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3. Equipment for the 67 yr old flyfisher beginner

I'm an older fisherman who inherited a Wright McGill "Granger" (#6590) 9' fly rod from my father-in-laws father and am eager to learn the art of fly casting for trout. I understand that rod, reel, line, etc. needs to be a balanced combo, but am unsure what weight reel and line would go well with this rod. Can anyone offer some suggestions?

Thanks

It doesn't look like that's a model they're making anymore, and it's a fairly specialized question, so I would suggest contacting the manufacturer directly (here's their contact information) to ask about that particular rod. You're correct that the reel and line need to be appropriate for the rod.

Welcome to the forum!

Don't fish with that rod until you've had it looked at! Based on your age and the fact it came from somebody of your grandfathers generation, I'm assuming it may have substantial collectible value. The rod is named after one of the old masters, Goodwin Granger. He was affiliated with W&M for awhile and produced rods for them. If I remember my history, they were modestly priced rods of decent workmanship but made of inferior bamboo. Frankly, not the best outfit to learn with even if it turns out to be less valuable than I assume.

BTW - look for a designation on the rod showing three letters together like "HCH." That was how lines were designated before AFTMA when all lines were made of silk. They will tell the proper line match for your rod. From there you'd be able to determine a matching reel.

Best,

Thanks, Guys

I've emailed Eagle already but haven't gotten a reply yet about the rod. I'll probably call them in the next day or so.

Entoman,

I should have mentioned that the rod I've inherited is fiberglass. I'll look more closely to see if I can find a line designation.

Thanks again and I'm sure I'll have more questions.

Thanks, Al. Had forgotten the Phillipson connection. He later went on to build fiberglass rods under his own name. They were arguably the best on the market in that material. I owned a couple back in the early 70's that were pretty sweet.

Thanks, Gentlemen

An interesting history lesson. I finally talked with Wright & McGill and was told that my rod was produced in 1951 and that it is a 4-5 wt.

Now I need to choose a reel. I'm looking at the Orvis Encounter 11 large arbor for 50 bucks. Anybody out there have any thoughts on how this reel would function for a beginner fly fisherman?

Tyro,I don't know that this consideration would necessarily be a problem but you may want to check the reel fit to the rod real seat.

Thanks, Falsify
I talked with Orvis and got the the reel's foot dimensions, which will work fine with my rod's reel seat.