Carlz,
Its a Rocky Mountain series, charcoal grey blank with beautiful blue wraps. There is no date on the butt cap so not sure what years it was produced. I contacted Orvis and they said it was definitely made in their Vermont shop, but that was about all they told me. They didn't know what year. I've searched for info online, but only come up empty-handed. I may not know its manufacture date, but I know it casts like a dream and will be going on many backpacking trips with me!

David

Thanks for the info, Tomah. I'm a little bit scared because I kinda want to try more of the older Orvis graphites now.

David

Have been noticing that Hardy Deluxe series rods are popping up for sale more and more frequently at bargain prices in the UK auction site. These are great slow graphite tapers and quite often rated higher than they ought to be - for example the 9' 6/7 is really a nice, slow 5wt that can also throw a 6wt.

T & T Paradigm, Winston TMF, Chico Powell Light Touch, T & T Special Extra Dry, Winston IM6s.

Tom

I'm certain that I have no idea what glass soul is, but I love my Scott original G series rods.
G959B, with red ceramic single foot guides
G907BT - a 2 tip rod that makes either a G906 or a G907B depending on the tip
G904/4
G754/3
G802/3
All of them are smooth and fun to fish.

After many years, it is good to hear of another Shimano flyrod. Thin is right. As I traveled to Korea in 2000, I found a Shimano fly rod with a Brookstone label that was made for the Japanese market. Beautiful finish, an 8'3", two piece rod, for a 4 wt line. Extremely fine and willowy...at the grip the graphite blank is more narrow than even a pencil by a fair amount. Perfect for elegant fishing for small trout.

I have ever seen anything like it at all. Never even heard the name until this post. Cool.

As far as graphite for me, Diamondback Classic Trout and Western Series, Orvis 7'11" and Far and Fine are the only others I own. All wonderful but rarely fished.

Fenwick HMG,Winston IM6 .......Aurelio
I like the early sage rods too DS 2 ,RPL and LL

I still have my first graphite, an Orvis Limestone Special I bought in 1979, and an HLS 7' 9" five weight version of the Far and Fine from 1991. I also found an 8 foot , 6 weight Fenwick Traditional blank I have had for at least 35 years and never built up. I think that might be a winter project to get it in fishing shape. My best glass rods are three I built years ago on j. Kennedy Fisher blanks, the same Winston was using at the time. I built the 6 weight with a Winston teak down locking reel seat. I also have an incredible Hexagraph 8 foot 4/5 weight which is an amazing full flexing graphite rod.

there is a terrific facebook page called Orvis vintage graphite. there is great info about the original unsanded blanks and rods. I have an Orvis Allrounder 8 foot 3 for a 7 weight
in the green mountain version( changed to the rocky mountain version later). it is a wonderful
rod. rod was built in 1987.
agree with the gent who mentioned the Cortland grf 1000 rods- slow/medium action unsanded rods that were light, easy to cast and an incredible value/rod for the money.
I have 3 and always look for deals on the rods.

Excellent comments by wise and seasoned flyrodders but...the graphite rods still break too easily. Just this week a friend down the street broke his graphite 5 wt Orvis rod on a fish. No problem, says he, I can mail it in for replacement...but he's out of business for weeks, says I. Fortunately, I had a fine, very lightly used, Shakespeare FY-A250 8 ft, 5wt, with the rare glass tip over butt ferrule that I could give him. Expecting him to come to appreciate glass rods.

It was the fragility of graphite that sent me back to glass 20 years ago. They have their place but durability is not a strong point.

Like a report and thoughts on this rod, have a chance to pick one up cheap, but fear the high line speed.

Interesting and timely thread. As it happens Bruce & Walker just sent me a few of their current single hand trout rods to play with. There were two in particular that were love at first cast. One, a 9' 5wt 3pc. that reminded me a lot of a cross between my old Winston BIIx 9' 6wt and my Orvis 9'3" Spring Creek ( that I've had since the early 80's), both of which are rods that I like as well as anything I've cast in that line weight/length range. This B&W is a glorious, smooth rod that flexes well down the blank with tons of feel. Not sure if I've ever cast a smoother rod of any material. The second was an 8'6" 6wt that is actually a little parabolic though not nearly as much as some of the classic cane tapers. You can feel the top of the rod "follow through" but it doesn't have even a hint of clunky hinge feel in the bottom. Out of curiosity I put both on the scale and their actual weight is very much in the same ballpark as similar glass rods. Hmmmm. Can't say I've cast any glass rod that is smoother or nicer feeling than any of the above rods but my FF86 is certainly in the running.