photo by jgestar Very early Fenwick FF84 |
 |
| Author | Comment | ||
|---|---|---|---|
 Boo |
Orvis Question... |
Lead | |
|
Master Guide
Posts: 633 (11/27/06 23:10:18) |
I see that Orvis made three different glass rods, the greenish Golden Eagle, the yellow Full-Flex and a brown Full-Flex. What is the history with these rods, i.e. which came first? How do they cast differently given the same
rod length/line wt? Which models are more desirable? Thanks. |
||
 bulldog1935 |
Re: Orvis Question... | ||
|
Posts: 5469 (11/28/06 09:33:15) Administrator |
here's essentially the last Orvis Fullflex A
 7-1/2' 2-3/8 oz. 6-wt. brown glass. Taper defines Full flex. This is a light rod, a joy to air cast, and a delicate fisher, but not a good roll caster unless you over-line it. This came in a Green Mountain kit paired with an Orvis 1915 reel(a marked Martin 67A). No doubt a means to close-out the last of their Fullflex fiberglass blanks. My first real flyrod. I fished it for years until I thought the downlocking seat and click-pawl reel was becoming long in the tooth. Thought I replaced it with a Powell Silver Creek IM6 4/5wt (which my daughter fishes now) and Marryat. So I gave the Fullflex and 1915 to my nephew - 15 years ago. Found myself missing the rod terribly and found a new mint one on ebay last year. Matched it with a NIB 67A (y'all stay away from the 1915 I'm bidding on...) |
||
|
Bullet Nose |
Re: Orvis Question... | ||
|
Sport
Posts: 77 (11/29/06 15:09:17) |
I can't be sure, but I think the Golden Eagle series was the first. |
||
|
customline |
Re: Orvis Question... | ||
|
Guide
Posts: 116 (11/30/06 07:27:24) |
Yellow Fullflex rods were the first ones (late 60's, I don't know exact year). I know Orvis manufactured fiberglass rods even before but those I don't know nothing.
Golden Eagles's were in production 1970-(1976?) and brown ones are the newest (introduced in mid 70's, I don't know exact year). Brown fiberglass were continued until mid 80's. Source: my 1969-1971 Orvis catalogs Personal opinion: yellow ones are sloppy rods and I try to avoid those. GE's and brown Fullflex are fishing tools for serious anglers (even though not my top rods) -Jukka |
||
|
bulldog1935 |
Re: Orvis Question... | ||
|
Posts: 5469 (11/30/06 09:18:25) Administrator |
No offense, but the yellow Phillipson's (same as the first Orvis blanks) are my favorites, but that's probably because most of my fishing favors a little faster rod.
|
||
|
customline |
Re: Orvis Question... | ||
|
Guide
Posts: 116 (11/30/06 15:02:49) |
bulldog1935,
That's why casting various rods is such fun. Everyone has their own favorites. I have learned long time ago that there's no point of arguing about the best one. -Jukka |
||
|
Flytackle |
Orvis Rods | ||
|
Posts: 791 (11/30/06 17:51:50) Board Founder |
One of my favorite books is F. Phillip Rice's America's Favorite Fishing A complete guide to angling for panfish. Mr. Rice was obviously a fly fisherman, for there is much in the book on panfishing with the fly - one of my favorite pursuits. In his section on tackle he cites two Orvis rods, as follows:
Orvis Orvisco Glass Fly Rod. 8 ft. 2 pc. 4 oz. Orvis Orvisco Glass Fly Rod 7 ft. 2 pc. 3 5/8 oz. Whether this is an accurate description of a rod by Orvis I can't say. My copy is a first edition, 1964. Maybe I oughta give Orvis a call and ask about the "Orvisco" line. Tght lines, Alec |
||
|
Bullet Nose |
Re: Orvis Rods | ||
|
Sport
Posts: 77 (11/30/06 18:22:32) |
 Here's a pic of an Orvis prototype on a Phillipson blank. This rod was given to me in 95 by a long time Orvis employee. He said it was a "try" rod from when Orvis decided to carry fiberglass rods and they did not know what color they wanted, so Phillipson sent them different color sections. This is a 7 footer that sings with 5-6WT lines! |
||
|
Flytackle |
Re: Orvis Rods | ||
|
Posts: 791 (11/30/06 19:03:23) Board Founder |
They could've marketed that one as the "Orvis Bivisible"! I like it!! I had that same rod in the one color variety - very nice! Alec
|
||
|
Upstreeam |
Re: Orvis Rods | ||
|
Master Guide
Posts: 514 (12/01/06 11:36:29) |
I think they chose the right color.
Bob |
||
|
gaddis |
Re: Orvis Rods | ||
|
Posts: 492 (12/02/06 17:05:49) Mr. Shakespeare |
When Orvis tooled up to make graphite rods, they decided to make the fiberglass blanks themselves rather than outsource them. These Orvis-made glass rods were amber colored and were designated "Fullflex A". (A = Amber). These rods were introduced in 1975, the same year they introduced their graphite rods. I have a Fullflex A and it is one of my absolute favorite rods.
The Fullflex A rods are also lighter in weight than the earlier Fullflex rods and came in a different set of length/line wt choices. |
||
|
wb4tjh |
Re: Orvis Rods | ||
|
Master Guide
Posts: 391 (12/02/06 23:00:28) |
I have the very last 7 foot, 4 piece Orvis glass fullflex spin/fly pack rod sold. I bought it in the late 80s thru a friend of mine in Memphis who owned the local Orvis Shop. He called the factory and they went out in the showroom and got what they told him was the last one they had. It sure is a sweet casting 5/6 weight. I've taken everything from little trout and bluegill to a 10 pound redfish here in Sarasota Bay on it. It really bends way down into the corks. It throws a long line with a spinning reel too. You can heave a weighted jig what seems like a mile with the fully loading rod.
|
||
