orvis rods, are they good?

[Fredrick]

I think Orvis would have better rods if they would stop making multiple flex ratings with each line of high performance rods they come out with just stick with the K.I.S.S system like Loomis and Sage . Make rods lines with only one flex rating . I think that is probabally why their Superfine series has been so successful for them because they are all full flex.

I used to own a Orvis tip flex T-3 8 wt but I sold it because it didn't have the back bone I needed to cast streamers I could actually feel the rod buckle when I over loaded it .

I casted a 9' 5 wt Cortland Big Sky Rod against a 5 wt tip flex Helios and the Cortland outperformed the Helios casting both close and far . Great bang for your buck IMHO

http://www.cortlandline.com/products/default.asp?id=524

 

[jdaddy]

I think Orvis would have better rods if they would stop making multiple flex ratings with each line of high performance rods they come out with just stick with the K.I.S.S system l

I highly disagree with you on that. I believe it is one of their best selling points. Say you want a cutting edge ultra light bad *** rod, but want a mid-flex slower rod? Harder to come by now a days.

I think the Hydros with a free BLA III is a good deal. I think the price difference between Hydros and Helios is completely silly. There simply is not $250 worth of component differences there. Can't be.

OP, you've been asking a lot of questions about a lot of higher end rods (which is absolutely perfectly fine). Have you gone out and thrown a few of them? Are you a pretty decent caster who is going to know what to look for and when you have that "ah-ha" moment? I mean, hell I certainly had much better rods than my casting talent for a long time, and there is certainly nothing wrong with "doing it right the first time" as that was my philosophy and I feel I have grown into my higher end rods. If you are a newer fisherman I think a Hydros Mid-Flex will be a real winner for you.

I casted a 9' 5 wt Cortland Big Sky Rod against a 5 wt tip flex Helios and the Cortland outperformed the Helios casting both close and far . Great bang for your buck IMHO

Didn't look up the price on it but that is a pretty heavy rod.
(now looked it up appears to be about $250 and can't find much distribution to test it out. Throw in a Orvis BLA III reel for free and its in the same ball park as the Hydros).

 

[Fredrick]

jdaddy wrote:

I think Orvis would have better rods if they would stop making multiple flex ratings with each line of high performance rods they come out with just stick with the K.I.S.S system l

I highly disagree with you on that. I believe it is one of their best selling points. Say you want a cutting edge ultra light bad *** rod, but want a mid-flex slower rod? Harder to come by now a days.

I casted a 9' 5 wt Cortland Big Sky Rod against a 5 wt tip flex Helios and the Cortland outperformed the Helios casting both close and far . Great bang for your buck IMHO

Didn't look up the price on it but that is a pretty heavy rod.
(now looked it up appears to be about $250 and can't find much distribution to test it out. Throw in a Orvis BLA III reel for free and its in the same ball park as the Hydros).

Jdaddy I wasn't questioning their marketing just the castability of their rods . The Big Sky rod may not be the lightest rod out their but it is deffinitely a great fishing tool for the money .

Lightwieght rods are nice but it doesn't make them a better tool for the job.

 

[troutslammer]

a friend of mine has the t-3 i think mid flex 5wt and he can blow streamers a mile with it , can't throw streamers with a 8wt t-3 ..come on now , there must be some kinda grudge against orvis with a silly statement like that

 

[jayL]

Fred owns more orvis stuff than anyone I know.

I owned a 5wt mid flex tls power matrix, and it could not handle streamer duty.

 

[jdaddy]

Jdaddy I wasn't questioning their marketing just the castability of their rods . The Big Sky rod may not be the lightest rod out their but it is deffinitely a great fishing tool for the money . Lightwieght rods are nice but it doesn't make them a better tool for the job.

Ya but "for the money" is out the window when you effectively make a Helios $300 with the reel offer. Now, does this merit a discussion of $230 fresh water reels, no that is not the question. However, if you break that damn Helios you basically wonder down to the the Orvis store and they all but give you a new one.

Light weight rods are better than nice. They are really nice. You are just used to chunking 1oz dumbells with a 10wt! LOL!

Without the BLA reel and without discussing value of same, I would say there are better rods out there for $500.

Troutslammer/Jay . . . why use a mid-flex for a streamer rod?

 

[jayL]

I don't, but when I tried to use it in a pinch, it failed.

 

[mrflyfish]

I own a 9' 6wt Orvis Hydros and 9' 5wt sage XP. Want to know witch is a better rod?





The xp hands down.

 

[Fredrick]

troutslammer wrote:
a friend of mine has the t-3 i think mid flex 5wt and he can blow streamers a mile with it , can't throw streamers with a 8wt t-3 ..come on now , there must be some kinda grudge against orvis with a silly statement like that

Troutslammer I love Orvis gear just not most of there rods . Like Jay said I own lots of TWEED gear and 3 rods .The T-3 would buckle during big casts with wieghted flies . I want fast action rods that can handle more line in the air than I can . I love my superfine rod and still use it from time to time but I perfer fast action rods now so I don't use it that much anymore it's a full flex and casts very good in all situations except for far .

