r reese
Well-known member
this reel already been discontinued. Cant believe it. No more CFO's
this reel already been discontinued. Cant believe it. No more CFO's
Made in China like most Orvis reels, sure. One of the nicest line holders ever...the old one's did purr like a happy cat though.CFO is one of the coolest trout reels ever. It holds line just the same as modern featured designs. Anyone want to bet to me it won't be back in a year or two?
Well a bank vault analogy might be an exaggeration. They, like all Hardy reels of their day, are castings and inherently fragile, they can be bent particularly along hte palming rim or even cracked. With a modicum of care and respect plus regular greasing and oiling they do take on a particularly pleasing clssic tone when a nice trout takes some line.They're built like a bank vault, and even after years of use, they tend to carry with them that certain sort of "sweet river music" if they've been well taken care of over the years.
They actually seemed like a progressive departure from tradition back in their early days. Designer Stan Bogdan imbued them with a "palming rim", now ubiquitous but a new design idea back in the 1970's plus replacing Hardy's conventional but a little awkward frame mounted threaded check adjuster with a side plate mounted radiused knob was also a departure, a good one. CFO had everything its Hardy Lightweight contemporary had but with superior design elements. It was elegant then and has retained its sharp looks well over the decades...NOW it is a classic.Traditional in style? Yes they are, and there's nothing wrong with that. Pricey?
In both sentiment, nostalgia but function too, I see no reason to mount a new machined reel with a drag on my small stream rod. On any stream/river where larger trout with the propensity to pull line hard is possible, yes. Reels with fine tunable drags, all thing being equal, do bring a fish to net quicker making for safer release. On my 8'/#4, CFO will always remain and if I smash it against a rock, I have another in my collection to replace it with though how many seasons would it take to equal the well broke in, well oiled sound of my almost 40 year old one?I occasionally ask myself if I shouldn't want some newer, lighter, higher-tech reel for that purpose and the answer is always, "No.".