What rod do I have?

First of all thanks in advance for any help. I have never fly fished before in my life, but somehow I've gotten the bug. I've decided to start making my own flies and fishing with them.

Anyway, I have an old rod that was given to me by my grandfather. The rod is approximately seven feet long, maroon in color, and (I assume) made of fiberglass. A tag on the rod reads "Hurricane Mark II" and "No. 180". The rod is a two piece with most of the action near the tip. Probably a fast to medium action. My grandfather said this was an inexpensive rod he purchased probably 20-30 years ago.

Does anyone know anything about this rod? I would like to know the weight, action, and any other information you have. Thanks.

I plan on outfitting two rods for my first fishing adventure. I need one rod for trout and one for salmon, so finding out what rod I have will help me purchase the correct, additional rod.

I found one Hurricane here: Vintage HURRICANE FiberGlass Fly Fishing Rod VGC JAPAN - eBay (item 110241532089 end time Jun-07-08 11:59:15 PDT)
The rod on that auction doesn't have a line rating either. Going to your local
fly shop, and casting lines from 5-7 wt would be tell you which line works best.
Considering that you haven't done any flyfishing, it might be best to have one
of the shop guys tell you which line would work best. I wouldn't invest too
much money into a line for a rod like you described, however. It's easy to find
a very nice lightweight rod for little $$$ now: a St. Croix Triumph 9' 5wt is
around $90. There are other bargain rods available, but I don't cast them
often enough to give opinions.

phil said:

I plan on outfitting two rods for my first fishing adventure. I need one rod for trout and one for salmon, so finding out what rod I have will help me purchase the correct, additional rod.

Click to expand...

Hi Phil,

Your 7' fiberglass rod is not going to be a salmon rod. So you can consider it your trout rod. You are giving yourself a near impossible job figuring out what line is suited for the rod. You will have to have someone who knows how to cast to test cast the rod for you with different fly lines.

You will make things a lot easier on yourself if you buy a new trout rod and fly line that match. If you buy a known good casting rod you eliminate a lot of learning problems. With a known, good outfit if you are having trouble casting you will know it is not the fly rod and line. If you have trouble with your fiberglass rod and line you won't have any idea where the problem lies. After you know how to cast and understand what you are doing you can work on your old fiberglass rod.

Frank