My first good rod was an Orvis Fullflex that I built from their kit in the early 1970's. 8 feet long and for an 8 WF line, yellow colored blank with the tip-over-butt fiberglass ferrule with a metal reinforcing ring. I really enjoyed that rod with its smooth action! Although Orvis had recommended at the time that it should be an excellent all-around rod, it was a bit too heavy for my early efforts in small trout streams. Caught a lot of fish in bigger waters however and it was a fine bass bugging rod. Unfortunately the tip snapped off on a cast while on the Yellowstone River, and I did not at the time have any idea how to fix it. Orvis customer service was really good at that time, and since they had no more of these blanks they replaced the whole amateur-made rod with a factory Fullflex A for no cost (a move that made me a loyal Orvis customer for many years). I never liked the new rod as well though and eventually traded it off. My eye is open for any of these rods that I might run across in a garage sale!
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