Jdaddy I think Orvis definitely has the best deals out there right now and also IMHO the best marketing . Your right.... you can't beat that deal . BtW I like that Winston you had at the stocktober fest but that noisy line has to go :lol:

Mrflyfish I also think the Sage XP is a great rod

 

[troutslammer]

jdaddy - my answer to that question is why not ? i don't throw dumbell eyes and extremely heavily weighted streamers , no need for it , the streamers i throw are light when water temps warm up and they are chasing them i feel there is no advantage to go extremely deep with them , i also don't go out to the stream with the mind set i am gonna streamer fish all day , some water is nymph , some is streamer , some is dry and a mid flex foots the bill for me , which rods a person like is all opinion , hell i own a stick shift truck and my wife won't drive it unless she has to so ... another reason as u stated above why not get the hydros and a 250 reel free & if u don't like it send it on its way back to orvis !!!

 

[pcray1231]

i also don't go out to the stream with the mind set i am gonna streamer fish all day

I sometimes do, depends on conditions. But situations where you know what you're gonna be doing are easy, you take the tool best for the job. Many rods are specialists, excelling in some types of fishing but being terrible in others. Others take the jack fo all trades approach.

some water is nymph , some is streamer , some is dry

This is perhaps more common for me, and much more demanding on a rod. A good rod must be able to load well at close distances and deliver precise, delicate casts, AND it must have the backbone and reserve power to throw tight loops when called upon, deliver long smooth casts and sling lead. I have specialist rods and do use them. But my main use rods are the jack of all trade types.

While I haven't cast every rod in the Orvis lineup, the ones I have cast have all lacked that backbone and reserve power. You can't overpower them, they just buckle. They're fine for close, delicate work, they're specialists in that regard.

I suspect its in taper design, but I'll leave the details of that to the rod designers.

 

[troutslammer]

my thoughts exactly pcray , when u never know what to expect for the day then u take what u feel might cover as many situations as you can , and part of my problem is i like to fish different streams and different water all the time to make things a little more interesting

 

[Cope]

I own numerous orvis rods. There lighter weight rods are awesome IMO for my purposes. I also had 5 Orvis rod returns for damage on my part and they all were replaced with very good customer service.

 

[sandfly]

While I haven't cast every rod in the Orvis lineup, the ones I have cast have all lacked that backbone and reserve power. You can't overpower them, they just buckle. They're fine for close, delicate work, they're specialists in that regard. I suspect its in taper design, but I'll leave the details of that to the rod designer

I own a few Orvis rods, and have never had one fail for lack of backbone. And I push rods to the breaking point. I have casted every rod except the helios rods, guess I had better try them at the philly show...

 

[rhbuilds]

i seen a used t-3 7wt fast action in ex shape, asking $300.
st croix bank robber looks nice, same as cortland big sky. so many decisions, maybe wait til show in somerset. hope for a deal there.

 

[troutbumm]

I've never had an Orvis rod, but used a friend's last yr. The tip wound up breaking. I loved the rod prior to that and loved Orvis response: they replaced the rod with a new one, more recent model. Great service. I did give my friend a bard time though. My cheap rod lasted 20 yr and his fancy rod lasted me 2 days I bought a St croix legend ultra this yr (4wt), and really like it.

 

[BrandonMH]

Troutbumm, I have been thinking of replacing my St Croix triumph 4wt (don't think they make them anymore) and was looking the legend ultra. That is a fast action rod right? The triumph I have is a mid flex and when I try to cast longer distances than like 40 yrds I have a hard time, have good orvis line on it, which did help casting but this year, just seems to not want to cast that well. I thought it was me, so I grabbed my Helios 5wt I got last year and was casting probably around 60+ yards with great accuracy and line would roll out flat all the way to the tippet tip with the yarn fly. I also was looking at some Sage, Cabela's new LSI but kinda want a med action.

 

[jdaddy]

The St Croix Legend Ultra is not a super fast rod. I think they call it fast, but I certainly don't. The 8' 4wt Ultra is probably my fav rod in my arsenal (noting my arsenal is made up of much more expensive Winstons).

Oh, see your last sentence. Then yes, if you want a medium action rod DEFINITELY try the Ultra.

 

[BrandonMH]

Been pouring over the Cabelas and Orvis fly fishing catalogs the past maybe week and tonight kinda picked a few based on some feedback in another thread. I was at Cabelas today and was going to come home with a new rod, but was getting rushed since the snow was on its way. The choices are: St Croix legend ultra 7'6" 4wt, Sage flight 7'6" 4wt, and considering a hydros, not sure if I want to spring that much for a rod right now, tho a helios or hydros would be nice with the free reel deal, I do have a reel all set right now.

 

[Fredrick]

If you want that new reel hurry because it expires on the 27th