace the seat with a "new (preferably fuji) seat" was not particularly helpful, giving the dozens of models of seats Fuji offers, both graphite (like the current one) and aluminum, in a bunch of price ranges. Anybody have a particular Fuji (or other brand) seat model they really like on a medium-light rod?
I wish somebody with one of these AG rods could offer some insights into their experiences with these type of seats.
Frank
Jtwill98, I really like that paracord grip setup you installed. Not only looks good, but should have some durability to it & be "grippy" as well. Might have to give that a shot on some rods I am working on. I'm guessing install might be a bit easier than foam or cork too.
Frank
Frank,
I don't have any experience with that particular reel seat. I was mainly commenting on your remark that the whole foot twisted. Typically that means it is already loose and might become a problem. I guess if it does, you can deal with it then.
There is a company online (https://mudhole.com/collections/spinning-reel-seats) that has reel seats from $5 on up. Perhaps you could contact them with a picture and maybe someone there could shed some light on your reel seat.
I wasn't aware of paracord wrapping until I found some videos online showing how to wrap a grip using paracord. Sometimes, you can wrap right over foam grips. It's is fairly easy do and I'm happy with the result. The most difficult part is pulling the paracord tag end under the last few wraps. Spend some time watching a video or two, I would record my own but there's many already online. Search online using this string: "how to paracord wrap a fishing rod".
My apologies I recommend fuji DPS-M in probably size 18. You can get them on mudhole or eBay ir many other places. the only difference between the the DPSM and thr DPSD is the "deluxe" one has a fancy trim band for a few bucks more. I'm happy to go into more detail if you need me to.
I had some fun with the wrapped rod this evening and latched on to this big bass on my last cast for the evening.
Again, thanks, for the further info on the paracord wrapping.
Frank
Thanks for the tip on the DPSM seat.
Frank
Quote from: jtwill98 on June 23, 2023, 05:42:53 PMHere are a couple pictures (before and after) of a Conolon rod that I picked up a while back (on the cheap) with a reel seat that needed some help. I opted to remove the reel seat because it wasn't positioned onto the blank correctly.
To do so, I removed the foam grips which were already breaking down and leaving particles in my hands. Then, I applied some heat to the aluminum seat and twisted the seat off the rod. Once off, I cleaned off the old epoxy with some sand paper, applied new epoxy and slide the seat into place.
If I had new foam or cork grips I would have added the to the seat before hand, but I was being thrifty and had a plan to use paracord as the grips so I skipped that step.
While the the epoxy cured, I asked my wife to get some paracord that matched the rod color as I didn't trust my eyes (I'm red-green color-blind).
A couple of days later, I wrapped the grips and I think it turned out good for an everyday fishing rod.
Howdy JT!
So, the rod in that bottom picture is a Garcia reef series, huh lol!
I will have to admit, I thought you were totally wrong and was going to tell you that was a Daiwa Apollo! Then I did a double take, when I saw that Garcia logo and just had to look a little closer, so I will have to man up and apologize lol!
Now, I just would like(NEED LOL)to know who copied off of who?
I have some very fond memories growing up with the Daiwa Apollo's, still have one or two here and honestly, I'll probably be a little bummed out! If I find out they copied them, from Abu Garcia!
The blanks look, to be the same exact color, and even have the same chevron butt wrap and guide wraps too!
So, hopefully somebody has some more information, as to the build timelines of these rods?
Now off to do a little research about this!
Thanks EA
You got me curious, so I had another look at the rod and realize it doesn't have the Conolon name anywhere on the rod. It is a Garcia Mitchell 7122 Medium action 6-1/2' rod. So it's very possible it was Garcia Michell branded rod made by Daiwa Apollo.
It really not important to me as it's an everyday rod, but I understand your point that I shouldn't misrepresent it as a Conolon when it's not stated as such on the rod -- my mistake.
Quote from: jtwill98 on June 25, 2023, 10:25:48 PMYou got me curious, so I had another look at the rod and realize it doesn't have the Conolon name anywhere on the rod. It is a Garcia Mitchell 7122 Medium action 6-1/2' rod. So it's very possible it was Garcia Michell branded rod made by Daiwa Apollo.
It really not important to me as it's an everyday rod, but I understand your point that I shouldn't misrepresent it as a Conolon when it's not stated as such on the rod -- my mistake.
Oh boy here we go! lol!
It was not my intent to say that you were misrepresenting your rod at all!
So sorry about that my friend!
It's actually very nice and I like it!
I was just shocked when I saw it, honestly!
I said oh, look at that nice Daiwa Apollo, maybe he's talking about the other white rod!
But nope, you were talking about the blue one, and after looking closely, saw indeed it was an Abu Garcia rod! I have a smaller one here, that I cut down, for bottom fishing, specifically, for blackfishing and is one of my favorite tough, old rods!
And I went and try to do a little research and I really couldn't find out anything lol!
It is what it is my friend, i'll gladly buy one of those Abu Garcia rods, if I bump into one of them now lol!
They have to be the same damn blank lol!