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Post 11 Apr 2017, 20:49 • #276 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 09/18/09
Posts: 5561
Location: Relocated to the Drought Stricken West.
David, What rod is that? a 4pc is hard to come by. I just picked up a 2pc 7' 4wt that is fantastic.

I may have my FFR membership revoked, but I've been moving to graphite for many things. The area that glass has held it's ground is short rods of all weights and warm water fishing with a 7wt or less.

However my early orvis rods are just as much fun to fish as glass.


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Post 11 Apr 2017, 21:28 • #277 
Master Guide
Joined: 02/24/12
Posts: 493
Location: Portland, Oregon
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


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Post 11 Apr 2017, 21:40 • #278 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 02/12/16
Posts: 4094
Location: USA-CO
The Rocky Mountain series was sold in the mid '90s; for how long before or after, I don't know. I had the 8 1/2' 5wt.


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Post 11 Apr 2017, 22:21 • #279 
Master Guide
Joined: 02/24/12
Posts: 493
Location: Portland, Oregon
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


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Post 12 Apr 2017, 06:31 • #280 
Sport
Joined: 12/15/16
Posts: 40
Location: US-PA
For years one of my go to rods was an early 1980's HLS 8'6" 3 wt rod....Haven't strung it up in years but probably should just to confirm if it's as good a stick as my memory recalls


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Post 27 Feb 2018, 10:46 • #281 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 06/24/11
Posts: 1144
Location: Belgium
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.


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Post 05 Oct 2019, 19:48 • #282 
Guide
Joined: 02/18/19
Posts: 157
Location: US-ID
Had to bring back this thread. Have loved this since my fiberglass conversion.

I had a friend break his 9' 5wt graphite rod. So, as a good friend, I gave him my first fly rod owned, an echo base.

Thinking I needed a replacement, I found a used Cortland grf 1000 8.5 foot 5/6.
What a fun rod. It is a medium rod, does not want to be hurried or pushed, but loves a smooth delivery. At the local pond, the fight might not always go into the cork, but close on a 12" rainbow. For the $20 spent on the auction site delivered, couldn't be happier. A great rod to keep in the truck bed for the gotta get a few casts in. A hidden value in my book.


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Post 05 Oct 2019, 20:37 • #283 
Guide
Joined: 02/22/16
Posts: 307
Location: Livingston MT
T & T Paradigm, Winston TMF, Chico Powell Light Touch, T & T Special Extra Dry, Winston IM6s.

Tom


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Post 06 Oct 2019, 00:36 • #284 
Sport
Joined: 07/09/18
Posts: 46
Location: US-TX
Love these old threads talkin’ about soul, smoothness, etc.

My point of reference for glass is a half dozen vintage two-digit Fenwicks and my brand new SFG 764. I learned fly casting on Sage Graphite II (6wt & 8wt). But my one graphite with a soul of glass is a Winston WT 7’6” 3wt 3pc. Handles 2/3/4 wt lines with aplomb.

My FF75, SFG 764 & the little Winston are definitely soul brothers!


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Post 06 Oct 2019, 19:02 • #285 
Guide
Joined: 04/17/12
Posts: 204
Location: Blacksburg, VA
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.


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Post 06 Oct 2019, 19:11 • #286 
Guide
Joined: 10/02/12
Posts: 114
Location: Missouri Ozarks
I agree with Speck. I have many old and new Scott G series rods. I LOVE them all! Along with my old Scott F764 and F2 663 Glass


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Post 06 Oct 2019, 19:33 • #287 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 06/09/05
Posts: 2524
Location: US-CO
Stefan Eriksson wrote:
Shimano Freestone. :) Mediumaction, thin and just amazing rods over all!


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.


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Post 07 Oct 2019, 01:10 • #288 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 06/09/05
Posts: 2069
Location: Monroe, WA
speck wrote:
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.

Love the G series! I still have a G906 and a G844. They’re fantastic trout rods!


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Post 07 Oct 2019, 08:24 • #289 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 10/09/09
Posts: 2796
Location: US-NM
Fenwick HMG,Winston IM6 .......Aurelio
I like the early sage rods too DS 2 ,RPL and LL


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Post 07 Oct 2019, 08:40 • #290 
Master Guide
Joined: 07/27/18
Posts: 375
Location: Probably at a Diner in Eastern PA
aurelio corso wrote:
Fenwick HMG,Winston IM6 .......Aurelio
I like the early sage rods too DS 2 ,RPL and LL


New Glass and old Graphite are very similar in my opinion (provided you compare same weights and allow graqphite 6-12 inches in overall length)


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Post 11 Oct 2019, 21:51 • #291 
Master Guide
Joined: 06/27/06
Posts: 774
Location: SW Missouri Ozark Plateau
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.


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Post 11 Oct 2019, 23:21 • #292 
Guide
Joined: 02/18/19
Posts: 157
Location: US-ID
How does the HLS fish, compared to your limestone? Always concerned about the high line speed designation.


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Post 12 Oct 2019, 04:46 • #293 
Guide
Joined: 03/12/15
Posts: 269
Location: US-CT
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.


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Post 12 Oct 2019, 09:40 • #294 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 02/19/12
Posts: 1007
Location: Beantown
Bought a Sage RPLB 9'6" 5 weight last year for sh%ts and giggles, and absolutely love it. Love the extra length for a specific stream I fish. Nice action, any decent fish puts a nice bend in it! I think it was a blank built out by someone, but may have been factory? I think the "B" means blank?


Last edited by jalthoff on 13 Oct 2019, 17:09, edited 1 time in total.

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Post 12 Oct 2019, 09:49 • #295 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 06/09/05
Posts: 2524
Location: US-CO
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.


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Post 12 Oct 2019, 10:01 • #296 
Piscator
Joined: 08/10/05
Posts: 19078
Location: downtown Bulverde, Texas
Donny, it may be simply that glass makes better-functioning rods in the lengths you need to fish your home water. I never met a short graphite fly rod that worked as advertised.
I did break my first-ever graphite rod last weekend:
viewtopic.php?f=33&t=67232#p358811
and I had my 3-pc back-up in the bow hold, so it didn't slow me down.


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Post 12 Oct 2019, 11:07 • #297 
Guide
Joined: 02/18/19
Posts: 157
Location: US-ID
bianpson wrote:
For years one of my go to rods was an early 1980's HLS 8'6" 3 wt rod....Haven't strung it up in years but probably should just to confirm if it's as good a stick as my memory recalls


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


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Post 12 Oct 2019, 12:47 • #298 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 12/05/06
Posts: 2089
Location: US-PA
wb4tjh wrote:
I still have my first graphite, an Orvis Limestone Special I bought in 1979...

It was my 2nd graphite rod, but I also still have my Limestone Special that I bought in 1980 at a discounted price for "trading in" my Garcia 5 Star Conolon spinning rod with metal spigot ferrules.

(The trade-in rod went from the fly shop to the Boy Scouts.)

A Glass for graphite trade but oh how I wish I still had the Garcia rod for old times sake...


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Post 18 Oct 2019, 13:30 • #299 
Sport
Joined: 10/22/16
Posts: 43
Location: Winthrop WA
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.


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Post 18 Oct 2019, 16:03 • #300 
Inactive
Joined: 06/01/14
Posts: 190
Location: Pennsylvania
Orvis Far n Fine 1st Generation with the cork reel seat

Orvis Spring Creek 1st Generation with the cork reel seat.

Best graphite for bamboo or glass feel IMO


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