I know that some of you have rods dating way back, when I used the word vintage I was aiming at rods dating 1970's through the turn of the century. Although bamboo and glass predates the graphite rods the carbon fibers are now firmly established in the vintage rod world so here goes a shot at an interesting thread...
Recently I acquired another generation one Orvis Graphite rod. One of our members listed it nearly 3 years ago and I immediately wanted it, you know the feeling. That feeling stems from when the rods were offered new, in this case new equates to 1978 and the rod was / is the Limestone 8 1/2 foot six weight.
By the time I realized that Orvis even made the rod it was 1980 and I had already purchased the 7'9" Far & Fine #5 rod and was tickled pink with it. I got the Far & Fine in Late 1979 and even then they were expensive. Adding the six weight when the Far and Fine worked so well represented redundancy to some extent so I stayed the course with what I had and also retained nearly $400.00 by doing so.
All that however did not end my coveting the Limestone rod, hardly because through the 80's and 90's I had become a fixture on many of Pennsylvania's limestone spring creeks and I fished my Far & Fine with great success. Still something was amiss, wouldn't this be better if the butt cap of my rod was inscribed 'Limestone"? I never did get one.
By the time we were into the 21st century I had scooped up an Orvis Light Salmon Bamboo rod and put it to use here in Alaska on Silver Salmon only to wish I had bought the Graphite model back in the 1980's. Sure enough I found a 1983 Nine & one half foot Graphite Light Salmon #8 rod in 'un-fished' condition and bought it. It has been posted to Rod Love several times and I was to use it today but cloud cover has prevented a fly in to a remote river so here I am at home writing a thread.... Although one river was opened to fishing for King Salmon I personally have boycotted fishing for them, one voice alone in a sea of knuckle dragging types here... I've been getting out once a week via bush planes to places where no one is at but today didn't work out.
Up until a couple months ago that was it, my old Far & Fine and the Light Salmon which by the way was made with the tail end of the original generation one graphite originated back in 1973 / 74 for and by Orvis. The rod possess the same blend of slow to medium action suited to a relaxed casting stroke while maintaining the ability to produce tight loop casting and distance. All that simply at the behest of the user, some tweaking of the technique and timing and line speed can be stepped up to meet conditions as they may change.
Now there are 3 of them, admittedly they don't see constant use like my old Hardy Swift 11 1/2 foot 2 hand rod does but they all get their day. The Limestone is waiting for me to get off my butt and pick up a #6 line for it and I'm hoping that my old CFO IV reel will make a good balance point once I rig it and take it Grayling fishing, no limestone spring creeks here you know.
So there you have it, 3 rods, hardly what I'd call a collection and two were acquired decades after their respective manufacture but I did finally get all three
Of course threads like this are useless with out photos, so...….
That's the 3 with the Far & Fine front using a Marquis #5 for the past 9 years because I've lined my Featherweight with a#3 line for my bamboo flea rod. The Featherweight is correct vintage while the Marquis is a late 80's model.
The Limestone with the CFO IV and the Light Salmon with a Hardy Ultra Light Disc circa 1994 on a 1983 rod but a great set.
I put the cap on the salmon rod for the picture and the extension is laying near by. Still not sure about the RIO 3D single hand Spey line on the Light Salmon
Next? Post them up as you have the time.
Recently I acquired another generation one Orvis Graphite rod. One of our members listed it nearly 3 years ago and I immediately wanted it, you know the feeling. That feeling stems from when the rods were offered new, in this case new equates to 1978 and the rod was / is the Limestone 8 1/2 foot six weight.
By the time I realized that Orvis even made the rod it was 1980 and I had already purchased the 7'9" Far & Fine #5 rod and was tickled pink with it. I got the Far & Fine in Late 1979 and even then they were expensive. Adding the six weight when the Far and Fine worked so well represented redundancy to some extent so I stayed the course with what I had and also retained nearly $400.00 by doing so.
All that however did not end my coveting the Limestone rod, hardly because through the 80's and 90's I had become a fixture on many of Pennsylvania's limestone spring creeks and I fished my Far & Fine with great success. Still something was amiss, wouldn't this be better if the butt cap of my rod was inscribed 'Limestone"? I never did get one.
By the time we were into the 21st century I had scooped up an Orvis Light Salmon Bamboo rod and put it to use here in Alaska on Silver Salmon only to wish I had bought the Graphite model back in the 1980's. Sure enough I found a 1983 Nine & one half foot Graphite Light Salmon #8 rod in 'un-fished' condition and bought it. It has been posted to Rod Love several times and I was to use it today but cloud cover has prevented a fly in to a remote river so here I am at home writing a thread.... Although one river was opened to fishing for King Salmon I personally have boycotted fishing for them, one voice alone in a sea of knuckle dragging types here... I've been getting out once a week via bush planes to places where no one is at but today didn't work out.
Up until a couple months ago that was it, my old Far & Fine and the Light Salmon which by the way was made with the tail end of the original generation one graphite originated back in 1973 / 74 for and by Orvis. The rod possess the same blend of slow to medium action suited to a relaxed casting stroke while maintaining the ability to produce tight loop casting and distance. All that simply at the behest of the user, some tweaking of the technique and timing and line speed can be stepped up to meet conditions as they may change.
Now there are 3 of them, admittedly they don't see constant use like my old Hardy Swift 11 1/2 foot 2 hand rod does but they all get their day. The Limestone is waiting for me to get off my butt and pick up a #6 line for it and I'm hoping that my old CFO IV reel will make a good balance point once I rig it and take it Grayling fishing, no limestone spring creeks here you know.
So there you have it, 3 rods, hardly what I'd call a collection and two were acquired decades after their respective manufacture but I did finally get all three
Of course threads like this are useless with out photos, so...….
That's the 3 with the Far & Fine front using a Marquis #5 for the past 9 years because I've lined my Featherweight with a#3 line for my bamboo flea rod. The Featherweight is correct vintage while the Marquis is a late 80's model.
The Limestone with the CFO IV and the Light Salmon with a Hardy Ultra Light Disc circa 1994 on a 1983 rod but a great set.
I put the cap on the salmon rod for the picture and the extension is laying near by. Still not sure about the RIO 3D single hand Spey line on the Light Salmon
Next? Post them up as you have the time.
