Vintage Garcia Conolon 2218

Question
I was out visiting some garage sales and came across an old Garcia Conolon 2218 Fishing Rod.  It is in excellent condition and still in its original clothe case/bag. (Not quite sure on what to call it.)  I have a feeling that I found something quite rare here.  Would you be able to tell me about how rare this rod is and what it may be worth?

Also, now that I have found this, I am pretty excited to get out there and find more vintage fishing lure, rods, and reels.  What are some things that I should keep a look out for?

I look forward to your answer!

Answer
Hi Ryan,

In general, the old Garcia Conolon rods are good for fishing and enjoyable to fish with...so you found a nice rod.

They don't seem to have a lot of collector value.  One in excellent condition would bring something in the $40-$60 range.

There are quite a few discussion forums out there each one dedicated to some special segment of the fishing gear world.  You can spend some time on those to get an idea of what is rare and what is more valuable.  In general, fishing rods tend tobe more valuable if they are fly rods, shorter fly rods are better and early examples of bamboo tend to be valued higher.  This does not mean that wooden, bamboo, steel, fiberglass and graphite don't all have desired rods. It takes a while to get familiar with the barnds, makers, quality levels and general history of rods, reels, lures, nets, boats or whatever you find the most interesting, but it seems there is always something new to learn so it stays fresh.

Look for books, old, new, used, whatever and read them.  Some are full of urban myths, some are full of great information and most lead you to another book, article or online link that provides new clues.

Thanks,  Joe